Defensive Revolvers

Guns Magazine, Feb, 2001 by Clint Smith

In an age of high-tech semi-auto pistols, the sixgun still holds its own as a weapon for personal protection and home defense.

Today's world of defensive handguns, with its focus on high-tech hardware and cutting-edge focus seems to include no place for the revolver, which some younger shooters regard almost as an antique. Since the 1980s, the inroads made by semi-automatic pistols into the world of handguns have overshadowed a domain that not long ago was exclusive to revolvers. How quickly expectations change.

Although it's now the exception rather than the rule to see a law enforcement officer carrying a revolver, there was once a time when semi-autos were scoffed at for duty use. The old hands in the department would dismiss semi-autos with a warning like, "Those things don't work," "They always jam," or "They're not accurate."

In the defensive handgun courses at Thunder Ranch, it's unusual to see a revolver among the 20 students on the firing line. When one of the students is training with a revolver, it is often the wrong revolver carried for the wrong reason.

A typical example is this: A student approaches the shooting line at the beginning of the course with a 2" revolver. Typically, this gun is carried by a student hardly more than five feet tall who may not have put more than 50 rounds through their gun before signing up for the class. This, of course, is not an issue of the size or experience level of the shooter, but of what course of decision caused them to choose a handgun that is notoriously difficult to control as their primary defensive weapon.

As the training course proceeds, the shooter's hand strength won't allow them to make it to the first training evolution before they begin to have difficulties. "I have a blister on my palm, my hand aches and I can't squeeze the trigger one more time," they complain.

To which the instructor asks, "Why did you choose this particular handgun?"

This is where the unfortunate truth comes out. "I like it because it's small and comfortable to carry."

Clearly, someone has sold this person the wrong gun for the wrong reasons. A gun should be carried because it is comforting, not because it's comfortable, and buying the smallest possible gun as a primary self-defense tool is not always a wise choice. Moreover, the long, heavy double-action trigger of a short-barreled revolver that makes the gun "safe" by making it more difficult to fire, also serves to make this gun very awkward for novice shooters who have not even had the chance to master a standard trigger, much less an excessively heavy one.

Sixgun vs. Semi-Auto

The real issue is not whether or not revolvers are effective self-defense weapons. A quality sixgun in the hands of an experienced shooter is an undoubted lifesaving tool. Historically, revolvers have served their operators as well as can be expected from a hand-held weapon system. (Which is simply an acknowledgement of the fact that no knowledgeable combatant would select a handgun as a first choice if they knew that a fight was about to ensue.)

Autoloading pistols have, for the most part, an advantage over revolvers in the realm of ammunition capacity, even with today's 10-round limit. Similarly, revolvers are slower to reload for the average shooter.

Countering this is the revolver's advantage in operational simplicity. While both weapon systems are reliable, a semi-automatic that suffers a stoppage due to a misfiring load requires a fairly detailed operation to clear; a revolver simply requires a second stroke of the trigger.

For the most part, however, comparing semi-autos and revolvers is much like comparing apples and oranges. Weighing a full-sized Government Model 1911 against a S&W Chief's Special is hardly a fair contest. They are both handguns, but that is about the extent of the comparison.

Put in general terms, the true extent of a revolver's capability becomes apparent. Can a revolver serve you just as well as a semi-auto for plinking, hunting and personal protection? Of course it can.

Would your life be in jeopardy if you carried a handgun designed around this "archaic" revolving mechanism? Certainly not.

All The Bells & Whistles

The revolver's mode of operation is an issue for some people -- the gun's exposed hammer gives the shooter the ability to cock the gun and use it in single-action mode. Our philosophy tends toward simplicity: Use the revolver in double-action mode and be done with it.

Cocking the hammer and firing a double-action revolver in single-action mode simply wastes tune in a defensive situation. If the lighter single-action trigger pull is necessary for making a shot at long range, you're probably outside practical handgun range in any case. Double-action firing can be very accurate at long range; it is simply an acquired skill.

Reloading the double-action revolver can be accomplished via the use of speed loaders, speed strips or by individual rounds. Throughout the history of handguns, one of the driving factors in design evolution has been expediting the reloading process. From single-shot pistols, handgun design progressed through cap-and-ball revolvers and on to cartridge-firing revolvers, which required either a loading gate or a break-top cylinder. Current technology employs a cylinder that swings out of the frame to unload spent cartridges.