How many carrying revolvers

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sd790
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

Post by sd790 »

Honest question: What are the motivations to carry a bulkier, slower-to-reload, lower capacity handgun? Is it nostalgia, style, or are there any real advantages that I'm not aware of that make it a better choice?
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

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sd790 wrote:Honest question: What are the motivations to carry a bulkier, slower-to-reload, lower capacity handgun? Is it nostalgia, style, or are there any real advantages that I'm not aware of that make it a better choice?
A S&W 442 or 642 is not bulkier than most automatics with similar power. It is deficient in round capacity though, but it is easier to carry and draw from a pocket IMHO.

Revolvers are more dependable than autos. If you have a misfire, just pull the trigger again. You can carry a revolver that has a lot more punch per round than a similar sized auto. These two reasons are why I carry revolvers when in wilderness areas.

Revolvers are cool.
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

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sd790 wrote:Honest question: What are the motivations to carry a bulkier, slower-to-reload, lower capacity handgun? Is it nostalgia, style, or are there any real advantages that I'm not aware of that make it a better choice?
OMG I could answer this BUT I wouldn't know where to start. All I can recommend is that you read the first dozen or so pages of Grant Cunningham's GunDigest Book of the Revolver (2011) or watch these 20,000 videos https://www.youtube.com/results?q=pisto ... p=CAI%253D
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

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sd790 wrote:Honest question: What are the motivations to carry a bulkier, slower-to-reload, lower capacity handgun? Is it nostalgia, style, or are there any real advantages that I'm not aware of that make it a better choice?
Bulkier? The j-frame revolvers conceal easier than semi-autos. The cylinder may be a bit thicker but is is one small bump compared to the much larger semi-auto.

Unless you are talking a Desert Eagle, no semi auto round compares well with a .357 Magnum round.

As for round count, very, very few self defense shootings use more than 2-3 rounds
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

Post by WestonDon »

Most modern revolvers can be operated in exactly the same simple way: Pull the dang trigger. Exposed hammers are optional as is their use. No safety to deal with if you are in panic mode nor worry about becoming inadvertently disengaged. Or even remembering if the gun you happen to be carrying that day even has one.

The less one has to think about when the fertilizer is in the wind the better.
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

Post by Mr. Glock »

OhioPaints wrote:
sd790 wrote:Honest question: What are the motivations to carry a bulkier, slower-to-reload, lower capacity handgun? Is it nostalgia, style, or are there any real advantages that I'm not aware of that make it a better choice?
Bulkier? The j-frame revolvers conceal easier than semi-autos. The cylinder may be a bit thicker but is is one small bump compared to the much larger semi-auto.

Unless you are talking a Desert Eagle, no semi auto round compares well with a .357 Magnum round.

As for round count, very, very few self defense shootings use more than 2-3 rounds
Concealment is very.personal. Some people find wheel guns easier to conceal, some people find pistols easier to.conceal. Or, it.might depend on where too. There is no hard and fast rule.

But I've got you.on the.last.part....357 Sig. 1400 fps from a 4" barrel (knowing that.includes the chamber vs.only the barrel.on a revolver). I really need.to change my signature line to.something like "Last 357 Sig fan"
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

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I used to carry a 642 S&W, still own a Model 36 2".... I find it more comfortable and easier to hide my shield 9mm that the wheelies. Revolvers are cool, reliable as dirt and really excel for folks who may have difficulty running the slide on a semi auto... I don't agree that it's enough capacity for 'most fights that only last a few rounds' I won't be in most fights, if I get in a fight I have no way of knowing what I'll be up against.... I prefer to carry my M&P 4.25, full loaded with 18 rounds and two spare 17 rounders on my person.... However, I can't knock those who run an ole 5 or 6 shooter.....
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

Post by Morne »

Mr. Glock wrote:
OhioPaints wrote:
sd790 wrote:Honest question: What are the motivations to carry a bulkier, slower-to-reload, lower capacity handgun? Is it nostalgia, style, or are there any real advantages that I'm not aware of that make it a better choice?
Bulkier? The j-frame revolvers conceal easier than semi-autos. The cylinder may be a bit thicker but is is one small bump compared to the much larger semi-auto.

Unless you are talking a Desert Eagle, no semi auto round compares well with a .357 Magnum round.

As for round count, very, very few self defense shootings use more than 2-3 rounds
Concealment is very.personal. Some people find wheel guns easier to conceal, some people find pistols easier to.conceal. Or, it.might depend on where too. There is no hard and fast rule.

But I've got you.on the.last.part....357 Sig. 1400 fps from a 4" barrel (knowing that.includes the chamber vs.only the barrel.on a revolver). I really need.to change my signature line to.something like "Last 357 Sig fan"
Now you KNOW that I agree the .357SIG is a good round...BUT...

The .357SIG gets you about 90% of .357MAG performance with a 125-gr slug. Now that's good, really good. The 125-gr loads are quite good performers. HOWEVER, I prefer the heavier bullets like 158-gr. Things start to separate betwixt the too cartridges as bullets gain weight.

Honestly, the only thing keeping me out of .357SIG today is the fact that it is a bottleneck cartridge and I don't enjoy reloading bottlenecks.
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

Post by OhioPaints »

Mr. Glock, you got me on the 357Sig. Morne, thanks for the assist.

