Speaking of Revolvers – Accuracy and Reliability

Earlier today we ran a quick post about some speedloader cases to feed your off duty or concealed carry snub-nosed revolver. Turns out the website Lucky Gunner is running a series they call Wheel Gun Wednesday. One of those, from a few weeks back, was A Critical Look at Revolver Accuracy and Reliability.

Regarding the tenet that revolvers are inherently more accurate than semi-autos, author Chris Baker says,

“If we’re comparing modern production double action revolvers to modern production semi-auto pistols, there’s really no case to be made for revolvers being inherently more accurate. Others have done a great job of explaining some of the technical reasons behind this, but let’s suppose for a moment that some revolvers on the market do provide a slight edge in mechanical accuracy. For self-defense purposes, that only matters if the shooter can actually fire it more accurately. In double action. Under stress.

The vast majority of shooters, myself included, have not mastered the double action trigger to the degree that they can take full advantage of the revolver’s mechanical accuracy potential in any kind of shooting other than slow fire on a static range.”

Baker addresses the idea that wheelguns are more reliable than semi-autos thusly:

“It’s often said that revolvers ‘don’t jam.' I guess that depends on what is meant by ‘jam.' They don’t have feeding issues the way semi-autos do, but revolvers do experience malfunctions that cause them to stop working.

Just to name a few: excessive fouling under the extractor star can lock up a cylinder. Recoil from lightweight revolvers can cause bullets to wiggle their way out of the shell casing which can also prevent the cylinder from rotating. The ejector rod can work itself loose and make it nigh impossible to open up the cylinder without breaking out the tool box. And of course there are the issues that come up during the reloading process like incomplete extraction and cases stuck under the extractor. Revolvers may not have feeding issues, but a quick tap-rack-bang is not enough to clear most of these other potential problems.”

Those are just snippets – you should take the time to go read the whole article. You can do so right here.