Semiauto vs. Revolver - which is more popular in the US?

[4V50 Gary]

My guess is that there are more semis being produced today than revolvers.

My other guess is that there are more revolvers out there than semis.

[TennJed]

Originally Posted by Boncrayon

Depends on how many shots you intend to use in a conflict. One would do, and a revolver is the answer. In outright combat or fun at the range, semi-auto with extra magazines!

I find revolvers more fun to shoot

[reticle]

I have twice as many semis as revolvers, but I shoot the revolvers much more often. I like not having to chase my brass when I use a revolvers. Finish my cylinder, pop the spent brass into a container and no bending over or crawling around on the ground. Now that I'm older and my body is stiffer, bending and crawling make me cry.

[SteveBonning]

First, all this 'from my personal observation' and 'in my house' stuff in meaningless. It does nothing to answer the question. It's no more pertinent then saying 'I've never had the flu, so the flu doesn't exist or the flu vaccine is not necessary."

Certainly the data is available; production numbers are public as are sales information either directly or indirectly. A quick search I just did wed me the first reference that suggested semiauto's outnumber revolvers due in no small part to the fact that there are no longer the large number of law enforcement agencies that issue revolvers as there was 15-20 years ago.(They cited other data and reasons as well).

To the OP; the info you asked for is available without having to guess but it might be worth your while to do the search yourself and get a good answer.

[Bob Wright]

On another forum production figures for 2011 were posted, showing Ruger, Colt, and S&W; all made more "pistols" (Their terminology) than "revolvers" by a wide margin. Added to that that other manufacturers and importers deal primarily with autoloaders, and production is far and away for the auto loader.

The used gun market, especially among collectors, favors the revovler. Most serious collectors favor the revolver of the Nineteenth Century and early Twentieth Century revolvers. But even the older autos and especially the M1911 series guns, are becoming increasingly popular.

But neither will completely replace the other.

Bob Wright

[SgtLumpy]

I don't know, Steve...

The question was "which is more popular".

Not "Which have been more produced".

I don't think it's that simple to just look up "How many autos have been produced", or any other kind of similar blanket statistic. I don't even think, for example, we could accurately look up how many different companies have built 1911s or 38sp revolvers. And for those that we could look up, we may not be able to get any kind of figures.

And "popularity" suggests "what's in use now". And to a secondary point, esp in this kind of forum, I think it suggests "Why", Suppose there's a lot of auto owners with guns on their shelves or in their safes while there's a lot of revolver owners going to the range every week and actually firing them. Or suppose there's a lot of police agencies carrying autos daily but firing them only at quals every 6 or 12 months. Or suppose that six guys shooting revolvers at the range fire a total of 300 rounds one day, while one guy with a Glock fires 600 rounds the same day. I think it's a little difficult to say that one is more popular than the other when you consider that some of them aren't getting fired, some are buried in the prepper vault in the back yard, some are getting fired once a week at the SASS meets and matches.

I think all of those qualifiers like "in my household" and similar are valid and most importantly interesting to read about in a discussion forum. I'm interested in hearing why others like this or that gun. I'm not looking for emperical statistics on how many have been manufactured.


Sgt Lumpy

[peacefulgary]

I see more auto-loaders being used at the range than revolvers.

And in my local gun shops I see more shelf room for auto-loaders than for revolvers.
And I see much much more holsters and accessories for auto-loaders than for revolvers.

I think the auto-loader has won over the people of this nation by quite a large margin.

[southjk]

My take on it it this.

For the average gun buyer that decides, "hey, I need a gun". They go out and buy a semi-auto because that is what they see on tv/movies and it's what is considered a "modern" gun. Revolver? Nah, that's what they used in the old west. I want a modern gun.

Gun enthusiasts, like just about everyone here, probably have both and that is who buys revolvers in addition to semi-autos.

I'd be interested to know the percentage of people that buy revolvers that don't also own a semi-auto or two. Probably pretty small number.

[SgtLumpy]

I'd be interested to know the percentage of people that buy revolvers that don't also own a semi-auto or two.

I'm a "revolver guy". I own an auto but only because it was required of me.


Sgt Lumpy

[Bob Wright]

In my opinion, the big change came during the 'Firties (Ninteen Fifties) with the introduction of the S&W Model 39 DA auto in 9mm. Prior to that, the only auto available was the Colt Government Model and Commander, as new pistols. The only other options were WW II souvenirs, as centerfire pistols. The Colt Ruger and High Standard pistols in .22 R.F. were dominating the bull's eye target matches.

But with the choice of a DA auto loader, the choice of "cocked and locked" versus racking the slide to chamber a round was augmented by the DA pistol. Then came DA only pistols and everybody got on the gunwagon. The auto got smaller and lighter with polymer pistols and the race continues.

Bob Wright

[Crankgrinder]

Id say to know the answer to this all one would need to do is look up your manufacturers and see what they all offer. What dominates the shelves would seem to be the most popular to me.

[mrray13]

Just an off the cuff answer, and well, it's a bit of an international pool, but just look at the number of threads in the respective forums here. Semi autos have about a 2 to 1 thread count advantage, and I think the views are even more unbalanced.

No, it's not really scientific, but it does represent most if not all states, and other countries as well. No, it doesn't take into account threads in general forums or c&r types specifically, but can still give some information.

Any just a thought I hadn't seen posted yet.

[Bezoar]

popularity isnt always about what someone likes, or wants. but what can be afforded.

