Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns The wrong gun & the wrong training?

With striker fired autos, you don't have to worry about them cocking the hammer when they shouldn't.
We have neophytes renting guns on the range every day. We give them a 10 minute safety/operation briefing and haven't had anyone shoot themselves/others in 12+ years. Very few limpwristing jams, either.

Does a revolver limp wrist jam?
I shoot revolvers a lot more than autos, but Ive seen and had autos jam a whole lot more.

I dont trust them to the degree I do revolvers.

They both have their salient points.

I was merely replying to those who said a semi was "too hard" for a beginner to learn. While many here have opinions, very few have dealt with a multitude of new shooters who are not "gun people".

I dont think any are hard to learn; I think if you have 5 different makes/models of ammo for both, the revolver has an edge.

When the velocity of the ammo varies from pipsqueek to magnum, the revolver has the edge again.

Autos obviously conceal better and carry more rounds.

New vehicles are pretty complicated, with dozens of new gadgets over what I learned how to drive in the '80's. Does that mean people should not buy new cars, because there is a learning curve? There are far more lives on the line with new cars than new guns.

Modern semi-autos are very reliable, but not without some faults.
In my 54 years of shooting handguns, I've never had an action-stopping jam or dropped magazine from any of my revolvers.
I just wish my revolvers held as many rounds as my semi-auto CZ's and Sigs hold.

Then you don't shoot enough. It can, and does happen, and when it does, there is generally no fresh mag, rack and tap fixes.

You dont shoot much steel cased ammo in a variety of autos.

I dont recommend it, but pallets of it get sold.

Makes lots of single shots...

Your right. I don't shoot much steel cased ammo in any of my guns.

You dont, and I dont recommend it, but lets face it, TONS do.

Heck, some even carry with it.

A swelled case in a wheelgun still gives one 4 or 5 more rounds before its worthless.

I don't shoot enough? Typically between 2,500-3,000 rounds per year of handgun ammo. Another 2,000+ rounds per year of .223 in service rifle competitions alone, not including training.
So, just how many rounds does it take to convince me that revolvers aren't more reliable than semi-autos?

Police and military all left revolvers for semi autos. The semi is superior for self defense use. I have experienced revolver failure when the trigger on my Redhawk would not rebound on a fly in hunt in Alaska. Fire a round and then pull the trigger forward.
A semi is flatter and easier to carry IWB and faster reloads as well as more capacity

The point of aim will be different for sure but certain can work

5, just 5. I shot a match with a J frame and when doing a reload, a grain of powder got under the extractor and the gun was out of commission. Only happened once but nearly everyone there knew exactly what happened so it wasn't the first time...

I like and carry both revolvers and autos. I don't understand all the "mine is better than yours" mentality around here. They both work, they both fail, they both are capable of shooting an idiot in the foot but that's not the guns fault. I traded for a 640-1 once because the guy said he was searching his house one night and it went off. For those that don't know, a 640-1 is a DAO J frame.

Buy one or both and learn the thing, practice with it and don't be an idiot. There is no wrong gun.

Oh brother.

It's a fact they were trained by watching tv shows created by Hollywood. Just a carry over from non stop programming of disinformation by people whose reality is biased. Every cop and Gov't agent show on tv is programmed in their shooting segments as multiple shots or mag dumps for dramatic effect. Why do you think those who watch tv have anything but distorted reality? Personally I am glad as their are enough people pursuing vintage SW's as is quit rocking the boat. MB

Is there a problem with what I said? If there is, enlighten me.

Maybe... Or maybe that swelled case pushes the primer or case head back tight against the recoil shield. If that happens your shooting experience stops immediately until you can knock the cylinder open and rap on the extraction rod hard enough to clear the cylinder. Sometimes that requires more than a palm strike and you need a rawhide mallet or something similar to get the situation sorted out. Better not bend the extraction rod or spring the crane while sorting the issue out. If you do the revolver is out of service until gunsmithing type attention fixes it. No fun! Wheel guns have troubles too and often a revolvers breakdown isn't as easily fixed as a tap, rack, bang drill for a semi auto. If a semi auto chokes tap, rack, bang or simply reloading the gun solves nearly all it's fixable malfunctions.

The new, inexperienced shooters that I referred to in my original post are not likely to be shooting any kind of ammo with swelled cases. They're a 50 year old woman purchasing her first gun and buying ammo at the counter at the local gun store, not shooting reloads.
Those same people aren't likely to need a high-capacity Glock with lots of rounds. A revolver should suit them just fine.

I started this post talking about new and inexperienced gun owners and folks and immediately went to, "well, the Glock and similar guns are good enough for the military and police". Yep, yes they are. So are M16's and handcuffs.