Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Revolvers more reliable then semi-auto?

Had a friend bring over a 22 on Sunday, wouldnt go pop....

But of course Glocks always work/100% infallible.

Both mechanisms have their weaknesses and strengths.

*sarcasm*

Watch some westerners sometime and if a six shooter got dropped in the sand it was useless.

True enough but my point was that dirt and grime and plugged barrels can be greatly reduced using a protective holster. Years ago there was a great backlash about using WD-40 on guns. Living in cold country I heard horror stories of police officers whos guns froze up in cold weather and ammo that had been rendered useless as the lubricate had froze the gun up and sullied the primers. Curiosity got the best of me so I did an experiment. I took 12 44 magnums cartridges and a Ruger Blackhawk and I put them in a pan and filled the pan with WD-40. I then put them in our freezer at 25 below zero for 24 hours. I then removed them and the gun and ammo both functioned perfectly without a hiccup. I then sprayed some WD-40 in primed cased and left them for an hour, dumped out any remaining liquid , let them mellow for a few days, loaded them with bullet and powder and went to the range. IIRC most failed to discharged but a few did though kind of slow hand fire scenario. Using your response as a guide my next experiment with be testing different ammo soaked in water for varying time periods to determine ?????? Thanks for the idea.

Dirt, mud and grit, more so than water.

You can tell when ammo wont "feed", because youre the loader.

I didnt miss your point; someone else did.

The Brits often had them on lanyards, tucked under clothing.

This is an interesting thread with good points on both sides. Being older, mid 70’s, when I started shooting and reloading revolvers were definitely more reliable. Today thanks to Mr Glock there is little difference in the two. If maintained both serve equally well.
I think revolvers are easier to trouble shoot and fix should a problem appear, if parts are on hand or available. Thanks to the internet all problems can be figured out. Most weaknesses of different platforms are well known. We are lucky today to have this knowledge available.
Today shooters want different things than a few years ago. Still a revolver is still a great reliable handgun that will shoot factory and reloads, mild to wild, in cartridges weak to powerful, with little fuss. Autoloaders are not as versatile in my opinion. But they work and can be counted on.
I have some revolvers that are more than 50 years old that have never given me a problem. I try not to drop them in the sand.😁

You brought up an interesting subject. Lanyard rings. I recall it was all the rage to remove the lanyard rings from military sidearms so you looked more modern. These were the days you took pristine military rifles and sporterized them. Glad those days are over. Many countries including the US had handguns with lanyard rings. I have them on a few handguns. The Brits used a canvas full flap holster for their WW 2 revolvers and equipped with a lanyard. I think they are one of the most overlooked needs. I try to modify some of my handguns to lanyard ring but it is tough to do on high dollar antique guns. The thought behind the ring and lanyard was gun control. No mater how you stumble and fall, or eject from a snowmobile, or capsize a boat and have to swim to shore, the gun is always there, A second benefit is, properly adjusted, the lanyard will be tight just as your elbows lockup at full arm extension. Thus giving even greater stability in off hand shooting. Working at great height for much of my career, I had lanyards on many tools, from hammers, axes to grease guns. Didn't want to brain someone below or hike back down to retrieve a dropped tool. When I duck hunt from a boat i have a bright pink volleyball attached to a hundred foot rope then attached to my shotgun for those tip over days.

Cop told me about another cop who used a revolver and had a failure to fire when he attempted to shoot a bad guy.

Ok Gents,,,,, I'm going to weigh-in here with my $.02 worth, as I've had some experience with both a Wheel Gun, -[Revolver]- and a Semi-Auto -[Pistol]-, 1st being a Ruger .22 BearCat, -[Revolver]- that my Granddad bought me in 1963 @ 13yrs old, and yea, I've still got that Ruger,
2nd was a Colt 1911A1 .45 ACP, complements of the USMC, during my stay in VietNam, and yea, I carried a 1911 for awhile after I got back, but after awhile in the field, toting a back-pack, sleeping gear, my Rifle,,,,, etc...... it just got alittle to Dam Heavy,,,, so about in the late 70's early 80's, I started looking for a competent carry side arm,,,,, and it ended up being a revolver, and there were several of varying calibers, and manufactures that came and went, currently I'm sporting a Highly Modified S&W 329PD .44Mag, so now for my answer to this Original Post Question,,,, Neither, Either Design has it's own set of potential problems, and weaknesses,,,, and you need to understand those that are applicable to you...
Yep, in the whole scope of things being what they are,,,, it all comes down to what you are "Familiar" and "Comfortable" with, as well as proper maintenance,,,, as my Granddad always said, that Fire Arm will take care of you, as long as you take care of it,,,,, and yea, it's just that simple.
Lj

Sounds about right.

