3 Reasons I’d Never Recommend a Revolver For Self Defense

As a woman firearm instructor who teaches mostly new women gun owners, I’m often asked why I don’t recommend revolvers to my new students. I’ve taught over 6,000 women how to use firearms and maybe 100 of them have brought revolvers to my classes. I always teach them how to use the revolver they currently own and then we have them test out a semiautomatic 9mm pistol for comparison. I have never had a student shoot more accurately with a revolver than a 9mm pistol. They’re simply more difficult to shoot and typically too bulky to effectively conceal. 

Then why do people keep recommending revolvers for women? I chalk it up to subconscious sexism. The biggest “reason” people say they want a woman to buy a revolver is so she “doesn’t have to learn to load a magazine or rack a slide”. I think most gun salesmen simply don’t believe women can learn to load a magazine or rack a pistol slide. I have the unique experience of being able to teach women the tricks of racking slides easily with the “push/pull method” and loading magazines using a speed loader. There are also great pistols like the Smith & Wesson Shield EZ that has EZ slide rack technology for those with hand strength issues. 

Here are some of the reasons I’d never recommend revolvers to my students:

1. The inconsistent trigger pull. Revolvers with hammers can be fired either in double action or single action. Single action means you cock the hammer back, making the trigger pull extremely short…about 1-2.5 pounds of pressure. Shooting a revolver in double action means you don’t pull the hammer back before firing and the trigger pull is usually 10+ pounds of pressure. To put this in perspective it takes about 7 pounds of force to rip off a human ear. Most standard 9mm pistols have a nice, moderate trigger pull pressure of 4-5 pounds. The problem with a long trigger pull is the longer you’re pulling the trigger, the more likely you are to anticipate the recoil and miss your intended target. Because the trigger is so long, your brain has more time to focus on preparing for the “bang” once the gun is fired. Your brain prepares for the bang or the impact of the recoil by tensing up. Tensing up right before the gun fires usually results in your shots going low…far below your intended point of aim. It’s not that you can’t be accurate with a revolver, I’ve just noticed it takes my students far more practice to become accurate with a revolver versus shooting a 9mm pistol. 

2. Not enough shots. Most revolvers have a cylinder that holds either 5 or 6 shots. For comparison, my current concealed carry pistol has a 15 round magazine plus one in the chamber so 16 total rounds. Being that revolvers have such a long trigger pull and your chances to miss your target are greater, do you really want to rely on only 5 or 6 shots? I’ve had several students shoot all 5 shots in their revolver and miss all 5. The only way to reload the revolver is to open the cylinder, dump out the empty shell casings and then manually replace all cartridges. It takes more time and effort to manually reload each cylinder than it would take to eject the empty magazine in a pistol and replace it with a new one.

3. Recoil and cost of ammo. Most revolvers are either .38 special or .357 calibers. These calibers are much larger than my recommended 9mm self defense caliber. Revolvers typically have more felt recoil than 9mm pistols due to the larger size of the caliber and the shorter barrel of the revolver. Also these calibers cost more per round and are typically harder to find in gun stores. To put this in perspective, my local gun range has 50 round boxes of 9mm for $14.50. A 50 round box of .38 special is $31.99.

Ultimately you have to decide which firearm works best for you. If you love revolvers and you’re accurate with them then great. I’m not saying revolvers are “bad” firearms. I’m saying there are other firearms that are better suited for self defense. This is just my personal opinion based on my experience teaching new women gun owners. If you’d like to consider other options check out my list of recommended firearms located in this blog. Drop a comment below and let me know your thoughts.