For home/personal defense would you choose a pistol or a revolver

[j3ffr0]

yes -- i like both and employ both and or either for home defense readiness.

[9mmfan]

At home here in the city, I have a G19 that I carry and that sleeps in my nightstand. In a tent, or out in the country I am comfortable with a SA revolver in .45 Colt, though the Glock fills this role sometimes as well. Depends on my mood. I will admit that I am not the greatest shot in the world with a DA revolver, but I am working on it. In fact, I think I should go do that right now...

[Strafer Gott]

I always put a couple of revolvers in the ready rack, because of my wife's preference, but in the lower rack I place a HK or Sig, for my own piece of mind.
With appropriate magazines and speed loaders, of course.

[aarondhgraham]

I use/carry both regularly,,,
But I chose a revolver as my bedside gun,,,
I use a Colt Trooper loaded with .38 Special wadcutters.

My reasoning for it is that a revolver has no safety device,,,
In the event I'm needing it I'll be waking from sleep,,,
I want a simple Point & Click Interface right then.

I could probably get the same from a DA/SA semi-auto pistol,,,
But again, I chose the revolver for ultimate simplicity.

Aarond

.

[sgms]

I keep a S&W model 25 on the bed side table. I shoot wheel guns and bottom feeders both but my wife will not shoot a auto pistol. So HD guns in the house are revolvers.

[GM2]

Have carried both revolvers & semi-auto's durning my LEO career. I found them both to be reliable weapons. Now retired, I own six revolvers and one semi-auto. For HD I keep a model 64 S&W on my nightstand and a 12 gauge DB with 18" barrels nearby .

[GeauxTide]

Depends on what room I'm in. Revolvers, autos, and 870.

[The_Shootist]

I've got both a G19 and 642 within reach for home defense...and a 686+ and a Mak, depending on the room. Figure I'm all set.

[zxcvbob]

I'm more comfortable with a revolver and shoot them better. But if I could put a suppressor on it (not legal here, even with a tax stamp) I would switch to a semiauto in a heartbeat -- then practice until I was confident in it too.

[Gaz_in_NZ]

Having read all this post I have a couple of questions...

Is it really so dangerous living in America that you have to keep loaded guns spread all over the house for fear of armed robbers breaking into your property? And you feel compelled to carry concealed (and loaded) weaponry on your person when you have to go out anywhere for fear of being attacked by an armed person?

I am not having a go at anyone with this post but I don't think I could ever live anywhere where I felt in constant fear of my life 24/7.

Cheers
G

[glockguy18]

Judge w/3" .410 federal buckshot with the brass discs.

[artoo]

I like revolvers for a house gun.There are some advantages to that.

Everyone in the house knows and understands the manual of arms of a revolver. These have 7 shots on tap and a extra ammo in speedloaders or speedstrips handy. Everyone can handle a .38 Special revolver competently.

Simplicity is key.

[Picher]

Is it really so dangerous living in America that you have to keep loaded guns spread all over the house for fear of armed robbers breaking into your property? And you feel compelled to carry concealed (and loaded) weaponry on your person when you have to go out anywhere for fear of being attacked by an armed person?

Yes and no is my answer. It depends on where you live, whether in a big city or in a nice residential neighborhood with good neighbors and plenty of dogs around, or alone in the country without dogs or children.

Each person needs to weigh the risks of keeping loaded guns in the house vs the risk of someone attacking you at home. In most cases, family or friends are more likely to be injured by a firearm kept loaded for protection than its use in protecting the owners.

In a well-planned home invasion, I doubt that persons in the house would have time to protect themselves, even with a firearm within easy reach. In the case of a drunk trying to get into the wrong house, or drug-induced attack, chances are better.

Paranoia is our enemy, but sometimes our friend. Weigh the real odds in being attacked and you'll find they are miniscule in most locations. We are our own worst enemies sometimes. A B-I-L has shot a TV, a sliding glass door, a dog, a picture of Abe Lincoln, and squirted ammonia up his nose...all by accident, but never has actually used a weapon for protection.

That said, I have a few loaded guns in strategic places. We don't have children in the house anymore, except when grandkids visit, at which time, I remove the ammo, except for hidden guns that are out of reach. We live in the country and there have been break-ins nearby, but none when folks were home. My biggest fear is that I'll get home, interrupt a burglary and get shot with my own gun.

[dos0711]

Home defense is a short barreled 12 gauge...followed by a .45 acp and then a 9mm...no sense in taking chances...lol

[henry-ctc]

Reach your revolver fast and use it to reach your semiauto. Then use it to stay alive while you reach your shotgun. And if that´s not enough and you´re still fighting, then, get your M4.

I mean that it´s my compromise between readiness and fire power.

And of course revolver first.

[FAS1]

The gun I have shot the most and has proven itself 100% reliable over the last 20 years, my Glock 17 (Gen2) with night sights. My CCW is a G26 and I like having a common platform (less thinking and more habit).

