SOTI, Chris Cypert talks approvingly about revolvers as self-defense weapons:
I set out to learn all I could about revolvers, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to use them effectively for self-defense. Did I learn that revolvers are obsolete relics of the previous century? That’s what I expected, but instead I learned that revolvers are still more than sufficient for self-defense and can even be the optimal tool in certain contexts. Let’s examine the strengths of revolvers for armed citizens and self-defense.
And then he goes on to list all of them.
As most Readers know, I keep a S&W Mod 65 next to the bed — my “bedside” gun — because in any kind of bad situation, a revolver is like a fork: you pick it up, and it works.
No scrabbling for a safety, no racking of a slide, none of that. You get it in your hand and pull the trigger… bang! and it’s all over. (Okay, bang! bang! bang! etc. as the need arises.)
It’s that instinctive action that makes me do the above. Gawd knows that I have practiced for countless hours with my 1911, and its operation is by now about as automatic and instinctive as I could possibly get it. And it’s the reason I keep it under the revolver… as a backup, because I do believe that by the time I’ve emptied the Model 65’s cylinder, I’ll be awake enough to grab and operate my 1911 (which is always kept cocked and locked anyway), should I need more than six shots.
This is my way, and if yours is different, that’s fine — whatever works for you, works for you.
But just as Cypert learned about the excellence of the revolver as a self-defense piece, maybe my argument will help you, and perhaps at a time of the direst emergency.
Think about it.
No persuading needed. I’m a revolver guy and don’t see any need to change. S&W Model 19 FTW.
And while we’re talking old-school, I’m also a lever-gun guy, based on the old cowboy principle of having a sidearm and a rifle in the same chambering.
This is particularly useful here in Australia where black guns are illegal. The .357 out of a rifle hits like a train, reliably provides a high volume of accurate fire and can be topped up via the loading gate without taking the gun out of action. It has the added benefit of looking like a harmless old toy out of the cowboy movies. Heh.
I love my S&W 65. I got mine when the Savannah police switched over to Glock 37’s like the GA State Patrol had. It was scratched showing a lot of holster wear and had a gooey rubber grip but internally looked like it was new. A couple of hours on the buffing wheel and a Crimson Trace grip and it looks like a new pistol. It has become my “truck gun” that goes in the door pocket of my truck or wife’s car if I am driving it.
…a revolver is like a fork…
I was wondering who I stole that from, it occurs to me it was likely you – probably from your previous blog.
Preaching to the choir, you are. A .38 Special was my EDC forever. I have since acquired a plastic fantastic with nearly 3x the capacity. I carried it for a couple years, and have since returned to my wheelgun roots, this time with a .357 Ruger LCR, my most frequent EDC. I train with both. I’m a stone’s throw from El Paso, one of Czar Kamalatoe’s open border floodgates. I visit EP once or twice a year – on those occasions, the Ruger stays home, in deference to the Taurus’ capacity. My bedside persuader is a GP100, and one of my favorite handguns to shoot.
Ditch those “speed” loaders. Use full moon clips. S&K Custom can convert any revolver to full moons.
I did so on my feather-weight smith .38 special, and my Super Redhawk in .480 Ruger ( a shortened .475 Linebaugh ).