How many Americans own revolvers

[Cosmodragoon]

I seriously question the validity of those figures. I know of many farm wives who have had a revolver stashed away somewhere in the house that was never included in any survey. I have visited in many rural homes where there was a Bible placed on the nightstand, and on top of that Book was a Colt revolver...

This is also a problem in getting accurate data on how many lives are saved with firearms. We can only see the tip of the iceberg.

[Brit]

I do not own any Revolvers, used to teach classes with 4" S&W Mod 64/65s Loved the revolver then... Glocks owned from 1984. Police and Security started to change, in the 90s.
Why do I believe in my Glock 19 4th gen? I shoot it well, it never screws up.
Capacity, weight, comfort in the holster. Based on reported rounds fired in a bad guy/good guy shootings? Three rounds should be enough? But way down in these stats? Way down... One lasted the full magazine expended, all 15!

That's why I carry my Glock 19.

[sparkyv]

Originally Posted by lamarw

My figures came from pulling them out of my rectum. It was stated in jest thus the stupid wild % at the end of each category. I also believe the edge goes to revolvers.

The truth is I do not know, and I doubt anyone else does either. Lets hope there is never any accurate and/or required accountability of firearms. The exception is accountability of those individuals not allowed to possess them by law.

Dude, you are funny!

[briandg]

The question didn't really address whether that meant ONLY revolvers or semiautomatics. Big distinction.

It really should have addressed two different qualifications as well. Do people own multiple guns? what age group is being considered or are we just taking every living person of ownership age? Does that mean only one token revolver among a collection of dozens?

It's hard to imagine even 5% of american males under 21 years of age legally owning a revolver as an only pistol. Those people that do own a revolver at that age who own revolvers will probably own $200 .22 rimfires.

Overall, it's hard to imagine having more than ten percent of american gun owners having revolvers and nothing else. Revolvers are probably most common in people at least thirty years or older. Ownership of revolvers is dropping every day, owners die or sell, the revolvers that aren't destroyed wind up in gun stores, and they disappear into the hands of people who probably already possess several of them, while the whippersnappers are picking out the polymer framed double stacks.

Thirty years ago, there would have been a great question, how many own a bolt gun vs a semiautomatic? Back then? If you stuck to centerfire,it would have been overwhelmingly bolts, semiautomatics barely made a ripple. Would you say that the maybe half of all gun owners now own at least one semiautomatic rifle or shotgun?

I don't collect guns, in fact, I think I have only eight handguns right now. four revolvers. 2x.357, .38, .22. Three semiautos, 9mm, .380, .22. I own a single shot in .221 fireball. (1960s)

I own five long guns. (i think) Three bolt, one semiauto (1964 remington) one lever. a twelve gauge SxS. Three are 30-06, a .22, and a twelve gauge.

So, who here can actually guess how old I am from that list?

[USSR]

Ownership of revolvers is dropping every day, owners die or sell, the revolvers that aren't destroyed wind up in gun stores, and they disappear into the hands of people who probably already possess several of them, while the whippersnappers are picking out the polymer framed double stacks.

I'm doing my best to adopt orphaned Smith and Wesson revolvers whose owners have died.

Don

[briandg]

Any time you find one that feels all grown up and wants to leave the nest feel free to put him on a bus and send him to me. Some kids just can't get along in big families. Trust me, I'll take good care of him, I take in stray cats all of the time.

[nanney1]

I would expect that a large number of people own a revolver but don't classify themselves as a gun owner???? Here's what I'm getting at.

Many people have a gun (most likely a revolver) that was given to them by a family member for self-protection/home defense, or they inherited the gun. In many cases, they didn't want or see a need for the firearm. So, it sits unloaded somewhere in their home. They never shoot it, carry it, or even have ammo available. It's like old clothing in the back of the closet.

P.S. for many years, I was one of those people as my wife had a .22 revolver that we never shot and kept hidden away.

[TailGator]

The manufacturing data was interesting. I would have expected pistols to outnumber revolvers in recent manufacture, but the difference was a bit more dramatic than I expected. While it is true that it doesn't completely reflect ownership, my bet would be that the trend is in a similar direction. I would expect the probability of ownership of revolvers to go up with the age of the person responding, and with the number of firearms owned. For a fair number of younger folk who aren't "gun people," a revolver is quaint, and the only brand of handgun they can name is Glock.

[K_Mac]

My take, without really making much of a point about anything:
Gun aficionados own revolvers - nearly all of us.
The average owner might.
Most young gun owners do not.

That is about my take as well. I know many gun guys, and am confident most own a revolver or two. I know for sure many do. With that said, my guess is revolvers represent a fairly small percentage of total handguns owned.

[reddog81]

Originally Posted by TailGator

The manufacturing data was interesting. ... For a fair number of younger folk who aren't "gun people," a revolver is quaint, and the only brand of handgun they can name is Glock.

The crazy thing is that S&W, Ruger, & Sig all handily beat Glock in the number of pistols produced. Additionally Ruger and S&W revolvers almost match Glock total production - 246K, 294K & 368K respecitivly.

[TXAZ]

Quote:
My take, without really making much of a point about anything:
Gun aficionados own revolvers - nearly all of us.
The average owner might.
Most young gun owners do not.

Originally Posted by K_Mac

That is about my take as well. I know many gun guys, and am confident most own a revolver or two. I know for sure many do. With that said, my guess is revolvers represent a fairly small percentage of total handguns owned.

If you grew up with revolvers, that might be true. But there are plenty of 'aficionados' that aren't into revolvers, as seen by the 80% of handgun sales going for semi's.
Yes, revolvers are a little less voluminous and don't leave evidence on the floor for a few shots, but that's not what most gun buyers want.

