Revolver or Semi Auto Pistol?

With concealed carry applications being accepted starting Sunday January 5th, a lot of people are starting to look seriously at what kind of gun they want to carry. 

The trend is recent years has been towards semi auto pistols.  Every police department has shifted from the traditional .38 special revolver to a semi-auto, usually Glock or Sig-Sauer.

Now you’ve decided to join the millions of Americans who own a handgun. You have your FOID card, you may have received some instruction, gone to the range to practice with someone else’s weapons, and signed up for your concealed handgun license tests. Yes?

Now, choosing what type of handgun to buy is a personal decision. If anybody tells you something along the lines of “a revolver is the only handgun you’ll ever need” or “you’d be an idiot to buy anything other than a semi-auto,” ignore their advice. Manufacturers sell handguns designed for a wide variety of needs and uses and, let’s face it, fashion.

Yes, there is such a thing as a bad gun. Handguns that are too powerful for the individual, complicated to load, too bulky for their owner are bad guns for them, but might be ideal for someone with larger hands. You need to choose your weapon wisely, lest you end up with a firearm that you A) don’t like and/or B) can’t control when you’re faced with a life or death decision. Let’s start with the basics. There are two main types of handguns: revolvers (a.k.a., “wheelguns”) and semi-automatic pistols.

The Revolver

A revolver is the kind of gun you imagine when you think of a western movie or a Film Noir detective show. It’s the classic six-shooter, carried by every celluloid gunfighter from Tom Mix to Kevin Costner to Mike Hammer. A wheelgun is a deceptively simple machine that comes in two basic flavors: single-action and double-action.

You have to cock the hammer to fire a single-action revolver (think Colt .45 six-shooter, the classic “Peacemaker”. You can fire a double-action revolver even when it’s not cocked. A revolver usually holds between five and six rounds (cartridges). Revolvers almost never have external “safety” mechanisms. The usual precaution: keep the gun loaded with one round less than capacity, and keep the cylinder (the “wheel” part of the wheelgun) turned so that the firing pin is set to the empty chamber.

Revolvers don’t automatically eject spent cartridge casings. They hold fewer bullets than a semi-auto and take longer to reload. Some self-defense experts believe these factors put revolvers at a significant disadvantage in a combat situation. Others believe gunfights are such close, fast and limited events that the amount of ammunition is a relatively minor consideration.

On the plus side, revolvers are relatively dependable, user-friendly and easy to clean and maintain. They almost never jam and they’re dead easy to shoot. Revolvers come in a wide variety of calibers (the bullet’s approximate diameter, measured in inches or millimeters). Even if you shoot a revolver without keeping your wrist and arm stiff (“limp-wristed”), the gun will continue to fire. If you encounter a defective cartridge, you simply pull the trigger again.

Generally, revolvers cost less than semi-automatics. If you want a handgun that’s simple, super-reliable and requires minimal skills or knowledge to fire a revolver is a great choice.

Semi-Auto Pistols

Semi-automatics have been the sidearm of choice to virtually every soldier, sailor, airman and Marine from 1911 onward. They come in single- and double-action models, a variety of calibers and a variety of capacities. The venerable Model 1911-1A, also popularly known as the Colt .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol), is considered the classic semi-auto. 1911 sales of this 100+ year old John Moses Browning design still accounts for a large percentage of the handguns sold each year.

The so-called polymer/alloy-frames is the fastest-growing style of semi-auto. The category includes the Glock, the Springfield XD and weapons from Smith & Wesson, Colt and a slew of others. Polymer-frame guns are lighter and cheaper than their metal siblings, and usually offer with higher-capacity magazines than 1911s.

A semi-auto holds more rounds than a wheelgun. It can be reloaded easily by releasing and replacing a magazine with 8 to 17 more cartridges.  Because semi autos use spent exhaust gases to chamber the next round, owners have to keep their wrist stiff to let the inertia work the way it was designed to.  Otherwsie the gun won’t eject the empty casing and the pistol jams after one shot from “limpwristing”.  You have to clear the jam before you can chamber the next round.

Semi-autos require more practice at the range to use well and are usually more expensive than revolvers and a little more complicated to clean and maintain. If you want a gun with the maximum capacity for rounds without reloading, easy reloading, and a wide variety of calibers, grip sizes, and other features (adjustable grips, sights, magazines, etc.), a semi-auto is a sensible choice.

Which is right for you?

So which one is the right gun for you? That depends on you. If you’re into “simple” and don’t feel as if you’ll need a lot of rounds, a wheelgun will do the job without complaint. If capacity and reloading are concerns, if you’re willing to work a little harder to acquire and maintain shooting skills, a semi-auto is the better choice.

Ultimately, remember the old expression: the best gun is the one you have when you need it. Expanding on that, the best gun is the one you know how to use well and reliably. Practice and training again and again is the key to marksmanship and subconscious rapid response time, regardless of whether or not the handgun is intended for personal protection or sporting use.

Once you get past the question of revolver versus semi-auto, it’s time to start considering things like how the gun feels in your hand in terms of size, weight and shape, how you’re going to use it (will you conceal/carry, keep it in a gun safe, carry it in your car, etc.), and which members of your family may (or may not) use it.