[SFsc616171]

What feels good in the hand, at the counter, after a few rounds, does it still feel comfortable? Rent if you can, and try them all, if not for the experience.

Yes, a semi-automatic pistol requires a little more study, and a lot more 'if's', than a revolver. Find Clint Smith videos on YouTube, and you will see videos on all the intricacies of both revolvers and semi's.

In the dark, a revolver has less 'switches'. True, they hold less than a semi, but it is NOT the amount of lead downrange that counts, it is WHERE they are going! So, six for sure, or more for maybe or sure, is your choice.

Mind you, any firearm in the dark will have muzzle flash, and a bang! How will that play, in your reactions?

Revolvers give you all the reaction impulse in your hand, whereas semi's 'process' some of that in their machinery functions, i.e., slide movement, ejection and loading of next cartridge. Semi's require a specific "not-less-than-X-cartridge load", to make the machinery work, whereas revolvers do not.

I wish you well with your choice.

[rclark]

Revolver. What I shoot is what I use. No use for a semi-auto around here.

[MLeake]

I would think that if the OP wanted less biased answers, this thread would have been started in the General Handgun forum. Starting it in the Revolver forum has probably shaded the results a wee bit.

[Doug S]

To GAZ in NZ,

I think the answer to your questions is best chalked up to a cultural thing.

Here in the U.S. most of us were brought up thinking that self sufficiency and the ability to protect your own, were not only important, but a God given right and obligation. We are taught not to rely on government or police forces for our protection. In other places (say NZ) around the world people are enculturated to think differently. The fact is, human nature, is human nature regardless of whether you are in the U.S. or New Zealand, and the truth is, people like me question how someone could ever be more content living in a culture that is solely dependent on government and police forces to keep them alive...and have accepted a way of life that has taken away not only their right to self-preservation, but has also indoctrinated them into thinking and believing that helplessness is the proper state of man. Likewise, I would never want to reside in a place like that. Just as you indicated above, your comments were not intended as an insult. You were just asking a question, and providing you opinion on the subject. I'm simply doing the same here, no offense intended of course.

I should add...if there is a violence problem in the U.S. is not because of guns. It more likely is the result of a government making poor economic decisions, and the people most impacted by these decisions being oblivious to the root cause.

That said, I do not believe that the population of the U.S. is anymore inclined toward criminal behavior that anywhere else in the world.

[skidder]

Definitely a revolver. An auto in my house is blasphemy.

[tomrkba]

Gaz,

Home invasion robberies and rapes occur just frequently enough in "good neighborhoods" that the prudent man keeps a weapon available. Sometimes a robbery turns into a murder for the sheer thrill of it. Sometimes murder is the goal of the home invaders and we have no way to determine intent before the crime. Again, this happens just frequently enough to keep those people who pay attention to such things on their toes.

[Frasier]

First home defense revolver was my S&W Model 10-8 loaded with 158 gr LSWCHP+P 's
New home defense revolver is my new S&W Model 21 Classic loaded with Blazer 200gr hollow points.

[artoo]

There is no safe place on the planet and we all are responsible for our own safety.

Anything can happen anywhere, at any time, to anyone.

God forbid anyone should ever have anything happen to them where one needs the firearm for defense. Hopefully it won't happen, but like anything else having the tool to do the job when necessary is paramount. Being able to protect your self or loved ones and others is something I would rather be able to do than not.

The gun is a tool like many others. With the gun or any tool comes great responsibility.

Being killed by four footed or two footed beasts is not on my bucket list.

Needing the tool for other possiblities is also paramount.

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Being a helpless victim anywhere or helpless victims means one has nothing they can do about their situation. Having a tool to do the job gives one the ability to be other than a victim and be murdered.

I go with either a Ruger SP-101 in .327 Federal, a Taurus 856 (six shots), or a Rossi 462(six shot).

On occasion a .44 Special Taurus 431 gets the nod.

Now that winter is on the way I want my holes large and the .44 Special will and does do that to its target.

What is a innocent life worth? To me everything as a morals and ethics demands.

One other thing. Guns are pulled to stop an attack and the attacker is stopped without a shot being fired. Professor Kleck and Professor Lott have documented this for many years.

I would not count on a attacker/s to run or give up, but it helps if they do. Be prepared to follow up and shoot if the actors decide not to stop.

[Dwight55]

Obviously, being a Vietnam vet, . . . I am biased toward the 1911, . . .

But there is one undeniable factual difference that only comes through experience: a problem that surfaces with a revolver that prevents the weapon from being used, . . . is a problem that will at best be fixed ina few minutes, . . . but will most likely take a gun smith to fix, . . . BUT, . . . many times the problem with the semi auto is fixed with a mag change or working the action.

Revolvers were replaced by the military for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with price or budgets: they simply are inferior to semi auto pistols in a combat environment.

May God bless,
Dwight