Why a revolver?

[silverback]

I know its been discussed and sure we revolver owners get it or do we?

I am sitting here looking at my various revolvers and asking myself why?

What is it that keeps me coming back to them?

Semi autos,for the most part, have slimmer profiles, more capacity, usually lighter and sometimes are just as accurate.

My steel semi autos , not even my 1911's, captivate me like revolvers do.

Is it their shooter interaction , the mechanics, the nice feeling of a well fitted grip, sweet smooth light trigger or the fact that it causes us to slow down and enjoy a range session more?

No matter how may times I have sold my revolvers and thought that the semi auto would suffice. I have always been drawn to owning a revolver. heck even my NAA black widow 22mag/22lr provides an entirely different shooting satisfaction than any semi I have owned.

Only a pump shotgun comes close to the same attraction.

I do enjoy rifles and shoot them well. Still the shotgun like the revolver just does it for me. I am enjoy shooting the pump shotgun more than a lever, bolt or semi auto rife.

How about you?

What do you think it is about the revolver that draws you in?

 

[daveg.inkc]

The reliability, durability, and simplicity. Plus ageless beauty. You see one plastic auto loader,, pretty much seen them all.

 

[GRAMPS 51]

Well come on your from TEXAS you gotta have a little cowboy in ya :lol:

Gramps

 

[silverback]

Well come on your from TEXAS you gotta have a little cowboy in ya :lo. l:

Gramps

Lol!! Didn't think of that

 

[charlesappel]

Because I don't have to bend down or crawl around on the range floor to pick up the brass? :lol:

 

[contender]

Because I have higher standards.

 

[Bob Wright]

Bob Wright

 

[rammerjammer]

"The reliability, durability, and simplicity. Plus ageless beauty. You see one plastic auto loader,, pretty much seen them all."

"Because I don't have to bend down or crawl around on the range floor to pick up the brass?"

Gotta agree with these earlier posts and just add in that I still have a few semi autos that all work fine and have their place. For HD I'll choose a 17+1 plastic fantastic where weight and size don't matter as much. But I have little to no interest in adding any more semi autos to my collection. Mine work and I'd rather just leave it alone.

But for carry I'll take a revolver most any day for the simplicity and ease of carry.

 

[bogus bill]

To me a revolver is less complicated and less dangerous. Also as said more dependable and you dont chase brass in the grass, mud or snow. Of course it's more of our history as our older generation grew up on the westerns. In my case I carried them on my guard job 35 years. I was brought up on them first. With autos, you have the various differing modes of carries, safeties etc. While I have a few, I just never was drawn to them like revolvers. The older steel auto`s did attract me some but the soulless plastic is a tool about a notch above a hammer to me.

 

[rob-c]

No chasing brass and no safety to click off. Yes I know some semis come with no safety’s. Plus revolvers are just cool..

 

[powder smoke]

I own a few bottom feeders they have their place But Six Shooters have a special place
for me any ways. ps

 

[rangerbob]

I've been reloading and shooting for the last 52 years. My first new handgun was a 1968 vintage Browning Hi-Power, nice blue with checkered walnut grips and a ring hammer. Almost as sexy as a S&W Magnum. My next handgun was a M57 S&W .41 Magnum, first year production, found pre-owned(not used or abused) at a LGS. I have not been with out a 41 magnum since. Being a reloader, I don't have to chase the brass with a revolver. I've spent the last 44+ years in LE work and carried several S&W 357 Magnums, 19's and 66's, and still carry a 5 shot 357 Airlite daily. While in uniform I've carried a 5904 and then my favorite, the P220 and then P226 and a P228 in plainclothes. While I would and have trusted my life with the Sig pistols, they are boring to shoot. I call them ammo delinkers, as they consistently make empty brass and place bullets where aimed. My heart belongs to pre 80's S&W magnums, k,l, or n frame with nicely figured checkered grips. The Ruger Blackhawks, Gp's and Redhawks are my go to working revolvers. I'm sure it is an addiction and I need treatment or at least counseling. Bob!! :mrgreen:

 

[jimd441]

For all the reasons already mentioned, plus for reasons I don't know, I am consistently more accurate with revolvers.

Jim

 

[kooz]

Agree with all the posts above. Also as far as power to weight , no autos come close . Even a .44spl or .45 Colt SAA or Uberti with full power standard pressure loads outclasses all but the specialty autos, which I don't really count anyways as they are so clumsy and huge .

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I wouldn't know 'WHY' as I don't have any of those semi-auto contraptions to compare with. I hear they can bite your hand.

 

[SteveRuger]

Bob Wright

NOW thats I Very Nice!

 

[Jeepnik]

My first cap gun was a revolver. :idea:

 

[Mag-force]

That's 2 sets of beautiful Revolvers! Bob

 

[WendyZXZ]

Because we like them! A semi auto especially all the generic tupperware are tools, but there is something special about a fine revolver.

 

[jsh]

I can't add much to all of the advice given on a wheel gun.

I have never had a revolver stove pipe.

