I’m preparing to teach my once-a-year Revolver Only class in Slidell, Louisiana very soon. https://massadayoobgroup.com/event/mag-revolver-class/ . There may even be a couple of openings if you can make it on short notice.
I love doing this…teaching what is becoming a lost art.
The semiautomatic pistol dominates on firing lines and in police holsters (and most armed citizens’ holsters, it seems) but that doesn’t make the double-action revolver with swing-out cylinder obsolete.
True, it has a long trigger pull for each shot than most autos, and it carries fewer cartridges when fully loaded. But it also has its own advantages.
— It’s not dependent on cartridge power or bullet profile for feeding. It will run just fine with completely flat-nosed full wadcutter bullets, with light loads for acclimating new shooters or with Elmer Keith Memorial Magnum loads. It will cycle just fine with blanks that would choke an auto on the first shot, and rat-shot/snake-shot loads which often do. And no one has yet made a .500 Magnum autoloader.
— While a service-grade auto will better withstand muck and dirt, the revolver doesn’t need regular lubrication to work like the long bearing surfaces between an autoloader’s slide and frame.
— It’s simple to load, unload, and check for a shooter with weak hands or very limited handgun experience.
As to its two major shortcomings, a dedicated shooter can learn to reload a revolver faster than most non-gun-oriented cops can reload their service pistols, and certainly faster than the average thug can reload his stolen “automatic.” And the long trigger pull? It teaches you to distribute trigger pressure. I have long maintained that a month of shooting double action with a revolver will teach a shooter to stop jerking the short, easy trigger of his autoloader.
I’ve met a lot of shooters who are more accurate with their double action round guns than with their square ones, and I may even be one of them.
Can’t make it this year. I will plan on attending next year
Did you mean no one has yet made a 500 Magnum pistol?
https://www.smith-wesson.com/product/model-s-w500
“And no one has yet made a .500 Magnum autoloader.”
Mass is pointing out that if you want to shoot a really big round like the .500 Magnum your only choice is the revolver.
I’ll echo that last comment – I definitely shoot better with a DA revolver than with the short, light trigger of the auto. I get more of a “surprise” break with the revolver; I know exactly where the trigger break of the auto is, and I wind up flinching a bit. Not so with the revolver. Since I have joint problems with my thumb that preclude carrying an on-safe 1911, I carry my 686+ Mountain gun. 7 rounds of 38+P or 357 mag will work, especially when I can hit 6/6 on the plate rack at 35 yds!
I’ve also recently had a K-frame modified to run 9mm in moon clips by TK custom. My 640-1 and 3″ 65 are soon to get the same treatment. More power than a 38; less recoil & blast than a 357. Best of both worlds.
Noticed that all the wherlguns pictured a 3-inchers. My favorite barrel length too for carry.
No one made a .500 magnum REVOLVER???
No, Mass said “ And no one has yet made a .500 Magnum autoloader.”
Autoloader was a correction made today after my error in writing “revolver” was brought to my attention. Mea culpa.
Based on your sound advice a few years ago, I picked up a SW Model 29. Love the N frames but I shoot 99% Specials. Then I found a 4″ Python. Then a King Cobra snubby. The KC is my regular carry, along with a couple of speed strips, because it is easier on my back than the Beretta 92FS or M1911 which I used to carry. Adds a bit of class to my wardrobe as well.
Love those triggers.They helped train me out of some bad habits I had with semis. DA is the only way to learn the system.
My 625 S&W with my hand loads is probably the most accurate handgun I possess. After local IDPA matches, I’ve loaned it to auto shooters and the smile on their faces is priceless….
I grew up with a Remington .45 SemiAuto pistol from WWII. i loved that old slabsided beast and still enjoy taking it to the range. but as i’ve aged (nigh on to 80) i find myslef going to ‘wheel guns’ more frequently. currently i carry a Colt Viper in .357 with a three inch barrel as my EDC. oh, i still have my faves in the semi auto world, but my Colt is what i carry.
In situation where extremely close contact situations occur, body contact. the revolvers, especially the snubbie, will still function. Semi autos may jam after the first shot. Then all you have is $ 500 rock.
Is that a misprint, or incomplete sentence about the .500 magnum? I had one with a 4″ barrel for a while, and fortunately did not develop any shooting scars with it, due to the excellent instruction of our late friend Dave Chandler.
Not a misprint, David but sadly a brain fart on my part.
Mas,
Another advantage is that round for round, revolver offers far more power than a typical semi-auto. If one does not subscribe to the ballistic theories of the FBI Protocols (as many do not) and far more powerful rounds, or bigger rounds, are desired for protection against not only humans but animals, the energy provided by .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum and evn .45 Colt or .44 Special are not really readily available in semi-autos. Yes, the 10mm gets close, but a full-house .357 Mag still outpowers the big ten. So if one is after pure power and isn’t interested in novelty semi-auto’s like the Desert Eagle, the far more reasonable, plentiful and affordable revovler awaits.
