The Gun Digest Book of the Revolver. Grant Cunningham
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and activity. I’ve done my best to make it useful for the new shooter and the more seasoned enthusiast, and I hope you’ll find much in these pages that is useful to you.
It’s helpful to keep in mind that my primary shooting interest is for self defense, and even though this isn’t a self defense book you’ll probably see a bit of bias in that direction. That doesn’t mean I’ve ignored competitive revolver shooting or handgun hunting or plinking, and in some cases I’ll give specific techniques and recommendations for those activities as well, but most of my thought and investigation has gone to the task of optimizing revolver shooting for the job of personal protection. What is efficient in the context of a fight may not be so in the context of a shooting contest, and vice-versa. You need to decide for yourself what information is applicable to your interests and motivation.
Chapter One
Why the Revolver?
Not that long ago the preferred handgun of both police and private citizens was the double action revolver. They were carried on duty, used to protect the home, shot in competition, and held their own as plinkers and fun guns. Their operation was well known, and learning how to properly handle their long, heavy triggers was a point of pride for many firearms instructors.
In the 1970s that started to change. The autoloading pistol was migrating from military service to law enforcement, and as it gained acceptance in those arenas the general public came to see the revolver as “old-fashioned.” By the end of the century the autoloader had almost completely replaced the revolver in police service –and for a large percentage of private citizens as well.
The revolver is still a viable choice for many kinds of shooting: recreation, hunting, or self defense.
Common malfunctions like this don’t occur with a revolver.
Today it’s rare to see a revolver in a police duty holster. On occasion you’ll find a veteran officer carrying one, and in sparsely populated areas some cops prefer them for their ability to fire powerful, flat-shooting Magnum cartridges. Other than that the revolver has been relegated to the status of the backup: an arm used to supplant the primary arm should it become inoperable or lost.
Still, nearly forty percent of all handgun sales in the U.S. are revolvers. That’s because the revolver still has some advantages – some obvious, some not – over the ubiquitous auto-loader.
The revolver is generally more reliable than an autoloader of similar quality. This isn’t to say that malfunctions can’t occur with a revolver, only that they’re less common. What malfunctions do occur are almost always a function of improper reloading technique (which I’ll cover in a later chapter) or poor quality ammunition.
A malfunction that needs clearing is quite rare. The most common problem, a failure to fire, is usually solved by stroking the trigger again and using better ammo. Another common malfunction is a case caught under the extractor, which renders the gun inoperative until fixed. It is prevented by proper reloading technique.
There is a malfunction clearing process for the very rare instances not covered above, and I’ll show you that, but needing to perform the drill is quite rare. Because of this inherent reliability, less training time is expended in malfunction drills which means more time for learning the important task of shooting!
A revolver doesn’t need just the right grip to keep it running; there is no “limp wrist” malfunction with a wheelgun. Shooting from disadvantaged positions or while injured won’t stop the gun from operating.
During an actual defensive encounter, the revolver is more resistant to induced failures. The revolver isn’t jammed by clothing or incompletely ejected casings. With an autoloader, slight contact can actually slow the slide enough to induce a malfunction. That’s not an issue with the revolver, making it ideal for close-quarters defensive duties. The shrouded or concealed hammer models are about as immune to such problems as can be imagined.
Some defensive schools teach shooting while in contact with an adversary. Whether that’s an appropriate response is beyond the scope of this book, but in such cases the revolver works perfectly where the auto can be jammed at the first shot.
Because of this it’s also possible to fire a revolver from inside a pocket without fear of malfunction. Shooting the revolver from inside a purse holster is also doable (and perhaps even necessary in the event of a purse grab.) An autoloader wouldn’t be as reliable under those circumstances.
(It’s important to understand that both autos and revolvers can be deliberately rendered inoperable by a very determined assailant. It’s the inadvertent failures, those that are situationally caused, that aren’t a problem for the revolver.)
A revolver is easier to fit to the hand. An autoloader, even one of the few that feature interchangeable backstraps, is still limited by the dimensions of its magazine well. A revolver’s grip can be easily changed to be longer, shorter, deeper, shallower, wider, or thinner. The angle at which the gun sits in the hand can even be altered on some models. In most cases it’s a cinch to make the revolver fit the hand perfectly.
One overlooked feature of the revolver is that it operates without ammunition. While I’m not a big proponent of extensive dry fire, the fact that the revolver is fully functional without ammo means that dry fire training is more useful than it is with an autoloader. There’s no interruption in the firing cycle, so trigger control is learned faster than if you had to stop to constantly rack a slide. I don’t know about you, but my brain learns best when it can experience a complete cycle of an event, and this is more easily done with the revolver.
The revolver is not only less expensive to purchase, it’s less expensive to operate as well. The gun itself tends to be less expensive than an auto of equal quality, but that’s just the start!
The revolver is self contained, and doesn’t need expensive magazines to operate.
If you have a defensive autoloader, it’s imperative that you test its function with the ammunition that you plan to carry. Recommendations vary, but the most common is that you shoot 200 rounds of that ammunition through the gun. If you’ve priced ammunition lately, you know how much that can cost!
With a revolver, you need to test your ammunition primarily to adjust the sights, or to verify that the bullet impact matches your non-adjustable sights. A couple of cylinders is all that takes, and you can then substitute cheaper practice or range ammo.
Of course there are no expensive magazines to buy. If you shoot your autoloader a lot, most authorities recommend that you have a half-dozen magazines for that gun. That’s a lot of money, and magazines are disposable parts: they wear out or can be damaged relatively easily. That’s an expense the revolver doesn’t have.
It’s impossible to load rounds into a revolver backwards.
Speaking of magazines, one of my favorite revolver attributes is that there aren’t any. Sometimes I go to the range with several guns, and when I’m dealing with autoloaders more than once I’ve forgotten to bring a magazine. The revolver doesn’t have that problem because the magazine is part and parcel of the gun. Even many years from now a revolver bought today will still be operational, while I’ve run into many autoloaders over the years that are missing their magazines.
I know I’m picking on the magazine issue, but another point is that it’s impossible to load rounds into a revolver backwards. I’ve seen more than one person load a round into a magazine backwards, and that causes a heck of a jam. Admittedly the incidence goes down with familiarization, but I remember one match I shot where a seasoned competitor loaded a round backwards in the middle of his magazine. Boy, was his face red!
I’m not a fan of the word “tactical,”