Alot of people who have 2-300 dollar semi autos in their drawers would much rather have that 900 dollar sw da/sa. but if you can only afford beans and grits, your going to eat grits and beans. And be happy you have that.


For years I thought about getting a nice cute little USFA rodeo in 45 or 44 but couldnt. price was to much. so i have a nice little heritage revolver. It works. Its not a usfa by any margin. but i can still get parts for it, and customer support.

to many people get that semi auto because its what the stores want to SELL. they dont have as quick a turnover on revolvers anymore. Although most second guns seem to be a revolver.

seriously, the trend ive seen first hand is get a semi auto first and get the cpl and trigger time in. then go back and get a serious gun. a revolver.

[Waspinator]

I looked into number last month, I just clipped this from a post I made in the beginning of July.

In 2010 there were approx 235 pistol manufacturers and about 31 revolver manufacturers reported in the US (most of the revolver manufacturers fall under pistol manufacturers as well). In 2012, US production statistics show an average of 889,125 pistols and 352,625 revolvers produced for that year. That is not that far apart considering the lop-sided amount of producers.

Also, the revolver/shotgun sales, while on the decline since the mid-80's, have stabilized between 2009 and 2011 and are actually on the rise since 2012. That tells me that a lot of the new shooters that have entered that pool in those years are opting for revolvers/shotguns for their personal protection.

Semis are more popular but revolvers are not going anywhere anytime soon. Case in point, I bought my first handgun last month and it was a revolver.

[JohnKSa]

It would be nearly impossible to guess at which category accounts for most currently owned handguns.

It's easier to say which category is being sold at a higher rate at the current time.

It seems reasonable to assume that looking at what's in stock is a reasonable reflection of what is selling. In recent times, the local gun shops clearly stock more autopistols than revolvers.

According to this report, in 2011, there were about 9 pistols manufactured for every 2 revolvers made.

http://www.atf.gov/files/statistics/...ort-report.pdf

[MattShlock]

Saw a poll recently -- pretty large population. The semi-auto was clearly the winner which kinda surprised me by its extent!

[Revoltella]

I've got twice as many revolvers as semis now. I can remember when I had no interest in revolvers.

[Pilot]

Just look at the number of posts in the semi auto forum vs the revolver forum here, and at other gun web forums. That will tell you which is more popular.

[Sevens]

I'm currently running revolvers as 47% of my handgun cache.

My first two handguns and 3 of my first 4 were revolvers.
Also interesting is that 7 of my 9 most recent handgun buys were revolvers.

No way, no way could I make it this "simple" but I will tell you that it is fact and no joke that NOT having to pick up brass is a big part of that.

[Grant D]

I succumbed to the buying frenzy a few months back,being that I wanted a semi auto that held more than ten rounds.

I bought a Beretta 92FS and found they had a dozen or so of them, and various other semi autos.

But they had sold EVERY revolver they had in stock, and they carry a lot of revolvers.

That I found rather odd, being that there was no talk of any ban on revolvers.

[Brewerrff]

My thought on this question comes from personal experience. The fact is that a revolver tends to be more reliable. They are for the most part usually all of steel or alloy construction. the revolver has fewer moving parts which adds to its simplicity. Just less to go wrong. There will always be a revolver in my house. The only drawback to a revolver over a semi auto is the capacity and the size of the cylinder when considering carry options. The semi autos are easy to conceal for the most part. the polymer types seem to be thicker and more bulky. The steel or alloy guns are more along the lines of my preference when it comes to carry. I guess I am just "old school" when it comes to this. It's really hard to find anything that is better than a 1911 style handgun when it comes to durability and reliability and ease of carry. It's all a matter of preference. What do you want and how do you plan to use it. just like everything else in life. You have choices. It's up to you to decide through research, trial and error, what works best for you!
There is no real answer to this question. The only thing you will get is opinion.

[SFsc616171]

I am, (with pride), what court witness Ms. Jeanette called 'old school'.

I own a Smith and Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece, dash 3, that was once part of the inventory of one of Califonia's county sherriff divisions, and has been gone over by the armsmith, before sale, and even given a black teflon coating, with a Hogue monogrip. I once carried a Model 15 on my hip, as part of my armamment for base perimeter security detail in SouthEast Asia.

I own a Browning Hi-Power 9mm MkIII, that was offered, (since removed from the catalogue), in digital MARPAT coating. It is just as sweet as you have heard about them. I have kept the magazine safety in place, since the difference between the pull of the trigger with it installed, is near to what my double-action Model 15 requires.

For the record, I feed the Model 15 standard pressure semi-wadcutters (non-hp) and full wadcutters. I feed the MKIII BHP L9mmx ammunition, in deference to the suggestion by the late Stephen A. Camp, BHP guru (ave'!).

"So d'at, d'ere, Jeaneete ol' girl?"

[sf46]

That's a tough question to answer. In my opinion, I'd say that there are more semi-autos than revolvers in the US as a whole. That may vary from region to region, though. Revolvers may not be far behind in total numbers though.

[ClydeFrog]

As of 2013, Id say the semi-auto pistol is more common but if you took a audit of every working handgun in the USA, the revolver may still be first.

Most if not all sworn LE agencies & private security firms have converted to the semi-auto pistol.
Around 10 years ago, 2000-2003, there were security outfits that mandated 6 shot .38spl revolvers. Now, in 2013, it's swung around to only wanting 9mm semi-auto pistols, .

Clyde

[Skans]

The question is "which is more popular". Semi-auto is the answer.