I have tried a lot of semi autos, I managed to make all of them stop functioning some how. I am done. If you see me with one it will be for sale. I had to use a lot of self restraint this past week as a Gold Cup was waved under my nose.

 

[Skoopski]

I can't explain it, but they seem more personal to me.

And Bob, I ALWAYS enjoy seeing pictures of your guns. Thanks.

 

[Rclark]

Because it fits my personality I suppose. Enjoy reading about the West and such... Revolvers also fit how I use a gun as well. I like my SAs for woods walking, camping, fishing (open carry)... I like my Bulldog for CC in town. I like SA for shooting at the range. I have no need to try to rattle off 10 rounds in 2 seconds flat. I like to take my time at hit what I aim at. I like even older SA shooting with cap/ball. I am probably the only person who doesn't care for the 'look' of S&W revolvers too. But if I was military/police, I would pick up the right tool for the right job which probably would be a semi-auto. Since I am not, I am content to just go out and enjoy my Single Actions.

 

[ADP3]

All of my current handguns are revolvers. My first handgun was a Single Six that the folks gave me for Christmas in 1968. I've been hooked ever since. I've had many autos, but they never appealed to me as much as revolvers. Revolvers are more versatile than autos. They don't depend on a specific powder charge or bullet weight range to function reliably. You can shoot a cream puff plinking load or a fire breathing stump buster out of the same cylinder with just two pulls of the trigger. Revolvers don't have the capacity of autos, but autos don't have the power of revolvers. Some autos come close, and of course there are single shots that surpass revolvers, but autos just don't have as much horsepower. More revolvers have sights adjustable for windage and elevation than autos too so I can adjust sights quickly for load and range. The only thing I miss in an auto over a revolver is after a range session there's only one chamber to clean.

Best Regards,
ADP3

 

[s4s4u]

I like my handguns like I like my women, with curves in all the right places ;-)

 

[flattop44]

All the above are great reasons, I do love
revolvers. For self defense I believe in them too.
For example, the bad guy is coming at me with a knife, pull my SP101 and pull the trigger...oh crap a misfire...pull the trigger again, bad guy down!! Whew, glad I didn't have to rack that slide... 8)
FT44

 

[A.J.]

I agree with the OP. I could have written the same thing. Revolvers and shotguns are my weapons of choice.

 

[Flyover_Country]

In addition to the above:

1. Revolvers are often chambered for rounds that are much more powerful than most semi-automatics are, and are thus much more usable for hunting. You can get a giant semi-auto like an AMT Automag that will shoot .44 Magnums but that is a rare, expensive, bulky, and heavy semi-auto.

2. Revolvers will shoot a very wide variety of ammunition without any issues other than the point of aim possibly changing. You can shoot anything from popgun cowboy action loads to full-powered hunting loads, use jacketed or cast bullets, use anything from very lightweight bullets to very heavy bullets, use any shape of bullet you care to, and in some chamberings, even shoot different length cartridges. Semi-autos are much more picky and the farther you go away from the production ammunition the firearm was designed around, the more likely you will have a failure to feed/failure to eject.

3. Revolvers are commonly available with longer barrels than semi-autos, allowing them to extract more power from a round than a semi-auto. They won't extract much more power from a typical semi-auto round as those are designed for a near-complete powder burn in a short barrel, but it does allow for much more powerful rounds with much more powder as there is enough barrel to burn it.

4. If you reload, a semi-auto sprays your brass all over while a revolver keeps it in the cylinder for you to easily remove and keep.

5. Revolvers are mechanically simpler and due to their manual activation of the action, far less likely to malfunction in use. I see a lot of people have failure to chamber/failure to eject problems with semi-autos at the range- and this includes semi-auto rifles, shotguns, and pistols. It's very rare to see a bolt gun, revolver, break-action rifle/shotgun/pistol fail to load or eject, and it if does, it was usually a defective round as the cause (COAL too long and won't chamber, etc.) Lever-action rifles and pump-action rifles and shotguns will very occasionally have a failure to eject, but it is far, far less common than the same thing happening with a semi-auto.

 

[roashooter]

My first handgun I purchased at the outrageous sum of 50 bucks....some 50+ years ago...a Blackhawk 357...that I still have to this day...no doubt planted the seeds of admiration for revolvers. All of my handguns but for three...two Browning HPs..and one SA 1911...are revolvers...but the ones I find the most satisfying and fascinating...are my four Ruger Old Army's

 

[Jimbo357mag]

In addition to the above:

1. Revolvers are often chambered for rounds that are much more powerful than most semi-automatics are, and are thus much more usable for hunting...

2. Revolvers will shoot a very wide variety of ammunition without any issues...

3. Revolvers are commonly available with longer barrels than semi-autos, allowing them to extract more power from a round...

4. If you reload, a semi-auto sprays your brass all over while a revolver keeps it in the cylinder...

5. Revolvers are mechanically simpler and due to their manual activation of the action, far less likely to malfunction...

Those are some great reasons put into words. Thanks for your input.

 

[Snyd]

To answer your title/question... "Why a revolver?" the answer is ...exactly!... Why just "A" revolver?! A guys definitely needs more than one!!