Do circumstances exist in which a revolver is preferable to a semi-automatic handgun for self defense? The two cases that are usually mentioned are carry in deep concealment for non-permissive environments, and situations requiring contact shots. I don't quite understand either of these justifications, and will go into my confusion in detail.
Deep concealment, it is said, favors revolvers because snub nosed revolvers are more reliable than pocket pistols. While I don't disagree that a proper snuby is more likely to work than a .32 Kel-Tec, I don't think the comparison is fair from the concealment standpoint. The unreliable Kel-Tec can realistically be concealed in the front pocket of any pair of jeans, but I don't know that the same can be said of a snub nosed revolver. I can tell you that a Ruger LCR or S&W Model 60 (both of which I really want and will probably buy practicality be damned) are thick enough to look weird in my pockets even if I managed to break up their gun shape. So concealing a snuby requires either an AIWB holster, belly band or kangaroo pouch. I currently conceal a SIG M18 with X-compact grip AIWB, and have stashed a Makarov and Ruger LC9 in a kangaroo pouch quite well. The idea of concealing a five shot revolver with techniques that could conceal a subcompact or even compact 9mm isn't exactly appealing.
Contact shots, sometimes even shooting from one's own pocket, are another justification. An immediate counterargument is that my SIG has a light on it, allowing me to use the light to contact whatever I'm shooting and keep the slide in battery and out of the target. With the TLR-1 I'd struggle to do anything different if I tried, while even the almost flush fitting TLR-7 can protect the muzzle simply by angling the gun so that the bottom of the light is the point of contact with the target.
More importantly, I'm increasingly convinced that pulling a gun in a grapple is a very bad idea. Everything I've seen from ShivWorks and Sage Dynamics regarding ground fighting advocates for breaking out of the grapple, preferably avoiding it altogether, while protecting the weapon in the holster. Eventually the gun is employed, but only when it is at least some distance from the assailant. Retaining custody of the gun in a grapple is, I suspect, the reason that pulling out the gun is delayed. Unfortunately I live in the middle of nowhere and have not been able to attend any class on the matter, nor even a Judo class.
So I circle back to my first question: when, if ever, should a revolver be carried in self defense? I started out this line of thought pretty convinced that I should buy a revolver as a pocket carry backup gun to my SIG, possibly using it as my only gun in certain circumstances. At this point I'm looking at revolvers as a novelty, but suspect that I'm missing something.
Deep concealment, it is said, favors revolvers because snub nosed revolvers are more reliable than pocket pistols. While I don't disagree that a proper snuby is more likely to work than a .32 Kel-Tec, I don't think the comparison is fair from the concealment standpoint. The unreliable Kel-Tec can realistically be concealed in the front pocket of any pair of jeans, but I don't know that the same can be said of a snub nosed revolver. I can tell you that a Ruger LCR or S&W Model 60 (both of which I really want and will probably buy practicality be damned) are thick enough to look weird in my pockets even if I managed to break up their gun shape. So concealing a snuby requires either an AIWB holster, belly band or kangaroo pouch. I currently conceal a SIG M18 with X-compact grip AIWB, and have stashed a Makarov and Ruger LC9 in a kangaroo pouch quite well. The idea of concealing a five shot revolver with techniques that could conceal a subcompact or even compact 9mm isn't exactly appealing.
Contact shots, sometimes even shooting from one's own pocket, are another justification. An immediate counterargument is that my SIG has a light on it, allowing me to use the light to contact whatever I'm shooting and keep the slide in battery and out of the target. With the TLR-1 I'd struggle to do anything different if I tried, while even the almost flush fitting TLR-7 can protect the muzzle simply by angling the gun so that the bottom of the light is the point of contact with the target.
More importantly, I'm increasingly convinced that pulling a gun in a grapple is a very bad idea. Everything I've seen from ShivWorks and Sage Dynamics regarding ground fighting advocates for breaking out of the grapple, preferably avoiding it altogether, while protecting the weapon in the holster. Eventually the gun is employed, but only when it is at least some distance from the assailant. Retaining custody of the gun in a grapple is, I suspect, the reason that pulling out the gun is delayed. Unfortunately I live in the middle of nowhere and have not been able to attend any class on the matter, nor even a Judo class.
So I circle back to my first question: when, if ever, should a revolver be carried in self defense? I started out this line of thought pretty convinced that I should buy a revolver as a pocket carry backup gun to my SIG, possibly using it as my only gun in certain circumstances. At this point I'm looking at revolvers as a novelty, but suspect that I'm missing something.