Women's First Handgun Purchase

Chapter Five - Revolver vs Semi-Automatic Pistol, Part 3

Book Title:  Women's Guide to Buying Your First Handgun Series:  Firearm/Pistol For Life Series Author:  Ruperto Elpusan Jr. Be sure to look for ISBN #0-9772088-3-4 at Amazon, Powells and other fine online retail bookstores.

Chapter Five:  Revolver Versus Semi-Automatic Pistol, Part 3  

Safety Features

Revolvers tend to have less external, manual safeties than semi-automatic pistols.

The revolver is a long-established design that has existed for hundreds of years before the invention of the semi-automatic pistol, and its basic premise is that safety is reliant on training and user familiarity of its operation. 

Most of the safety features available on handguns as discussed in the prior chapter are implemented on semi-automatic pistols. 

With double action revolvers, when you press the trigger, the gun goes bang. 

Single action revolvers that are loaded will go bang after you cock the hammer, so that the requirement to cock is a form of a safety feature in this case.  Also, modern single action revolvers will not fire if the loading gate is open, which is also a form of safety feature.

However, with revolvers, there isn’t any manual safety that you can switch off and on to deactivate or activate the gun.  The safety of revolvers is very simple and predicated on the following.

Conclusions

The answer to the revolver versus semi-automatic question is personal.  It is based on what you are comfortable with after being educated on the differences as presented on this chapter.

Your decision will hinge on your level of comfort with each of the points presented:

·       Ease of Use

·       Durability

·       Reliability

·       Maintainability

·       Safety Features

Ch 1 - Introduction | Ch 2 - Why Handguns | Ch 3 - Why Many Handguns Aren't Right | Ch 4 - What to Look for in Handguns | Ch 5 - Revolver vs Semi-Automatic Pistol | Ch 6 - Revolver Choices | Ch 7 - Semi-Automatic Choices | Ch 8 - Used or New | Ch 9 - Internet or Local | Ch 10 - Why Practice is Important