Revolvers are making a bit of a comeback, which is no surprise to those of us that never got away from them in the first place. While I’m in no hurry to trade in my polymer-framed, striker-fired pistol for a six-shooter on my duty belt, I certainly don’t feel under-armed with a lightweight revolver in the pocket of my shorts on a day off.
The concealed-carry market is driving this resurgence, and that’s great, but there’s a flip side to this renewed interest in the wheelgun. It’s a sad fact that in the last 20 years, most of the best revolver instructors have retired, leaving the industry full of guys that can show you the latest and greatest techniques to manipulate a semiauto pistol, yet they have to fake-it-until-they-make-it when it comes to teaching wheelguns. Before you sign up for training, do your research.
When I was a young firearms instructor, I was mentored by guys that carried revolvers. That was back when the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a real thing. Those guys were switched on and made sure I understood that the wheelgun was more than a range toy to be shot on the weekend. What they taught me then (and what I’ve seen reinforced over the years) is that many new revolver shooters who don’t regularly shoot them, experience trouble working them under stress.
We all know that revolvers are slower to load than a semiauto, even for those of us who train regularly with a revolver. I’m going to go on the record here and say that the only person that I’m aware of who can keep up with semiauto shooters while using a revolver is Jerry Miculek, and I am no Jerry Miculek.
Fast and consistent revolver reloads
