My late mentor carried a .357 5-shot revolver and swore by that caliber. He was a Vietnam combat veteran and one of the most capable individuals I’ve ever known. Marty loved the revolver and there were plenty of times he looked at me funny for carrying a Glock (I carried a Glock 21 when we first met). For the longest time, we joked about which was more reliable and at one point we were ready to drag them through a swamp with a length of paracord tethered to the trigger guards and then test their function. We never got around to that test and thus we never settled that friendly debate. There are some who still prefer a revolver and others who will never carry a wheel gun. The world is filled with more opinions than understanding. As with any tool including firearms, there is always a tradeoff. If you plan on carrying a firearm in the backcountry or as part of your EDC, you must understand what it is capable of and what its limitations are. In this week’s blog, I expand on this idea relating to the venerable revolver.
Weight
My Colt Python with a 4.25” barrel weighs 42 ounces empty. My Glock 17 with a 4.49” barrel weighs 22 ounces. At almost twice the weight, the revolver is definitely more to carry on my belt. That heft is the reason many select polymer pistols over steel revolvers but the additional weight helps tame the recoil of the heaviest rounds. I’m far from a newbie revolver shooter and have used everything from a lightweight .357 all the way up to a 500 Smith and Wesson Magnum. Kind of like Goldilocks and the right porridge, you have to find the right weight for a revolver as some are too light and painful to fire and some are too heavy to practically carry. Weight is less of a concern for me than balance and my Python points extremely well without feeling front-heavy or awkward. A well-balanced and weighted revolver can be fired hundreds and thousands of rounds over and it will be a joy. Lightweight revolvers are fun to carry but not to fire and those revolvers have had issues in the past with durability. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why Marty chose a stainless steel revolver for protection.
Capacity
The cylinder of a revolver can hold anywhere from 5-12 rounds but those with higher capacities are usually smaller diameter rounds like the .22.A typical .38 or .357 will hold between 5-8 rounds and a .44 magnum will hold 6. Some sub-compact pistols like the SIG P365 will hold 10 9mm rounds in the smallest configuration and other firearms in the same category will hold 12-15. As the cylinder gets larger to accommodate more rounds or larger rounds, the revolver bulges out more from the belt line, unlike a magazine-fed pistol with an extended magazine. This can lead to comfort and concealability issues. When I used to debate the capacity of my pistol to Marty’s revolver, he would cite the FBI stats that most shootings take place in under 3 seconds, involving fewer than 3 rounds, and under 3 feet. Marty stated the capability of his revolver loaded with Buffalo Bore hard-cast rounds to my hollow points for this and for that. At the end of the day, there are going to be times when a deep-penetrating round will work better for a dangerous game than a hollow point and times when 3x the number of rounds carried will be better to address multiple adversaries before reloading. There’s always a tradeoff.
Trigger
There’s an expression, “revolvers have double the trigger pull and double the difficulty…” of a pistol. Colt states the double action trigger pull is between 7 to 9.5 pounds. Shooting the revolver double action only definitely takes practice as the trigger pull cocks the hammer and releases it. There was a time when this technology was groundbreaking as it replaced the need to break the master grip to cock the hammer with one hand or fan the hammer with the support hand with each shot like a cowboy gunslinger. Compared to the safe-action trigger of a Glock, a traditional revolver trigger takes more time to learn to use effectively. Double Action Only revolvers (those without exposed hammers) are perhaps the hardest to use accurately over greater distances than the striker-fired pistol and this was a point I liked to bring up in debates with Marty. A lot of folks want that close-range “belly gun” but they don’t like talking about accuracy at 25 yards and aren’t quick to step up to the line for a real-time challenge. Revolver triggers don’t have to be a bear to pull and as long as you understand the fundamentals of sight alignment and trigger pull (consistent press actually), you can learn to run one quickly. Also, unlike striker-fired pistols, the ability to cock the hammer and press a crisp single-action trigger of a DA/SA revolver, makes precise shots easier as very little pressure is needed to drop the hammer. There are those who claim a revolver cannot fire as quickly as a modern semi-auto “bottom feeding” pistol. For those naysayers, look up Jerry Miculek. While Mr. Miculek is probably an alien or a superhero, he is a shooter who proves speed and accuracy are determined by the capability of the user. His world-record videos are incredible to watch and his family (including his daughter Lena who is a world-class shooter too) is setting the bar very high for excellence.
Other Desirable Attributes
If there is a common ground between my personal firearm preferences and revolvers, it is both durability and reliability. Before you worry about accuracy, you need a tool that is going to function. A revolver like my Colt Python is straight-up classy and it is attractive for its dependability in the backcountry. Steel is strong, stainless steel is easy to maintain, and no matter what kind of rounds I load into the cylinder, it will rotate and fire when needed. Some autoloading pistols are finicky with certain bullet types jamming on the feed ramp. Revolvers aren’t immune to malfunctions but the likelihood of those is very rare. Furthermore, the .357 revolver is a true survival firearm in that it can accommodate the standard .357 magnum rounds as well as .38 special rounds. In fact, I had the opportunity to use a Colt Python loaded with .38s during one stage of a competition I participated in and found the recoil was easy to handle. It was a puppy dog to shoot with those .38s and I wondered how it would perform with heavier and more charged .357 rounds. Multi-caliber capability also exists with the .44 magnum and .44 special. It’s possible to stock up on “practice rounds” as well as very specific rounds for the dangerous game country and personal defense on the streets. If you have a firearm in the home along with shooters of different recoil sensitivity, a revolver loaded up or down could make sense as a home defense firearm.
Revolvers aren’t as common in self-defense firearms courses anymore but they are far from obsolete. They are seen as less of a threat when traveling in anti-2A states and they are an excellent option for the backcountry. Marty carried a revolver in Vietnam and all throughout his civilian life. I’m the proud owner of that Model 60 now and it still has dirt and debris on it from all the time he carried it OWB cross draw in a custom leather holster he made. I’ll never give up my personal preference for self-defense pistols but I’ll gladly pick up a solid revolver like my Python when I head into the field. I know its capability and the trade-off and am willing to accept them.