Revolver Vs Semi Auto Which Is Best For Concealed Carry

[Elderberry]

Skilled Survival

Today I want to break down the pros and cons of carrying a revolver vs semi auto.

To help you make an informed decision on this hotly debated topic.

Any Breaking Bad fans out there?

    “If five rounds won’t get the job done, you’re into spray and pray, and another six isn’t likely to seal the deal.”

    “You can’t get more dependable than a wheel gun.”

Recognize those words of wisdom imparted to Walter White just before he bought his snub-nose 38 Special?

So maybe you’re considering your handgun choices for daily concealed carry and the revolver has captured your eye.

You’re drawn to the simplicity, ruggedness, reliability, ergonomics and even beauty of a wheel gun – but do they make good carry weapons?

In a day when many are carrying semi-autos with up to fifteen double stacked rounds of 9 mm – what good is a five shot revolver?

Actually, the revolver is a very good choice.

The Trusty Reliable Revolver

One issue with semi autos is that they must be kept pristine and oiled to prevent their bad tendencies such as jamming during feeding or stove piping during extraction. A little powder residue goes a long way to gumming up your semi-auto.

Suddenly your fifteen round 9mm becomes a single shot weapon while the small frame revolver still has four more rounds.

Revolvers can take a little powder residue and still function. In fact, it takes quite a bit of carbon build-up to jam up a revolver.

If you’re the type who does not keep his or her weapons in a pristine condition (and you know who you are) you need to fight the urge to invest in weapons that require this level of care. Or they may fail to function when your life depends on it.

Personally, I wouldn’t carry any weapon for self-protection in a dirty or neglected condition – but if you do – make it a rugged revolver.

One word of caution: I’ve often heard the advantage of a revolver is if you have a misfire you can just pull the trigger again to move another round into position for firing, unlike a semi-auto, where you will have to the rack the slide. This is true, however, keep in mind, if the reason the revolver failed to fire was a slow primer and you rotate the cylinder into the next position you run the risk of an explosion.

Pulling the trigger again moves a dud out of the way, but a hang-fire may result in an out of battery explosion, destroying the gun and whatever human parts happen to be in the way of the flying metal.

So again, it’s nice to have a double stack of 9mms, but have to hit the target.

And – by the way – we talk a lot about 15 round capacities and double-stacked magazines, but let’s get real for a moment. These full-frame pistols conceal carry with all the subtlety of an ISIS pick-up truck.

Revolver vs Semi Auto Accuracy Differences

Many semi-autos suffer from accuracy issues due to several factors. During firing, the explosion of gases from the cartridge is used to force the slide rearward, extracting the spent cartridge on the recoil and grabbing a new cartridge from the magazine during the return to battery.

The bullet is moving down the barrel when the recoil begins.

This recoil consists of a mass of metal slamming rearward. The vibration and jolting forces imparted to the shooter’s hand and the barrel itself during this recoil can shift the barrel’s alignment slightly – especially guns with “floating” barrels – or barrels that are not fixed.

Floating barrels are used on higher power locked-breeched pistols. This is due to the higher chamber pressures associated with them. The barrel locks into the slide by pressure until the pressure drops enough to unlock and allow the slide to function.

This is necessary for safe operation of the pistol.

Without this locking breech function, the higher chamber pressures would slam the slide backward hard enough to damage it and also possibly causes the cartridge to explode rather than containing the pressure until the bullet leaves the barrel. This locking and unlocking of the barrel cause a very slight movement in barrel alignment as it locks and unlocks.

The sights on a semi-auto pistol are also integral to the slide, the large moving part of the weapon, rather than a fixed barrel.

Another problem with the 9mm semi-auto accuracy are the people who shoot them. When you have over a dozen rounds in a fast-firing semi-auto, the tendency is to spray and pray.

This is what occurs when you read about those cases of gunfights where dozens of rounds were shot from near point blank ranges and by both parties and neither was hit – or several bystanders were hit by accident.

In A Real Gun Fight, Spraying And Praying Is A Quick Way To Die

More: https://www.skilledsurvival.com/revolver-vs-semi-auto/

[sneakypete]

No such thing as "one size fits all".

In the winter,when it's cold and I am wearing a coat,I much prefer my 44 Special revolver with 5 shots,no rear sight,smoothed front sight,and bobbed hammer. I carry it inside my coat pocket,and what can be less conspicuous in the winter than walking around with your hands in your coat pockets?

And if confronted by aggression,you can simply tell the attacker "I have my hand on my gun and I will shoot you right through the coat pocket if you don't go away and become a good little boy."

Do NOT tell any potential attackers what kind of gun you have,the make,model,caliber,barrel length,or anything else that can help them describe it to a cop and claim you took it out and pointed it at them.

In hot weather you have fewer options,and I prefer to carry my old steel Colt Combat Commander with 200 gr hollowpoint handloads in a inside the pants holster with a shirt pulled over it. In this case I don't have the luxury of having it in my hand and ready to shoot at any given moment,so I just warn them that I have a gun and do NOT shoot to wound. I also remind them that they can die today,or survive today,and the choice is up to them. So far no one has questioned my determination on any of this,and I have had confrontations with potential attackers several times.

I do believe in giving people a warning if at all possible,but chances are if I pull my gun,somebody is going to get shot. I don't pull it to intimidate anyone or to play teebee badass. By the time things get that far I will have already reluctantly decided I am going to shoot somebody.

[roamer_1]

I don't own a wheel gun anymore, other than the 357mag that lives in the truck...

Which is weird.

I switched everything out to 45ACP with the exact intention of being an easier carry, and easier to conceal... My next investment was going to be a S&W M&P Shield, for the first gun I have ever had with the expressed purpose of being a hidey-gun.

Started with a matched pair of Glock nickel 9mms I won in a trade - I ain't got a use for them little pea shooters, but they are pretty, and they come with leather shoulder holsters - holsters with that spring steel front end that you pull the gun through, rather than out the top, so they pretty well fall out into your hand... So I wore em one time under a suit just to see how that was, and they laid nice under that suit coat... Can't do that with cowboy guns. But I bet you could with a 1911. So a shoulder rig might be a thing... I already typically cross-draw from a rocker-holster forward of my left hip, so a cross-draw out of a shoulder rig might be alright.

But I have pretty well decided the hidey-gun thing just ain't worth the bother. And I am likely to go back to 45 Colt too - I have an aversion to semi autos that I just can't kick... And while I ain't exactly bad with a 1911, I can dot your eye with a Colt. Old dog, new tricks, and all that. I just don't trust it like I do a Colt...

As it turns out, I got no cause to hide it. I am fine hanging it off a belt on my hip.

But I DO get what you mean with winter gear. I could quite likely survive a couple days off of the incidentals I have here and there in all them coats. And while I still carry a knife on my belt, I have a matching neck rig I switch to in the winter, as it is just too tough to get at my belt, and I too have shoved a pistol in a pocket just for accessibility.

[txradioguy]

Up until I got my P365 my .38 special was my summer carry gun.

Iy has as many rounds (6) as most of the pocket semi autos and didn't print on my summertime attire any more than a semi auto.

There are advantages to a revolver int he wintertime as well especially if you're in a place like Colorado where I'm now stationed.  You can shoot a revolver through the material of your jacket and you can't do that with a semi.