Quote:
Originally posted by Adam Helmer
I have many, maybe far too many, semi-auto pistols as well as many more revolvers, but in gravest extreme we all do what we "grooved" under pressure. As kids, we all shot cap guns and water pistols so double action is second nature to us old guys and revolvers are just fine for that grooved, and learned, action.
The current generation of semi-auto pistols with decocking levers, safety switches and such like gizmos make a simple trigger pull a more convoluted exercise in mental gymnastics when time may be short. I personally know of some cases of folks dying because they forgot to "sweep" off a safety switch on a new gun. It appears a new semi-auto went to home defense duty and far too few rounds were expended in training to "groove" the new gun.
Bottom line, the new gun was not "grooved" to the point of 100% reliability. I heard at one training course on defensive handgun useage that it took 3,000 to 5,000 repititions to make it a natural event to get a gun into operation under gravest extreme. Well, my capgun and water pistol "firings" have me in good stead for useage of my S&W M65 in gravest extreme.
Adam
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Of course what you want to use is a personal thing, and your opinion is as valid as anyone else's. However you have some misconceptions on what is needed for most of the newer simi-auto pistols of today!
Take a pistol like the Astra A-75 9mm, or 40 S&W. It is a double action pistol with no safety as one usually considers a safety on a pistol like the 1911 colt clones. The A-75, and like double action simi-autos with a decocking lever are the safest type of firearm to carry with a round in the chamber at all times, with the hammer down.
When it is time to rock& roll one simply un-holsters the weapon, point, and pull the trigger, exactly the same as a double action revolver. The pistol fires, and from that round on the pistol is single action, because the pistol re-cocks it's self after each shot. When the pistol runs dry, the slide stays back, and all that is needed to get the pistol back in action is to drop a magazine, and replace it with a full one, drop the slide, and rock& roll for another 8 shots. Some others have 17-1 capacity, so in most cases no re-load is needed at all.
The only time a decocker is used is if you fire the gun, and don't need to fire it again, then the de-cocker lever is pushed, dropping the hammer without fireing the pistol, placeing the pistol back in double-action mode again, and safe to carry.
The three big problems with a revolver are not enough capacity before haveing to re-load, and the things are ver slow to reload.
No2 is if you get wounded in a firefight, on your weak side, and must change hands to continue, the revolver is damn difficult to re-load with only one hand, and even harder if that is not your strong side hand. With a double action simi-auto one can carry several extra magazines, very easily conciealed, and can be easily re-loaded with either hand.
No3 In darkness, the revolver like a 357Mag makes a very blinding cylinder, and muzzle flash, that cannot be modified, and the muzzle flash of a simi-auto is nowhere as blinding as even a small revolver.
It takes no time at all to become accustomed to a double action de-cocker pistol! One good visit to the range, and a couple of 50 round boxes of ammo and you got it.
All just an old 72 yr old opinion, but one who has been legally armed for most of my life, with all kinds of firearms, and none of them are magic, but some systems are far better than others for combat! My choice, if I have one at the time, will allways be a high capacity double action simi-auto, with a de-cocking lever!