Between limited capacity and most LEO's giving them up for semi's (including FBI), revolvers are becoming a historical item more than a first choice weapon.

[shafter]

Hard to say. I think many gunowners have both. I think if revolvers are more common right now it won't be for long.

[tallball]

Almost all of my gun-owning friends and relatives have both.

[Eazyeach]

Briandg , I guess 63 years old. Judging by those weapons

[briandg]

56. I also own two non-compound bows and a split bamboo fly rod. I think that I was born an old man.

[357 Terms]

Wow, nearly half of all semi's sold between 86 and 2015 were sold during the Obama administration!
(I'm including 2008 because of the post election panic)


Year ...... Semi Autos...... Revolvers .......Ratio SA/R
1986 …….. 662,973 …….. 761,414 …….. 0.87
1987 …….. 964,561 …….. 722,512 …….. 1.34
1988 …….. 1,101,011 …….. 754,744 …….. 1.46
1989 …….. 1,404,753 …….. 628,573 …….. 2.23
1990 …….. 1,371,427 …….. 470,495 …….. 2.91
1991 …….. 1,378,252 …….. 456,966 …….. 3.02
1992 …….. 1,669,537 …….. 469,413 …….. 3.56
1993 …….. 2,093,362 …….. 562,292 …….. 3.72
1994 …….. 2,004,298 …….. 586,450 …….. 3.42
1995 …….. 1,195,284 …….. 527,664 …….. 2.27
1996 …….. 987,528 …….. 498,944 …….. 1.98
1997 …….. 1,036,077 …….. 370,428 …….. 2.80
1998 …….. 960,365 …….. 324,390 …….. 2.96
1999 …….. 995,446 …….. 335,784 …….. 2.96
2000 …….. 962,901 …….. 318,960 …….. 3.02
2001 …….. 626,836 …….. 320,143 …….. 1.96
2002 …….. 741,514 …….. 347,070 …….. 2.14
2003 …….. 811,660 …….. 309,364 …….. 2.62
2004 …….. 728,511 …….. 294,099 …….. 2.48
2005 …….. 803,425 …….. 274,205 …….. 2.93
2006 …….. 1,021,260 …….. 385,069 …….. 2.65
2007 …….. 1,219,664 …….. 391,334 …….. 3.12
2008 …….. 1,609,381 …….. 431,753 …….. 3.73
2009 …….. 1,868,258 …….. 547,195 …….. 3.41
2010 …….. 2,258,450 …….. 558,927 …….. 4.04
2011 …….. 2,598,133 …….. 572,857 …….. 4.54
2012 …….. 3,487,883 …….. 667,357 …….. 5.23
2013 …….. 4,441,726 …….. 725,282 …….. 6.12
2014 …….. 3,633,454 …….. 744,047 …….. 4.88
2015 …….. 3,557,199 …….. 885,259 …….. 4.02

..... …….. 48,195,129…….. 15,242,990…….. 3.16

[TXAZ]

^^^^^^^^ Turns Out Obama was a MUCH better salesman than Clinton.

[HighValleyRanch]

Ha, if you look at the trend between 2013 and 2015, the sales of revolvers is going up, and the sales of semi's is going down!

[In The Ten Ring]

When I began my life as a gun owner, I decided I was a "semi auto man" and I had little to no interest in revolvers. That has since changed though and I now carry a revolver daily, sometimes two, and I am slowly building a collection of "pre-lock" Smiths.

[AzShooter]

I've owned a number of automatics but my favorite Go To gun is my revolver. Even for match shooting I like the revolver. It may not be as fast as the automatics but I do pretty well with it.

Match directors use to apologize to me for having to do so many reloads. I just told them it's great practice and never complained.

[Brit]

The first time I saw a Student jam his S&W 4" Mod 64 up! Fumbling a reload, empty cartridge case, stuck UNDER the star? He was out of the fight (no fight, range practice) but you get the drift? Glock 19 forever.

[Jim567]

I have not owned a revolver since the 1970s


My semi auto pistols are expensive

[Metal god]

I have not owned a revolver since the 1970s

For me not that long , it's been since the 90's so 20 years or so . Back then I had more revolvers then semi's . I have not owned a revolver for 20+ years until 4 days ago when I bought a GP100 4" . It came down to the GP100 & the 686 . The 686 just did not point right in my hand and I'm starting to notice that most Smith's don't for me . The barrel is always pointed up when I look down the sight with my natural hold .

So it appears I went along with that trend only buying semi's from the 90's on . I had been wanting a 357 for awhile but never bought one for what ever reason . When I started reloading handguns about 2 or 3 years ago it became quite clear I did not like picking up my brass when shooting handguns . That's really the only reason I bought the GP100 . Although I'm more of a rifle guy I do like shooting handguns and would much rather have a handgun that works more like a bolt action then a semi auto as far as controlling the brass and how it's ejected .

So I can now say I own both but I would have been the odd man out and having to say I didn't own any wheel guns until a few days ago . I'm looking forward to reloading for it . I already tooled up just need some bullets . I've got plenty of powder and primers and have been keeping my buddy's 38 & 357 brass for the last couple years so I'm GTG there . Just need the gun :-( I'm in CA and need to wait ten days before I get to go play .

[black mamba]

All I know is that I go to the range every week, and I don't remember EVER seeing another person shooting a revolver besides me. Semis are the rage right now.

[surveyor]

46.4% but when I was a younger man it was 0%, I just wasn't interested in them.

With birthdays I grew to appreciate them.

I appreciated them more when I could reload 38's
As cheap as 22's and more availible.