Being one of only two officers on my department that even shoots the wheel gun, I find myself asking - are revolvers still relevant?
Being one of only two officers on my department that even shoots the wheel gun, I find myself asking - are revolvers still relevant?
Caleb over at Gun Nuts had a pretty good post on this recently:
http://www.gunnuts.net/2013/10/11/re...-are-obsolete/
IMO, no, not for duty use. They're heavier, have less capacity, slower to reload, mechanically more complicated, & harder to clear when a malfunction occurs. Many will disagree, but what I posted is indisputable fact, like it or not.
For me, no, they are no longer relevant as a revolver can not fill any role in my self defense needs that a semi auto can't fill even better.
Revolvers can be used very effectively in a defensive role. One must merely accept their limitations. If somebody wants to carry a wheel gun & feels it's the best choice for them, more power to them. Everything I've said is merely my lowly opinion & my views towards carrying a defensive firearm. I do believe the J frame fills the bug niche in a manner no auto can though.
Last edited by WDW; 11-17-2013 at 09:17 PM.
The only real advantage I personally see with a revolver is not having magazine springs go bad with long term storage when kept loaded. Outside of that, everything else seems to be a disadvantage when comparison is made to a modern reliable semi auto. The only other aspect would be need for a large caliber pistol, say running around the wilderness of Alaska, the big bore revolvers would probably offer some advantages, etc.
Relevance would be situational and individual dependent.
$.02
Formerly known as xpd54.
The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions or policies of my employer.
www.gunsnobbery.wordpress.com
My experience is different, but okay. What is a "good" magazine and what would be a "bad" magazine? When do you find out your carry magazine is bad? I rotate and replace often b/c I've had all types of magazines go bad. I actually just re-springed two of my G 19 mags b/c they were getting soft, could hear the rounds starting to get loose/rattle in the mag. Did they still "work" sure, will I bet my life they would have continued to work? Obviously not...
For use as a duty or primary carry weapon? Not really.
But above and below the service pistol job, when you get into BUGs or large frame magnum revolvers, IMHO the wheelgun does a better job than semi auto pistols you might use for those same jobs.
I have never found a .380 or pocket 9mm as reliable as a J frame, and guns like the Desert Eagle are basically a bad joke compared to a N frame S&W.