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Ahhhh....that age old question. "Which is best" . (Sigh) sometimes, threads lime yhis remind me of the old "chop socky" Kung Fu movies from Honk Kong. "Chinese Kung Fu is BEST"!!! "NO" "Japanese Walking Crab Karate is BEST"!! NO NO! Shaolin Wing Chun Gung Fu is BEST!!! LMAO. At any rate, when choosing a defensive handgun, IMHO, one should take suggestions as a starting point, and then find what WORKS for you. Many makes models and calibers are available for your review, all I will say beyond that is don't go cheap!! You get what you pay for, and your life is worth the price of a quality firearm. Dedicate yourself to becoming proficient with whatever you buy. It's not the gun. It's the person behind it, that matters most.
...they do indeed provide a very fast reloading process, esp. with a minimum of practice. Just open the cylinder (a quick push on the release latch and she swings open!) and drop the moon- or half-moon, clip into place, push (not ever with a Dirty Harry Callahan flicking closed please, unless you truly and mechanically hate your firearm...).
To suggest a handgun and a specific caliber for you and your family may not always work to your own preference. There are many good handguns, if possible, go to an indoor gun range that rents firearms and try them out and see how they work for you, your wife and your son.
I own several revolvers, and have nothing against them, but I've never bought the argument that a revolver is superior for the novice due to it's simplicity. A Glock semi-auto is plenty simple. If someone is befuddled by that level of complexity, they should not own a gun in the first place.
I'm not saying don't buy a revolver. I'm just saying, don't buy one on the grounds that the operating controls are just a teeny bit simpler than those on a semi-auto. Almost all cops by now have switched from revolver to semi-auto, and I think that there are some good reasons for that. As an armed citizen, you are getting a gun for basically the same reason as a cop--to repel criminal violence.
I own several revolvers, and have nothing against them, but I've never bought the argument that a revolver is superior for the novice due to it's simplicity. A Glock semi-auto is plenty simple. If someone is befuddled by that level of complexity, they should not own a gun in the first place.
I'm not saying don't buy a revolver. I'm just saying, don't buy one on the grounds that the operating controls are just a teeny bit simpler than those on a semi-auto. Almost all cops by now have switched from revolver to semi-auto, and I think that there are some good reasons for that. As an armed citizen, you are getting a gun for basically the same reason as a cop--to repel criminal violence.
I own both types of weapon, and wholeheartedly agree. My Glock breaks down in four seconds to its four main components, and goes back together in another four seconds. It is also very simple to operate: Insert loaded mag, rack slide, point, shoot. If a double action revolver represents "100" as far as reliability, I believe my pistol represents "99."
I have found that many women cannot rack the slide of a Glock or most autos. If a person cannot fully operate a firearm, then IMO they should not own said firearm. Over my 47 years of owning and carrying handguns and teaching too many people to count how to shot them, I have found revolvers for people new to firearms to be the safest, they are either loaded or not loaded by swinging out the cylinder or even by looking on the side of the cylinder toward the rear on almost all revolvers with the possible exception of some with recessed chambers such as the older S&W's were it would not be quite as obvious. Some newer semi autos have a load indicator when a round is in the chamber but that is no where near as obvious as actually seeing the sides of the bullet heads for yourself on a revolver. How many times have we read about someone being shot by accident with a supposedly empty gun, that would be almost impossible to happen with a revolver unless a person is totally careless and if that is the case then an semi auto would be even more dangerous in such persons hands.
We can all argue about which gun is better but what is much more important is which gun is safer for a person who is new to firearms. I taught my wife on a revolver many rounds before exposing her to a semi auto, even when I have carried a semi auto for many years but I myself started out on a revolver when I was 18.
Also a double action only revolver is the safest since there is no issue with how to uncock the hammer should one pull the hammer back on it and then not know how to get the hammer down safely.
My advice would be that everyone who wishes to own a firearm is to take a course on how to handle that firearm. Gun rentals at ranges can be dangerous if a person has no experience with semi autos and no training in firearm safety.
speaking as one with only 6 months experience shooting a pistol (.22 only) so i'm new myself, when comparing revolvers to SA's does the issue of FTF/FTE come into play? I've seen semi auto's when both could happen, though many times it's .22's which seem to be more finicky.
Do revolvers have the same issue at least with FTF's (making the ammo to blame and not the pistol itself)? If not to the extent an SA would, then that may be one reason for a true beginner to consider a revolver especially if it's for their first self defense weapon..... that's assuming there are less chances for the gun not to fire when needed and panic to set in.
I have found that many women cannot rack the slide of a Glock or most autos.
Really?
My daughter could rack the slide of my husband's Glock 22 when she was 9. She had been shooting airsoft in the garage for years and said the slide on the Glock was a lot easier than the slide on the airsoft pistols. She was big at 9 but still much smaller than most women, at 5' and less than 100 lbs.
I own several revolvers, and have nothing against them, but I've never bought the argument that a revolver is superior for the novice due to it's simplicity. A Glock semi-auto is plenty simple. If someone is befuddled by that level of complexity, they should not own a gun in the first place.
I own revolvers and pistols. The advantage of revolvers over pistols is a wider range of ammo.
I can fire hot loads in my Redhawk or some mild .44 specials. My father in law fires .45LC in his Blackhawk or can use half clips and shoot .45acp. I have found pistols to be very finicky on ammo where I had to load to factory box specs. Many pistols do not shoot well with one brand of ammo over another. I quit hand loading for my pistols and just buy the rounds at the store.
My daughter could rack the slide of my husband's Glock 22 when she was 9. She had been shooting airsoft in the garage for years and said the slide on the Glock was a lot easier than the slide on the airsoft pistols. She was big at 9 but still much smaller than most women, at 5' and less than 100 lbs.
Yes, I don't see this issue either. My Glock's slide doesn't take any sort of effort I don't think that the average female teenager or older possesses.
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And/or...
Perps, bears, coyotes, cougars, invasive gophers... and so on.
