Revolvers will get you killed
05-05-2017, 05:32 AM
#51
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Knee Deep in FL Muck
Posts: 286
Bull. If you know you have a lot of rounds you don't take as much time with your sight picture, remember it is a general statement and won't apply to every shooter so don't take it as an absolute. Bottom line when you don't have many you tend to make them count. Kind of like the old saying: Beware the man that hunts with a single shot, he can hit what he aims at. Ever hunted with a muzzleloader? Didn't take any iffy shots that you would try with a repeating gun did you? It's the same concept. Rounds on target is the most important aspect of going home alive.
If you dump a full mag of 15 rounds in a 9mm but don't take the time to actually aim them then a guy like me, with a 6 shot revolver in any caliber you care to mention, will probably win the gunfight. Rounds that hit flesh count, rounds that hit sheetrock don't. This is why my unit had us load minimal rounds in our rigs and still require a successful engagement of multiple targets, you learn to make the shots count and that is what matters. Spray and pray leads to bleed and die.
But hey, what do I know? I only survived a couple of fire fights and you admit you've never been in one. You obviously know more about it than I do.
If you dump a full mag of 15 rounds in a 9mm but don't take the time to actually aim them then a guy like me, with a 6 shot revolver in any caliber you care to mention, will probably win the gunfight. Rounds that hit flesh count, rounds that hit sheetrock don't. This is why my unit had us load minimal rounds in our rigs and still require a successful engagement of multiple targets, you learn to make the shots count and that is what matters. Spray and pray leads to bleed and die.
But hey, what do I know? I only survived a couple of fire fights and you admit you've never been in one. You obviously know more about it than I do.
I have used both revolvers and pistols for CCW. I carry a pistol now. Simple fact is it is easier to carry and faster to reload. I don't think the firearm you choose to carry will get you killed any faster then another. What will get you killed is a lack of situational awareness and the failure to train with what ever firearm you choose.
I give a certain person a heck of a lot of crap for carrying a .22lr, but I can't deny with the amount of training this individual does with this firearm said individual is way more effective with it then without.
05-06-2017, 04:32 AM
#52
Typical Buck
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Colorado
Posts: 797
It's all about self control anyway. No matter how good you are at the range, self defense will be a different story. The more you pratice the more likely you will be able to handle the situation. I like both semi auto and revolver, but......... I really don't like carrying locked and cocked and that's the only way to carry a semi auto to have any amount of chance of a quick situation. Personally I have no problem with a revolver as a carry gun I actually prefer it other than bulk.
In a gun fight with someone that practices with their firearm your both probably in trouble. Your typical thug that don't even shoot you might be okay. Here's the real problem most times you'll never see it coming. So in that basic point it don't matter what you carry as long as you can use it proficiently. Let's just hope you never have to go down that road.
In a gun fight with someone that practices with their firearm your both probably in trouble. Your typical thug that don't even shoot you might be okay. Here's the real problem most times you'll never see it coming. So in that basic point it don't matter what you carry as long as you can use it proficiently. Let's just hope you never have to go down that road.
05-06-2017, 04:56 AM
#53
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Knee Deep in FL Muck
Posts: 286
My question to you is are you carrying your revolver on an empty cylinder, because if you aren't and you are rocking a double action you are locked and cocked!
05-06-2017, 02:51 PM
#54
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Germany/Calif.
Posts: 2,664
One does carry a non transfer bar single action on an empty chamber. Like old Ruger 3 screws.........load one , skip one, load four more and then when you go to full cock, then lower the hammer, it's on the empty.
Loading is done at half cock.
New models you just flip the loading gate open and the cylinder free spins. Hammer is down (but safe in case of drop due to transfer bar).
Loading is done at half cock.
New models you just flip the loading gate open and the cylinder free spins. Hammer is down (but safe in case of drop due to transfer bar).
The technology is basically reliable, but I seldom trust it completely.
The only thing I trust completely is an empty chamber and even then I sometimes check it multiple times. Twice now I've been within feet of somebody who shot themselves and seen numerous negligent discharges that ended better, other than a sphincter clutching moment.
My feeling on the matter is the extra second it takes to jack one into the chamber is offset by the chance of catastrophe being the greater threat IMO. The exception being is when you anticipate a shot, then my finger and my muzzle direction is my safety.
I've been right next to guys, on two occasions, who shot themselves. It is a lot less painful to learn from other peoples mistakes.
Last edited by MudderChuck; 05-06-2017 at 02:55 PM.
05-06-2017, 08:51 PM
#55
Super Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Northern California
Posts: 18,382
I get that not everybody is mechanical. No big deal.
Had a cop chew me out for a Smith revolver on the seat of my vehicle.
Was in a hurry to beat a coworker to the farm, to blast chucks.
Going too fast.
Told the officer I had a firearm in vehicle (running plate should have showed I had a CC license). Had my hands out the window, other window down, told him he could remove the thing and discuss my travel speed.
