[Bellevance]

The following list of points is only a tad off the subject, since it's more of a subjective comparison of the revolver to the semi-automatic than it is a meditation on a revolver's coolness, but it does logically and affectionately lay out the reasons a lot of us admire, collect, and shoot revolvers...

From an old gun owner on another forum:

>>> Here's my Top Ten list of some other advantages of a revolver that may not have been touched upon. In no particular order of importance:

1) Day to day "administrative" tasks are far easier with a revolver. I'm constantly unloading and re-loading my handguns, usually to practice drawing, dry-firing, etc. That's easy with a revolver. It's easy to dump the ammo, easy to re-load it, easy to see that you have unloaded it, easy to see you have properly re-loaded it, etc.

All this is harder to do with an auto, since you are always messing with that first cartridge, making sure the OAL isn't shortened when you re chamber that round, etc. Plus, with an auto, I'm always fretting about the magazine springs taking a set, etc.

2) Dry-firing is wonderful with a revolver. Not just single-action precision fire. What's neat about a revolver is that you can simulate rapid-fire shooting just by dry-firing. Hard to replicate with an auto since you have to manually recock the hammer.

This to me is a HUGE advantage. I'm a firm believer that if you really want to get good, you need to do a lot of dry firing, on a very regular basis. A good revolver practically begs to be taken out and dry-fired. An auto tends to be a pain, and you really need to shoot live ammo in an auto to see how it works "at speed."

3) With live ammo, a good revolver, shot at speed, has a "rhythm" to it that I've never experienced with an auto. To me, this is one of the best highs in handgun shooting.

E.g., when I've shot steel plates, my fastest times are with a wheel gun. That long, smoooooth trigger stroke gets me back on target faster than an auto, and I'm prepping that trigger during recoil and while I'm moving the piece. With an auto, I'm out of sync, and tend to jerk that short trigger when I'm trying for time.

4) I find the general "upchuck" and vomiting of an auto objectionable. One of the things I don't like about a center-fire auto is that when I shoot it, the slide slams back, brass gets spit out into the air (perhaps flying into my face or down my shirt), the slide slams forward, etc. Lots of jarring and commotion. With a revolver, the hammer falls and the bullet heads off to its target. That's it. The prep work for the next shot happens well after the previous one has been launched, at a time of your choosing.
5) Ultimate accuracy strongly favors the revolver. I have many old Smith revolvers that will launch a .38 Special. .44 Special, or .45 ACP round **exactly** where I want it to go. Not just in the general vicinity. Not just pretty close. Nope......right smack dab into the X-ring, with a perfection that brings a smile to your face as you view that hole through the spotting scope. That's the best high of handgun shooting, that feeling that your mind caused that hole to appear in that distant target.

A revolver seems to facilitate that process. It doesn't "get in your way" as you try to do this.

Sure, a highly tuned and tight auto can be made to do this as well, but not as easily as a wheel gun. A target grade .22 auto is a fine machine, but once you get to the center-fire autos, the target grade capabilities are tougher to find. Certainly hard to combine accuracy with stone-cold reliability in a centerfire auto. Easy to do in a center-fire revolver. A Smith K-38 is simultaneouly a match grade handgun, a decent self defense or service weapon. and a small to medium size hunting weapon. What auto can compare?

6) There is an elegance, finesse, and beauty to a revolver that just seems to be lacking in an auto. With a revolver, there is a feeling that well honed and oiled precision parts are snicking into place as you manipulate the piece. Your own muscle power is what makes it work; that's how it was designed. That is a joy unto itself.

You can "bond" with a revolver, both mentally and physically, in a way you can't with an auto. To me, shooting a revolver is like riding a fine motorcycle; it can become an extension of your mind. Shooting an auto can be like driving an SUV.

I read once that people tend to bequeath revolvers to their surviving kin, but not their autos. Again, that suggests that a good revolver can become a treasured, intimate object in a way that a bottom feeder can't match.

7) Not sure I'm describing this right, but revolvers have curves and grace. The human body, and the human hand, has curves. It has always been easier for me to comfortably carry and conceal a revolver, precisely because it is not an angular block of steel. The wide cylinder, combined with a thinner frame and barrel, make the wheel gun ride easy against the body, and makes it easy to draw.
Likewise, when I hold and shoot a revolver with a good, custom grip, it melts into my hand, unlike the "blocky" feel of most autos.

8) To my mind, the only clear-cut advantage of an auto is ammo capacity. The 6 shot capacity of a revolver used to bother me, and sometimes it still does. Gosh, why settle for 6 rounds, when you can have a Glock with 17 or even more on tap?

But, in the real world, I'm not sure this makes any difference. You will surely settle the affair with 3, 4, or 5 rounds. If not, you'd better be behind cover--in which case you can easily reload the revolver. A Glock with 17+ rounds does not really give you the ability to confront 10 well armed and determined opponents, out in the open, without cover.

9) Revolvers and reloading go together like apple pie and vanilla ice cream. You don't have to chase brass. You can pick whatever power level you want in your ammo. And it's easy to shoot cheap, cast lead bullets you make yourself. For .38Spl, I cast round nose bullets out of plain wheel weights, and such seemingly ordinary ammo features match grade accuracy for pennies a round. No muss, no fuss--unlike reloading for many autos.

10) Finally, I think a lot of the advantages of a revolver only become apparent once you are older, or have shot a lot of other guns. When I was younger, I was all about autos. I thought the mechanisms of an auto were cool, and a revolver was boring.

Now, I see it differently. Maybe that makes me a geezer. Or maybe I've just gotten wiser, and figured out what I really, really want a handgun to do for me. <<<