Why don't revolver carriers worry about capacity?

[lee n. field]

I'm new to owning a revolver, and I'm not asking this question to start any fights. But I noticed that amongst semi auto carriers, you get a range of heated opinions over whether 7 rounds, 15 rounds, or 30 rounds are ever "enough"

Given that a CCW revolver carries maybe 7 at most,

Eight round .38/.357 guns are out there. None higher that I can think of.

depending on caliber, with 5 being typical -- and reloads are much more challenging even with practice -- do revolver carriers just have a different philosophy of what counts as "enough?"

"different philosophy"? Yes.

There's a few different takes on it.

1. "Carry a second snub for your reload."
2. Statistics show that the typical self defensive shooting is over in very few shots. The need to reload in a self defensive shooting is extremely rare.
3. The gun is reloaded if you get even one fresh round int he cylinder, so don't sweat getting it perfect, get back in the fight.

The way I look at it, I'm quite unlikely to ever need to use this anyway, in my normal activities and environments. If I'm going into the sketchy areas around here, I might very well "gun up" a bit, if I can't avoid it.

 

[dahermit]

I carry a S&W Model 36, 5-shot, snub nose. I could carry my Browning High Power with 15 shots, but then I know that it is just too heavy and too much trouble compared to the little M36...which I carry when ever I leave the house. In short, I carry something that is no trouble to carry rather than something I will get tired of carrying because of the weight and size and would likely begin to leave it home.

 

[OhioGuy]

Well I've started training with a 442 because I got a good deal on it. if I begin carrying it with any real frequency I will probably consider getting some crimson Trace laser grips for it because the sights are so miniscule.

if I were going to carry a revolver all the time, I'm sure I would probably consider something that holds 6 shots with a 3 inch barrel.

 

[kymasabe]

I carried a J frame and never felt undergunned. When you decide to carry a revolver, you accept the fact that you're limited to 5 rounds.

 

[shurshot]

Most of the time I carry a revolver off duty, instead of one of my semi automatic weapons. Why? Because I trust the cylinder gun to function more reliably. I have observed and experienced far too many semiauto's jam up. Poor ammo, bad magazine, loose grip, whatever the reason, it has caused me to tap and rack, clear the jam. Not that revolvers are perfect (they too can stop functioning), but they have been far better performers over the years for me. I'll take the 5 or 6 shots a quality built revolver offers, along with speedloaders or speedstrips full of spare ammunition. Revolver grips usely fit my hand better and are easier for me to shoot well with. Works for me.

 

[zoo]

Why don't revolver carriers worry about capacity?

Generally but not always because I've decided that for that day the threat of my having to shoot mister no shoulders is much higher than my having to shoot mister or missus broad shoulders. (Might need snake loads).

 

[stinkeypete]

I like the 5 shot lcrx in .38 special. Ammo comes in rows of 5, so it’s nice and neat.

Having never run out of capacity in my 60 years, as I have never been
a law enforcement officer or soldier, I don’t see the issue.

 

[105kw]

I'm not really concerned about fire power from my carry gun. It is going to be 5 or 6 with a reload, depend on which Smith or Colt I'm using.
I'm not in law enforcement, I'm a civilian.
I've always thought that my revolver, to paraphrase somebody, is the starting gun for the fat man's run to safety.

 

[Nick_C_S]

When you decide to carry a revolver, you accept the fact that you're limited to 5 rounds.

Who says?

I'm about to go get some food for the wife and I from our favorite Mexican restaurant. I'll be carrying my 7-shot .357 Magnum.

 

[OneFreeTexan]

Probably a repeat

However in another post I asked how many shots you fired in your last gun fight??/\

Not for LEO”S just average guy on the street...Is 40 rounds really necessary?

 

[pete2]

I carry a 642, no reload. It's for self defense. It may or may not be enough but I'm not law enforcement so hopefully 5 is enough. No guarantees...........................