It all went well, got a warning...........but then the lecture.
Told me that wasn't safe. Told him it was. He reiterated it wasn't safe and I quickly explained the hammer block. He got snippy and said "so what are we today, some kind of mechanical engineer?"
It was the most perfect setup.
Proly had a smile like a Cheshire cat...........looked at him and said "well according to such and such university, yeah I kinda am".
Shook his head and told me to leave, but load the gun with him not around.
BTW, I got to the farm just outside of town same time as my coworker and I blasted a big chuck in the barn with that Smith.
Had a cop chew me out for a Smith revolver on the seat of my vehicle.
Was in a hurry to beat a coworker to the farm, to blast chucks.
Going too fast.
Told the officer I had a firearm in vehicle (running plate should have showed I had a CC license). Had my hands out the window, other window down, told him he could remove the thing and discuss my travel speed.
It all went well, got a warning...........but then the lecture.
Told me that wasn't safe. Told him it was. He reiterated it wasn't safe and I quickly explained the hammer block. He got snippy and said "so what are we today, some kind of mechanical engineer?"
It was the most perfect setup.
Proly had a smile like a Cheshire cat...........looked at him and said "well according to such and such university, yeah I kinda am".
Shook his head and told me to leave, but load the gun with him not around.
BTW, I got to the farm just outside of town same time as my coworker and I blasted a big chuck in the barn with that Smith.
On a side note, one of the SWAT guys was working patrol one day and responded to a man with a gun standing in his front door. The SWAT guy arrived and took cover behind a large tree with his patrol shotgun (12 gauge). He realized he didn't have a round chambered (the way we carry them in patrol cars) and promptly racked a shell into the chamber of his shotgun.
He said the guy looked straight at him, dropped his gun and raised his hands. After they took him safely into custody, the guy said, I knew when that Deputy racked a shell into the shotgun chamber that you guys were serious.
05-07-2017, 04:50 AM
#56
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Knee Deep in FL Muck
Posts: 286
Nope. Not the same.
Most DA revolvers have a transfer bar, or have a hammer block..........will not fire unless the trigger is rearward. Drop safe.
I carry a single action auto, cocked and locked. Have for decades. Doesn't bother me one bit. Series 70 or 80.
Lots of BS about sweeping for a safety. I sweep for it as the gun comes up..close to holster part of draw, not when the gun is almost up. It's automatic. If the gun doesn't have the thumb safety, the sweep happens anyway.
Note: all my autos have safeties that operate in the same direction. I don't mix it up, with other types. But that's just me.
I grew up shooting older style, truckloads of rounds...........so I stay with it.
Of course I don't stuff my cocked and locked auto in my pants with the muzzle resting on my other gun.
Most DA revolvers have a transfer bar, or have a hammer block..........will not fire unless the trigger is rearward. Drop safe.
I carry a single action auto, cocked and locked. Have for decades. Doesn't bother me one bit. Series 70 or 80.
Lots of BS about sweeping for a safety. I sweep for it as the gun comes up..close to holster part of draw, not when the gun is almost up. It's automatic. If the gun doesn't have the thumb safety, the sweep happens anyway.
Note: all my autos have safeties that operate in the same direction. I don't mix it up, with other types. But that's just me.
I grew up shooting older style, truckloads of rounds...........so I stay with it.
Of course I don't stuff my cocked and locked auto in my pants with the muzzle resting on my other gun.
What I was getting at was I don't understand carrying a firearm on an empty chamber. I know I'm gonna catch some heat here, but I fully believe if an individual cannot carry said firearm loaded ready to fire you are not proficiently trained with said firearm. The one instance would be a firearm that is not fall/ impact safe, which I own one, but it is a family heirloom and not used.
05-07-2017, 05:50 AM
#57
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,436
Carrying a revolver with an empty chamber under the hammer harkens back to the days of the Colt Peacemaker and similar revolvers. Those guns had the firing pin on the hammer, a long kind of triangular extension of the hammer that went through a hole in the gun frame and into the chamber of the cylinder that was under the hammer. A good bump or a dropped gun could result in the gun going off. Due to the kind of activities cowboys and others who worked outdoors did, an unwanted discharge of the gun was a very real possibility. That was their safety and it didn't have to be taken off to shoot the gun, they just had to cock it to get a round under the hammer. Of course if they knew they were going to be using the gun for self defense they just flipped open the cylinder gate and stuck in another round and were fully loaded. That had noting to do with not being trained in the use of their weapon, in fact it was just the opposite, it was smart. Once the transfer bar was invented and became common place it was no longer necessary to carry with the hammer down on an empty chamber.
05-07-2017, 06:47 AM
#58
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 9,230
I am not a LEO and never have been. But I spent a long time in the military and got involved in some serious times of exchanging gunfire. Situational awareness keeps you alive and the lack of it makes you dead. A gun, whether revolver or auto, is a piece of steel. The person behind the gun and the decisions they make is what makes the difference. Period.
