Revolvers 101 Question

[ElDub1950]

Not much revolver experience & knowledge. I only own semi autos and one SA .22 that's fun to shoot. Want to add a .357 sometime.

Question:

Can't all DA revolvers be fired in SA mode? Excluding the obvious internal hammer varieties.

If 'yes' what's the deciding factors of buying an SA instead of a DA? It would seem there are trade offs that make one preferred over the other for different purposes.

Thanks for the edumication.

[unusedusername]

Most can, but some are DA only. The DA only ones are marked as such in advertising.

The advantage of buying one with SA is that you can shoot it with a lighter trigger pull for 'marksmanship' shots.

For self-defense use the SA is useless since you wouldn't have the time or fine motor skills required to manually cock the hammer.

[ElDub1950]

Good, Thanks. That's mostly what I thought. Appreciate your response.

[357magnum]

Revolvers

The main difference between DA and SA, (besides the obvious) is the way it fits and feels in your hand.
I look at SA revolvers as old western style.
DA revolvers feel more comfortable to me.
SA revolvers tend to sit higher up in your hand and I think roll back more when firing them, resulting in more felt recoil.
I shoot my DA revolvers in SA 99% of the time, smoother feeling trigger.
If you can try to shoot both versions, or at least handle both of them to see how they feel in your hands.
My choice for .357 mag would be S&W 686, can't go wrong.
Good Luck and Happy Shooting.

[ElDub1950]

The main difference between DA and SA, (besides the obvious) is the way it fits and feels in your hand.

......

If you can try to shoot both versions, or at least handle both of them to see how they feel in your hands.
My choice for .357 mag would be S&W 686, can't go wrong.
Good Luck and Happy Shooting.

Thanks, I was pretty sure I wanted a DA/SA but needed to confirm the functionality. I'll spend some time with a S&W 686 and a Ruger GP100 before I decide.

[trigger945]

The way you hold an SAO revolver is different. They normally have a different grip/grip angle. Also, such revolvers are rarely used for SD nowadays. They are fun though, especially extracting spent cases and spinning the wheel

DA/SA is more versatile and is equally fun. Shooting in DA mode is a good skill to have and it can translate to semiauto shooting.

Good luck!

[trigger945]

Oh, just make sure your support hand thumb is not close to the cylinder gap!!!

[jazman]

I don't have the patience for SA revolvers any more. Each cartridge needs to be loaded into the cylinder through the loading gate one by one, and the spent cartridge/shell needs to be removed one by one. DA wheel guns can be loaded full cylinders at a time with speed loaders, or one by one but with the cylinder swung out its fast and easy. Unloading the same, once you get the right way to do it down. If you want outstanding knowledge about revolvers buy Grant Cunningham's book on Revolvers, it's on Amazon. It will have all the knowledge you need, great book. Grant is a world famous revolver gun smith who specializes in Colt wheel guns like Pythons. He is so good and in demand his waiting list is always minimum 2+ years, but the finished product is worth it. Hope this helps.

[ChuckDizzle]

Lots of fun to just have options. Nothing quite like a nice .357, and it is a ton of fun to stretch out a nice revolver with single action. You would be surprised how accurate they can be for long ranges.

[ElDub1950]

Yes, adding to the variety will be nice! I'm not holding my breath for my long range accuracy .. I mean I can hit a 25 yard bad buy target 10 for 10, generally center mass, but I ain't hittin many bullseyes LOL. But a 357 revolver with a 6 inch barrel at 50 yards will be a great skills challenge. Worst case, lots of fun range days.

[GSF44Mag]

Don't let your worries on accuracy for a DA or SA revolver hamper your decision. They are quite capable of 50 yds and many beyond that. If you take your time, you can get pretty accurate with them. 6" or longer would be my choice for accuracy.

[ElDub1950]

Don't let your worries on accuracy for a DA or SA revolver hamper your decision. They are quite capable of 50 yds and many beyond that. If you take your time, you can get pretty accurate with them. 6" or longer would be my choice for accuracy.

Naw, worrying about it takes the fun out it! It's mostly "rangertainment" (my new word).

Although, a secondary purpose is for hiking/camping, for that one in a bazilion chance when that a larger critter gets ornery. I think something a little better than my .40s is preferable. But those encounters are well within 25 yards and I'll be certain to build my skills to be very effective at those distances.

[GSF44Mag]

Good luck with your choices. Taking the time to learn to shoot a new revolver is where the fun starts. Might want to look at the .44Mag as well.

[ElDub1950]

I'm now pretty set on a DA/SA and I'll try a 44M before I decide .. my impression is that a 44M is much less fun to shoot ~150 rnds in an afternoon.

As a followup .. a lever action 357 carbine is also on my short list because, well heck you can't just have one gun for that caliber and reloading another caliber can keep it within my budget.

But has anyone experienced ammo compatibility between revolvers and lever action guns. I recall a Hickock45 video where he did have some compatibility using his reloads and had to change projectiles. Don't know how common that is. Any comments??

[trigger945]

Good question on lever action. I am curious to know as well. I am getting conflicting info from people on this. I have a lever action in .357mag and have only used the same ammo that I use on my revolver and have not seen any issues. However, it could mean just that - that I have not seen the issues yet but they do happen.

For safety, I bought some leverevolution ammo to use but have not gotten around to it.

FWIW, when I used my revolver ammo on my lever action rifle, the recoil was VERY minimal and it was a fun day for sure.

Regarding shooting 150 rds of .44mag in an afternoon, good luck! I could do 50 rds, which I did once, maybe a few more, but that's about it for me. Maybe I need to man up more