Pistol refers to a handgun to me......then broken down into either a revolver or a semi.

I've owned a S&W Model 686 in .357 caliber and six in barrel since I've been 18, that's just shy of 20 years now. Though I've never shot a deer with it, I have missed one while driving deer. Many people consider the .357 a light caliber for deer.

Just recently I purchased a semi......a Glock Model 21 in .45 caliber...very nice handgun and I'm truly impressed with it. Currently I've only put two rounds through it but it proved very accurate out of the box. That would be 4 rounds total due to the factory firing two rounds before completion....again, very impressed with this handgun.

Your model 19 is a REVOLVER.

What do I consider a pistol? Pistol = SIG!
More specificaly, my Sig 239

I associate "pistol" to any gun that you don't shoulder to shoot except for shotguns with pistol grips.

To me, if you hold the gun at arms lenth to fire it then it's a pistol, regardless of the caliber.

I agree with Rob, the term "Pistol" has become the same in meaning over the years as "handgun".


when breaking it down to specifics a revolver is just that - a pistol with a revolving cylinder. We then enter the category of semi-autoladers or, as most people now refer to them, automatics. Albeit, automatic is also a misnomer that has become synonnimous with the semi-automatic or autoloader.