Imcrazy, You are right, no one knows how many rounds. How many will you want to carry? 20? 40? 60?... Kleck and others estimate that in the vast majority of times that a firearm stops a crime, NO rounds are fired. Now if I knowingly am going into a bad area, I will try to avoid it, or may carry more rounds. But for 99.64% of the time, I feel more than comfortable with 5 rounds. Of course, YMMV.
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

Post by M-Quigley »

I don't carry a small 5 shot revolver any more, but when I did it was sufficient for the DGU I had with it. Sold it to a lady who also had a successful DGU with it. Granted in both instances there was only one BG. I wish I still had that gun, but if I did it wouldn't have been there for the other person. Maybe I'll get another one someday, even if just for a BUG I've still got a 9 and a 45 auto left, so another gun isn't a priority right now.
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

Post by glocksmith »

[quote]But I've got you.on the.last.part....357 Sig. 1400 fps from a 4" barrel (knowing that.includes the chamber vs.only the barrel.on a revolver). I really need.to change my signature line to.something like "Last 357 Sig fan".

Now you KNOW that I agree the .357SIG is a good round...BUT...The .357SIG gets you about 90% of .357MAG performance with a 125-gr slug. Now that's good, really good. The 125-gr loads are quite good performers. HOWEVER, I prefer the heavier bullets like 158-gr. Things start to separate betwixt the too cartridges as bullets gain weight.[quote]

And that's with factory ammo. Handloads are a different matter. Like Morne said, the .357 SIG has a very narrow range of bullet weights and loadings....one might say that the .357 SIG is already maxed out in terms of powder charge, pressure levels and performance.
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

Post by evan price »

I rotate through different revolvers as the mood strikes me.
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

Post by deanimator »

I used to carry a Smith 36 in a leather pocket holster I made, every day.

Then when the "Aloha Snackbar!" thing made it to THIS side of the pond, I decided it wasn't enough gun.

I switched first to a Glock 19, then a 3 1/2" M1911.
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

Post by Morne »

evan price wrote:I rotate through different revolvers as the mood strikes me.
Looking for a good holster to fit a Smith airweight 44spl.
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Re: How many carrying revolvers

Post by Mr. Glock »

I think a 5 shot J-frame doesn't lose too much to a very small 9mm, in terms that the J-frame might be easier to operate, doesn't have that many fewer rounds and is going to be more reliable in the dirty pocket/ankle environment in which those guns live.

However, once you move out of that area, the lines start to blur quickly. Today's autos are quite reliable, and reports from wheelgun-only classes show today's revolvers aren't infallible. It's not the 1960s any longer, and our idea of reliability has changed to expecting much more on-going reliability. The old saw that revolvers are much more reliable than autos went out with disco.

That said, let's turn to the great 357 debate. If you really want to carry a 357 with 158 grain loads, you are looking at something a bit bigger than a j-farme. Sure, the guy on YouTube can shoot the Scandium S&W 357 like a pro, but most people can not do so for more than a few rounds and tend to develop a flinch quickly. So, thinking similar price and weight, you'd be looking at a 1970's medium revolver (S&W K-frame or Ruger Security Six). Now you can buy a GP100 or SW 686 today new, but they are noticeably large/heavier than the old versions and cost quite a bit more than a Glock. And I'm tossing out Scandium revolvers because they are very expensive, easily 2x the price of the Glock, and hurt when you go full-house 357 loads. And I'm throwing out Taurus too, which will make Morne mad, but they are second class citizens. Price-wise, I'll admit the Taurus closes the price gap, but not the capacity gap.

A Ruger Security Six/SW K-frame 4" is going to weigh about 40 oz loaded with 6 rounds of 158 grain 357, which will run about 1250 fps for 548 ft-lbs of energy. A Glock 32 is going to weigh about 30 oz loaded with 14 rounds of 125 gr 357 Sig, which will run about 1400 fps for 544 ft-lbs of energy. Both of those loads listed above are Gold Dots, and numbers come from multiple chrono runs on various dates.

We aren't talking 5 shots vs 6 or 7 here, we are talking 6 vs 14.

Sure, you can buy Buffalo Bore 158 gr 357s that will roll out at 1450-1500 fps or so in that 4" revolver, with 763-790 ft-lbs of energy, but you aren't going to do it quickly and be accurate. That is a heck of a lot of recoil. You can shoot them in a SP101, which is much easier to carry but has even more recoil, but not in a lighter weight j-frame. Hot handholds will fall under this paragraph too.

Now, I will fully admit I'm a disciple of the 357Sig. I think that today's love of the 9mm is just fine, and a less recoil does tend to make people more accurate shots. But if I can give up 2 rounds (but still have 14) and I gain 300+ fps in bullet speed, that works for me. That big an increase in speed has benefits, especially as I have no accuracy downside vs a 9mm (YMMV).

However, I also love wheel guns and prefer to carry the 158 gr 357 in a wheel gun. Partially, I like heavy for caliber bullets and partially I like S&Ws and older S&Ws like 158 grain 357s (vs 125 gr) in terms of forcing cone wear.

If you love a 6-shot 357, by all means enjoy it and carry it. But, I'm just not comfy that 6 will do it for sure any longer. I like my odds on 14 just as reliability issued.

I should change my screen name to Mr. 357Auto (the Glock way of saying the 357Sig)
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