Revolvers
I’ve been watching the types of searches that are bringing people to our site. A great number of people appear to be looking for information on revolvers, so let’s take a look at them.
As I have stated before I am a fan of revolvers and in fact carried and taught their use during my entire LE career. And even though they have been replaced by semi-automatic pistols on just about all police departments today, they are still very formidable firearms that are carried as off duty weapons or backups on departments that allow this practice. I still carry a revolver on on a semi-regular basis as my primary firearm.
The only problem I ever had while carrying a revolver on duty was the ammunition limitations placed on us by the department, based on mandates from FBI firearms division. Even as advancements in ammunition progressed we carried ball ammunition until the late 70’s when the bureau finally developed a lead hollow point round and our department adopted and issued it. This was followed by the developement of Winchester silver tip which was approved by the bureau and adopted in the 80’s.
Therefore, with the modern ammunition that is available for use, a .38 caliber revolver is a very good choice for concealed carry or home defense. Ammunition such as Federal hydra-shock, Remington golden saber, Cor-bon, CCI gold dot, Hornady critical defense, Winchester SXT or silver tip are all good .38 cal. self defense loads.
Quality revolvers are made by Smith & Wesson, Colt, Ruger, Taurus, and Charter Arms. I recommend full sized 4 inch barreled revolvers for self defense. They are much more forgiving to trigger control mistakes, minor jerking, etc. during stressful situations and I have found them just as easy to carry in plain clothes, using quality holsters, as small short barreled revolvers. Keep in mind that small light weight revolvers have a very high recoil factor that makes them very hard to control and the short barrel magnifies shooting mistakes, even at close range.
There is a new revolver that has just been introduced. This is the new Ruger .327 Federal Magnum, I have not fired one of them, but the claim is that they do not recoil much worse than a .38 revolver and are reported to provide better ballistics. So it is worth considering.
Of course there are larger caliber revolvers available, but I don’t recommend them for inexperienced shooters, due to the controllability factor inherent with them.
If you are an experienced shooter you can always consider (thou not necessary) a revolver in .44 special, .44 magnum, .45 ACP, or .45 long colt. The other new revolver that is gaining interest is the Taurus Judge. This revolver is chambered in .410 gauge, that gives you the choice of using three types of .410 shotgun shells (birdshot, buckshot, or slugs) or .45 long colt rounds. I find the concept interesting, as do a lot of others, since they are hard to find at this time.
Once you have chosen and obtained your revolver you need to get proper training if you are a new shooter and then practice to increase your skill level. If you are an experienced shooter and obtain a new revolver or have one already, you need to practice with it to make sure it functions properly and to get your proficiency level up.
You also need to learn combat style shooting once you have learned/mastered the shooting basics. This style of shooting includes two handed and single (strong and weak hand) handed shooting, from both stationary and moving positions. It should include aimed and natural point shooting out to about 25 yards, with singled handed shooting in to 5 yards and waist level shooting at arm’s length from a threat. There should be lateral movement drills at 7-10 yards. The training should also include cover and concealment training. As well as low light/no light training, so that you learn what muzzle flash looks like in the dark and how to use a flashlight in conjunction with a firearm for proper threat assessment.
There are many good schools and competent instructors around the country and I urge you to obtain the best training that you can afford, since your life may depend on it.
Firearms ownership and use carry great responsibility. It is incumbent on each of us be proper Stewards of our Second Amendment Rights.