 

[CDR_Glock]

I do not pay attention to capacity because we have to bear in mind, we are not out there ready and waiting for a gunfight. It is not our role to police the community. It is not our role to stop a robbery.

Our role is to be a citizen trained and calm enough to take the higher ground and avoid conflict. If I am carrying, I don’t feel empowered to push the limits of a conversation or conflict to escalate a situation. I will calmly agree to disagree and step back.

If I am carrying, which is a majority of the time. I am not drinking, either. Most laws restrict it, anyways.

So we as concealed carrying citizens have to live one notch above everyone else. This is on top of situational awareness and avoiding high crime areas.

I carry a 5 round S&W 640 357 Magnum 5 Shot right now. I had a Kimber K6S but it didn’t work out for me. I practice to a level above what an average person will do. I do shooting from the level of the hip, strong and weak handed shooting and shooting from around barriers with either hand, as a routine.

I also use DAO, and even if it’s SA/DA I’m shooting in DAO.

I also know that to hit with more precision that I can stage a DAO trigger. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5OIGNDAZ3z/?igshid=11zjjmgt7byoa

Reloads for a revolver are definitely doable but I have a different method of 5 round capacity guns. I would rather draw a backup weapon, which I have two that I carry.

The second is a Sig Sauer P365, 10 rounds.

The third is dependent upon what I am wearing. It can be a North American Arms 22 WMR/Magnum, a Glock 19, Gen 5, Taurus 605 5 Shot 357 Magnum, or my latest, a S&W Performance Center 627 2.5” 8 Shot 357 Magnum.

My firearm use is a backup plan to being a good citizen and avoiding conflict. I was in primary care when I was in the Navy and dealt with many suicidal or homicidal people. I have seen enough to avoid them or talk down some.

As for a primary being a 5 shot revolver, it’s in the pocket. My hand is on it, whenever I’m walking around. That’s half the battle is getting to your gun if you ever needed it. I can draw from concealment faster than anyone because my hand is already on the gun.

Another advantage of a J frame is that it points like my finger. Anything 10 yards and in is nothing, at least for something stationary. However scenarios are not static. You’re moving,they’re moving and you might have bystanders.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[TXAZ]

As a senior police official who still carried a .357 Colt told me, “(He) only need 6 rounds to do what a Glock takes 17 shots to do”.

 

[dyl]

You're going about it all wrong since you started with semi-autos. You see, if you start working your way through history with matchlocks, flintlocks, wheel locks, then percussion caps, pin fires, rimfires, then finally centerfires, you end up just being grateful you're not biting the ends off paper cartridges.

 

[OhioGuy]

You're going about it all wrong since you started with semi-autos. You see, if you start working your way through history with matchlocks, flintlocks, wheel locks, then percussion caps, pin fires, rimfires, then finally centerfires, you end up just being grateful you're not biting the ends off paper cartridges.

Ha! You're right, my perspective is way off!!!

 

[Lohman446]

There is an interesting thought here. Is this a chicken and egg thing? Did we accept low capacity and then decide on a revolver or decide on a revolver and accept low capacity?

I spent a lot of time shooting when I was very young an old S+W J frame and a Colt Detective Special. This was way before the concept of a .357 J frame or SP101 were out. I still remember the "Tame the beast" gun rag headlines for porting the first of the SP101.

Now I have cycled through several semi-autos and the first time I abandoned a J-frame was for a G26. Same basic dimensions but 10 rounds. It was a circuitous route back to the J-frame and now I keep a scandium .357 loaded with .38 special as my primary go to pistol.

5 vs 6? Truth be told I could have that Detective Special if I asked my dad for it but I have never figured the difference mattered.

I'm not carrying a revolver because of capacity. Nor am I of the "automatics fail" crowd because a non-induced failure seems fairly unlikely and readily dealt with anyways. I carry a revolver because of its size. Dimensions are one thing but the curves on a revolver really help it, at least for me, as a concealed handgun and I shoot them well. So capacity is accepted because I prefer a revolver

 

[OhioGuy]

There is an interesting thought here. Is this a chicken and egg thing. Did we accept low capacity and then decide on a revolver or decide on a revolver and accept low capacity.

