[Lone Gunman]

I know it's an older thread; but the question is eternal; so I'm going to answer it.

Right now I'm, also, carrying a 357 Magnum, Ruger SP-101. It's a great little gun, and quite different from the big heavy G-21 that I usually carry. I just had surgery on one of my hands, and handling a large semi-auto and working the slide aren't, 'in the cards' for me right now.

This personal carry dilemma has given me time to think about all the differences between carrying a revolver, and a semiautomatic. Know what! Reliability between these two designs is a, 'wash'. I know how to clear a jam, and keep a semi-auto up and running.

On the other hand a revolver, while less likely to have a stoppage, is more complicated and time-consuming to reload. So, between the two I'd rather deal with a jammed semi-auto than a more difficult to reload revolver - Which often requires more manual dexterity on a shooter's part, too.

I'm comfortable with my little 357 Magnum Ruger. It's true: Nothing in a COMBAT HANDGUN CALIBER hits harder than the 357; but, in the event of dire circumstances, I'd sooner have more (somewhat) less effective bullets than only a few really hard hitting ones.

Whatever handgun you carry, you need to be well-practiced, fast, and accurate with it. No doubt about it: It's more difficult to learn and be competent with a double-action revolver than it is to use almost any semi-automatic.

I don't care about exactly what trigger system a particular semiautomatic has. With the exception of an atypical Glock pistol with an orange, 'New York' trigger spring and an 8 lbs. connector, any modern semi-auto is going to be easier to shoot straight, than any typical, long-throw, 10 to 12 lbs., double-action revolver trigger.

I remember when I was shooting IDPA. The shooters who used revolvers were always severely handicapped whenever they tried to compete against everyone else who were using semi-autos. (I don't remember any exceptions to this general rule.)

My own worst self-defense nightmare is to suddenly windup, 'gangbanged' by more than two or three assailants. The nice little SP-101 that I'm carrying, now, would be almost worthless in any situation where I had to face multiple attackers. The smartest move I could make is not to antagonize them, surrender my (antique) weapon, and hope that they'll be merciful, and not beat me too badly, kill me, or rape either me or my wife.

(Yes, my wife and I are, both, very good looking!)

Here's what I'm carrying now:

As I said: It's a very nice gun; but, here's what I'd rather be carrying:

The latter is state-of-the art; while the former is not!

 

[Lone Gunman]

Revolvers are safer, there is no safety to operate or forget about in the heat of a situation.

In case of a FTF with a revolver just pull the trigger again. With an auto you have to do something that will at least draw your attention away from the situation at hand to clear and rechamber the weapon. With that in mind I want as reliable a piece of equipment in my hand as possible if my life is at stake.

I have both. I carry a revolver.

What's with all of this inept forgetfulness that I've been reading about lately? WHAT do we train for, and WHY do we train? Certainly it's not to be a bunch of thick-fingered fumblers, or magnificently forgetful screwups - Yes!

If a revolver fails to fire (Ready?) the shooter may not be able to pull the trigger a second time. Things like a broken cylinder, 'hand' or a long bullet, or high primer can prevent a revolver's trigger from being pulled again. (So can a damaged forcing cone; but don't ask me how I know.)

I own and carry both, too; however, my preference is to carry a full capacity semiautomatic. After all, why not? I'm well practiced enough with semiautomatic pistols to do, 'tap, roll 'n rack, bang' clearance drills, literally, in my sleep.

NOTE: My preferred clearance drill is to: sweep the top of the slide before tapping. (I do it all in one motion of my support hand and arm.) Then, I'll recapture my sight picture and try the trigger again.

If it's a, 'no-go' I'll drop the magazine, and catch it with my pinky. Next I'll vigorously and repeatedly rack the slide, two or three times in a row, before reinserting the same magazine. (Which has, actually, never left the pistol.)

If the top round in the magazine was in the correct position (Which you should have visually checked for) then the pistol should, now, be back in service. *

* (Certain semi-autos need to be racked a final time before being returned to service.)

 

[Lone Gunman]

I was always taught that if a semi-auto pistol jams then you're probably going to be able to fix it; but, if a revolver jams then you're screwed!

As already noted: I don't really worry about pistol jams. Fixing one is second nature to me; but, once a revolver's cylinder locks up you're going to need a rubber mallet and/or a set of screwdrivers in order to get it to let go.

The real question is frequency. Revolvers only rarely lock up; and pistols, although easy to repair, jam more often.

 

[Lone Gunman]

Sometimes (like recently) I'll carry a beautiful S&W Model 686 with a 2 1/2 inch fully shrouded barrel. I know how to shoot double-action; and against only one protagonist I doubt I'd have a problem. Of all the handguns I own I, probably, like my 686 the best; but, at the same time, I have no illusions about what I can or can't do with it. Basically it's a, 'one on one' handgun.

Now that my hand is finally healing from a recent surgery I'm back to carrying a full capacity Glock Model 21. It allows me to quite freely double and triple tap my targets. In this day and age of numerous street gangs - with multiple assailants being the norm rather than the exception - a full capacity 45 ACP pistol is the (correct) hand tool to use.

(Ask any police officer!)

 

[Lone Gunman]

Cost me nuth 'in! Because I'm so good looking the factory gave it to me for free!

(Well that, and the fact that I blew up my Model 19.)

 

[Lone Gunman]

That S&W Model 686 is one of my favorite guns. I'd carry it all of the time; but, now that I've sold my reloading equipment, it's too expensive to regularly practice with; and because, nowadays, we all have to worry about facing more than just one (comparatively easy) opponent, I'm a lot more comfortable carrying a standard capacity, double-stack Glock in either 9mm or 45 ACP.

When was the last time I was, 'made'? About 4 or 5 years ago; and, if memory serves me correctly, I was carrying a Glock Model 21 at the time. I'm NOT an easy guy to make. I didn't start carrying yesterday, ya know!

(Why do I have this feeling like, all of a sudden, 'GunKid' is stalking me?)