Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns revolver as first centerfire handgun?

How about the ones you can't even convince to buy a handgun? I've given up on them.

A 4” K frame is pretty hard to screw up and not understand how it works.
Good enough to load, holster, and put in the nightstand. If she’ll shoot it more than once a year, might think about something else, but most women (and most men) won’t.....

In every generation since the '36 Patterson, some folks got to live out their lives in relative tranquility because they had one or another revolver handy when trouble came calling. I'd wager very few were steely-eyed, deadly pistoleros to whom the gun was an extension of their soul.

What they did have was basic familiarity with a firearm, the determination to fight back and the resolve to do it. Some people will attain that basic familiarity faster and more comfortably with a double action revolver. Almost anybody can learn to run it safely and shoot it well enough to discourage a miscreant inside your home or a couple of car lengths. That's all some want from a defensive handgun and if it works for them, so be it. High achievers will master it and probably move on from it. I think of the defensive revolver as a stepping stone, not a wrong turn.

The only thing I'd do different is change from GP100/686 to S&W 10 or 64. They are slightly smaller, and have fixed sights. Double action on the GP100 feels odd to me, but I rarely shoot them.

I’d recommend a shooter try both a 9mm DAO and a double action .357/38 with .38s. Let them decide which is more comfortable.

This, although I'd say a DA/SA with a decocker only is also a decent option. The main problem I see with polymer striker guns, especially glocks, is that, when held to loose, they tend to FTE. And yes, you even see this in a lot of bodycam footage on the internet. Most of the malfunctions in those videos are induced by limpwristing the gun during a stressful situation.

Take these things on a case by case basis.

For some, they may be most comfortable with a revolver and the manner in which it is very easy to check the condition of the status of on board ammunition, along with ease of loading/unloading.

For others the rather simple nature of most of the modern polymer, striker fired 9mms, that lack a manual external safety, are quite attractive, once they find one that they can get a decent grip on.

The environment in which the handgun will be stored plays a factor. Do they have kids? Exactly what condition do they intend to keep the handgun in?

These things need to be viewed on a case by case, individual basis, rather than making a blanket recommendation.

For many, a Glock 19 will be great. Point and shoot. For others a Model 15 .38 may be a better choice.

Most can learn to rack the slide. If not, move on from there. And frankly, having two revolvers would be a better choice than one in this day and age of packs of ferals. A pair of 3" GP100s loaded with wadcutters would be a solid recommendation, if a woman does not want a standard capacity auto.

My wife is not a handgun enthusiast at all. she could care less. There are .38s strategically placed for her here and there. It really probably won't make much of a difference in 90+% of the outcomes what I grab, but it might for her, so the tools are set up with her in mind.

She has her own 442, It used to belong to an NYPD detective, and now she carries it wherever she wants, along with a Combat Masterpiece. (which I borrow frequently).

I would rather she have a few .38s around than a Glock she is not familiar with, when it comes to using under pressure. But that is only one case.

Like I said, case by case basis.

That I don't mind...
Buying a handgun is a commitment on many levels. If someone is unwilling to make that commitment, I respect that. What I have less patience for is people who half ass things.

"If you don't have the hand strength to cycle a slide, then a DA trigger action is going to be a big challenge also."

My mom could easily pull the double action trigger on her Ruger Speed Six till about a year before she passed away at the age of 84. She had never had the strength (or, at least, not after age 50) to rack the slide on an automatic.

Precisely. Well said.

Not really a true statement. Seeings how the most common of arms in possession of the populace was not a revolver or rifle, it was a shotgun. Double duty for food on the table and self defense.

Phil Spangenberger

Although the rifle and six-gun usually take the bows for winning the West, it was the double-barreled shotgun as much as any firearm that was responsible for bringing civilization to the frontier. Many of the early pioneers invested everything they had, in order to make the overland trek out West, leaving little money for weaponry. The best and certainly one of the most economical and versatile firearms for hunting and defense in a wild, hostile land was the twin-barreled scattergun. Whether muzzle loader or breech-loading cartridge gun, many thousands of shotguns from a variety of makers and countries were the mainstay of settlers, lawmen, express companies, Native Americans, soldiers, ranchers and hunters. Gunmen like Indian Territory lawman Heck Thomas and gambler John H. “Doc” Holiday also used scatterguns. Virtually everyone, good or bad, who needed a weapon recognized the value of the old side by side.

Thanks TRH.

Agreed!

And you can practice ball and dummy with them to work on their trigger technique.

Mike

So you're saying that some people, from every generation since that Patterson, didn't successfully defend themselves with revolvers?

BINGO

As someone mentioned already, for most of the 19th, 20th Century, and beyond, lots of Americans have acquired handguns, learned their basic function, maybe shot them a couple of times, kept them loaded in a sock drawer, and have used them to thwart crimes against them in their homes. So long as you know how to safely handle it, it's an advantage to have one in most cases, vs not having one.

It's a personal thing, but a revolver is a very good platform to learn the "basics" of handgun shooting. Once that is mastered (to what ever degree) then you can go the the auto's and their separate issues that a revolver does not have.