We used to do bowling pin matches back in the 1980s and 90s; the revolver shooters very often beat those with “wonder nines” and the like. Lessons there for sure, I’ve never felt disadvantaged with a wheel gun for CCW.
As a prior student of Mas’ Revolver Course, I can strongly endorse it. I learned a number of useful tips that benefit not only the regular revolver carrier, but also anyone who teaches others whose primary or only gun may be a wheel gun.
Also, they do make a 500 magnum revolver; I’m sure that line was meant to read “500 magnum semi-automatic”.
Mas, I’ve had a love affair with blue steel wheel guns for over 60 years. My all time favorite is my S&W Mod 29 followed by the Mod 27. Nothing like them anywhere! At nearly 80 years old, I find myself shooting Special ammunition more than Magnum, but the fun is still there.
I agree.
I carry a Ruger LCRx in .327 Magnum. I had a gunsmith convert it to Single-Action Only.
I learned guns with two shotguns that one needed to cock manually by thumbing the hammer back. So I don’t have a problem remembering to cock the hammer.
As a SAO revolver, I have a “safety” on my EDC. It CAN’T go off unless I do three stupid things: 1) unholster; 2) cock the hammer; 3) pull the trigger. It’s really hard to imagine that I could do all three stupid things.
Moreover, if someone attacked me and took my gun he would be unlikely to realize that he needs to cock the hammer.
If my gun got stolen it is unlikely that whomsoever got it would want to use it. They would prefer a double-action gun.
I expect to die before I need to use my gun in self-defense. Yet, I will carry my gun for thousands of hours before I die. Having the peace-of-mind that I won’t have a negligent discharge is a huge advantage.
If I do get mugged I expect that I will enjoy an “interview” which I will fail. I don’t expect to be bushwacked. So, the extra 1 or 2 seconds to cock the hammer are not important.
A lifetime ago a family friend and experienced detective told a twelve year old me that if I lived with a gun I’d have two, a .45 (1911) and a snub nose .38.
At 70 I’d have to wear suspenders to carry the now high mileage Combat Commander I bought in my 20s – but I do still carry a snubby regularly.
Love my Colt King Cobra Ruger GP-100 and Redhawk. Next revolvers on my Bucket List: S&W M686, Colt Anaconda, and Charter Arms Bulldog.
I’ve owned my GP100SS since 1994, and, yes, I’m a much better shot with it than with my semiautos. To be fair, I’m only adequate with them, but I’ve always been able to drill holes with precision & accuracy with my Ruger.
Not sure if I’ve ever heard of someone removing the double action (trigger-cocking) function of a double action revolver unless it was a dedicated target gun. I would think that a negligent discharge would be much more likely if holding a suspect at gunpoint with a cocked revolver or having to de-cock it if shooting wasn’t warranted. Multiple police agencies removed the single action function from their revolvers back in the day.
I didn’t know a lot about revolvers growing up in the 50s and 60s, other than Roy Rogers and other cowboys guns. Come the 70s and Jeff Cooper, revolvers were pasa. That is until I attended an instructor class at The Ohio Peace Officer Academy class ,taught by Bill Groce. That’s when revolvers were made relevant to me.
In my class was Janet Hartman, who later became an instructor at the Academy in London,Ohio.
Bill made me realize my my model 10 could make me just as formidable as anyone else.
He let me shoot his mod. 66, and j just had to have one of my own.
I have had other instructors with larger notoriety, but none who had more of an impact on me that Bill did.
He was one of a kind, without a doubt.
I knew Bill and Janet. Both great. Thanks for given them the accolades they are due.
The continually moving trigger on a DA revolver does-unless you yank it-make for a semi-surprise shot. There’s no “wall” of trigger resistance that you struggle with like many semis. Whoever came up with the concept that if you learn a DA revolver, you can shoot about anything was right. And, you don’t have to bend over to recover your brass.
I’ve never had the opportunity to even fondle a Kahr, which seems to have the same type of trigger. Always kinda wanted one, but couldn’t find anyplace that had one in stock. At least the steel frame one I wanted.
“Power” is rather over rated. Back in the 1980s there was a brief note in, IIRC, American Handgunner; that S&W (Academy?) did testing and discovered that once past the .38/9 mm energy/recoil level, both accuracy and rapidity of fire went down significantly. A few of us snidely noted that at the time S&W didn’t have a semi over 9mm in production. However, decades of training, competing and teaching demonstrated that they had something there. Yes, if you train hard and continually, you can come close, but not if you don’t. Where you put the bullet is a lot more important than a lot of other stuff.
In retirement, I spend a lot time carrying round guns.