I spent a lot of time shooting when I was very young an old S+W J frame and a Colt Detective Special. This was way before the concept of a .357 J frame or SP101 were out. I still remember the "Tame the beast" gun rag headlines for porting the first of the SP101.

Now I have cycled through several semi-autos and the first time I abandoned a J-frame was for a G26. Same basic dimensions but 10 rounds. It was a circuitous route back to the J-frame and now I keep a scandium .357 loaded with .38 special as my primary go to pistol.

5 vs 6? Truth be told I could have that Detective Special if I asked my dad for it but I have never figured the difference mattered.

I'm not carrying a revolver because of capacity. Nor am I of the "automatics fail" crowd because a non-induced failure seems fairly unlikely and readily dealt with anyways. I carry a revolver because of its size. Dimensions are one thing but the curves on a revolver really help it, at least for me, as a concealed handgun and I shoot them well. So capacity is accepted because I prefer a revolver

I have run through multiple full day training courses with semi-automatics in which we shoot between 4 and 600 rounds per day. I have been shooting for several years now and can probably count on one hand the number of failures I have had, and usually those were under somewhat extreme conditions, like unconventional shooting positions. So I agree that reports of semi-automatic failures are fairly greatly exaggerated.

In only two weeks of carrying this small revolver, I completely see what you mean about the shape of it. did not only conceals better but it is considerably more comfortable than any semi-automatic including the very small ones.

 

[USNRet93]

I'm new to owning a revolver, and I'm not asking this question to start any fights. But I noticed that amongst semi auto carriers, you get a range of heated opinions over whether 7 rounds, 15 rounds, or 30 rounds are ever "enough"

Given that a CCW revolver carries maybe 7 at most, depending on caliber, with 5 being typical -- and reloads are much more challenging even with practice -- do HANDGUN carriers just have a differING philosophIES of what counts as "enough?"

Yes and FIFY...every person that owns, carries, shoots anything has 'different philosophies' about anything and everything 'gun'...

Hence this gun forum along with dozens of others.

I carry what I can comfortably carry and shoot..then make allowances and create the 'philosophy' depending on the characteristics of that gun.

Is the conscious decision "5 shots are enough" necessary before carrying a revolver, or does one choose a revolver on other merits and then accept the capacity?

See Above

 

[jar]

I've been carrying handguns for about a half century or so and have never had to use one on anything more threatening than a rattler where it just should not be. In that half century or so I have never been a witness to a gun fight. I'm old, slow, out of what little shape I ever had and if I ever did have to use a handgun in self defense it would be at bad breath distance.

When up close and very personal small and capable of multiple accurate placements with the handgun as close to my body as possible would give me the best chance of walking away. Smaller handguns, snub nose or pocket size semiautomatics are where I have the most experience and the most confidence.

At BBD I am pretty confident I can place several immediate rounds within a one inch circle with any of my snub nose wheelies or any of my small pocketable semiautomatics even under conditions of extreme stress. The total number of rounds available or the caliber of rounds involved really doesn't override my desire for a small, portable, concealable, comfortable and accurate handgun. And with the smaller handguns I tend to feel more assured with a second similar handgun that just one with more rounds.

I've been told that I simply don't have a clue about what I would do in such situations but I did race sports cars for awhile and was a volunteer fireman for awhile and did play lacrosse (very poorly) for awhile and have been in a few accidents over the decades so I do have at least a small amount of experience of being under stress.

Hopefully I'll get to add another decade or two before ever being tested.

 

[OldMarksman]

I

also believe that a situation that would require me to need more than 5 involves either one very competent and determined individual or likely multiple competent and determined individuals.

do you have a basis for that belief?

It’s highly unlikely I ever fire a single round in a combat situation.

That is a meaningless observation,

It’s orders of magnitude more unlikely I need more than 5.

Do you have any basis whatsoever for that assessment?