Some of those fabricated torture tests are pretty silly. Watched one not long ago where, so help me Hannah, the guy dumped talcum powder all over the gun to simulate what, combat in a barber shop, nursery, boudoir?

Anyone who really needs a reliable sidearm will choose one based on criteria relevant to their situation and learn to use and take care of it properly.

Just read about how Wild Bill Hickok used to go out every day and empty his Navy revolvers in practice, then clean and reload them so he’d be carrying fresh charges. Cap and ball guns were probably more reliable than early cartridge revolvers when properly maintained, especially the rimfire ones.

Have revolvers and autos. Both work just fine, and I’ve taken the precaution of making certain I have ammo on hand for them, one of the first rules for successful gunfighting.

Interesting information about Navy Colts. I am always interested in history. Do you have any source where you read about Wild Bill and his 1851? By the way, in Germany even cap and ball revolvers need a licence.

And: the M19 failed just because it was made of MIM-parts

Cap & Ball revolvers are high maintenance. They require a good deal of lubrication, and if you're going to keep them loaded for long periods of time, you have the "worry" of if that lubrication has managed to find its way into the chambers...because it happens. So since Wild Bill was in the gunfighting business, and every day is certainly overkill; it probably did give him peace of mind knowing that of all the problems he may encounter, THAT won't be one of them.

No matter how much care you take with a black powder revolver, it is wasted if that revolver is not properly fitted. Most important for sure ignition is the the fit of the arbor and wedge. An example-

"El Californio was long in the arbor, further complicating matters. So I unscrewed the arbor and turned the shoulder back until I achieved an additional half turn into the frame. This set the whole barrel back a substantial distance and other accommodations were needed. I removed 0.011″ from the bottom of the barrel assembly, to set the wedge hole back the proper distance for the shortened arbor. I ordered a hardened Uberti wedge, which required lengthening the wedge opening in the arbor at the front. This is done a few file strokes at a time until the wedge just slipped through the off-side of the frame. This of course set the cylinder back, just a little too far, and I had to file back the corresponding cylinder boss in the frame. Then the cylinder hand wanted to bind up, making cocking difficult and retarding forward motion of the hammer. This was corrected by careful file work on the arbor and frame window. The barrel assembly and cylinder’s relocation 0.011″ to the rear insures the hammer will fire a cap without fail. I reset the arbor in the frame with a generous dose of Loctite Red; and installed the barrel assembly and wedge to keep everything aligned while the Loctite set."

http://www.thesixgunjournal.net/el-californio-the-italian-1860-army/

Properly fitted and maintained, they will fire each and every time the trigger is pulled. The 51's were excellent revolvers. In my opinion, the ultimate evolution of Colt's black powder revolvers came with the 1860.

You can rest assured if I was kicking an old black mustang around the countryside between 1860 and 1872, there would be a brace of ’60 Colts at my side. The last 1860’s were offered in 1873 and many originals are still shootable, some 140 years later. Colt’s reputation, military contracts and future in the marketplace were riding on every gun. Colt understood what parts needed to be hardened, how they needed to be fitted and how to balance the design to keep it from kicking itself apart.

revolvers are so reliable that most modern armies are moving back to them.

Really? Which ones?

I assume that was a joke.

PS Militaries (since the advent of reliable semiautomatic pistols) prefer autos to revolvers because of ease of field maintenance/repair, superior ruggedness under harsh conditions, and quick reloads, more so that due to superior reliability when well maintained and clean. Well maintained and clean, good revolvers are about the equal of good semiautos in the reliability department.

it was sarcasm

That's what I figured.

Interesting. I read that just after Robert E. Lee's death in 1870 his 1851 Navy was taken out and fired. All 6 rounds went off; revolver was loaded in 1863 and stayed that way until his death.
Bob