Greg Ellifritz has a guest post up from Darryl Bolke on the qualities and realities of a revolver as a carry or duty handgun. DB's career in law enforcement started out in the waning days of the revolver. He absolutely knows what time it is.
"A proven quality service level revolver that is clean, lubricated and loaded with quality ammunition is in my experience far less likely to malfunction than a semi-automatic pistol in the conditions we find in street shootings. That means, non-locked wrists, poor grip, asymmetric firing positions, interference from clothing or barriers, body contact, disturbance to the gun during firing, impacts, improper administrative handling, etc. They are consistent in their performance in those conditions, which is what reliable is.
Where they are not reliable is when subjected to tests of ruggedness. They do not work well when dirty and full of debris. They do not work well when abused, neglected or exposed to foreign matter. They do not work well when poorly maintained. They do not work well with modifications made by unqualified individuals, or used outside of the limits of the modifications. If these are factors, their consistency will suffer. They also tend to require a trained individual and tools when they break or stop working."
You should definitely go and read the whole thing. Apparently there'll be a Part Two tomorrow.
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| Darryl Bolke teaching students the intricacies of another misunderstood weapon from a bygone era. |
