Revolvers and Time

 

The gun community is cyclical, and it seems that revolvers are making a comeback.

The popularity of different types of firearms tends to go through cycles, with certain types, brands, or calibers becoming more or less popular over time. This could be due to a variety of factors, such as changes in laws and regulations, advances in technology, and marketing. The obvious example: in the past few decades, there has been a trend towards using semi-automatic handguns for self-defense, and as a result, revolvers have become less popular. Lately it seems that revolvers are now making a comeback, with many shooters rediscovering the perceived simplicity and reliability of these classic firearms.

The perception isn't always the same as reality in terms of reliability and simplicity. Most firearms owners these days are much more familiar with the Glock, which is probably one of the best examples of robust reliability. Most Glock pistols can quite easily shoot 10,000 rounds before any real maintenance occurs. I'm talking about no cleaning, tweaking, lubrication, or adjustment during those 10,000 rounds. My old Glock 34 went 14,000 rounds between cleanings once, and never malfunctioned during that entire time.

If you think you're going to treat a revolver like that, you're likely going to have real issues. Letting a revolver get crudded up to that level is a bad idea. Add to the equation the need to check plate and grip screws, cylinder gap, forcing cone, cylinder timing, lockup, and ejector rod straightness, and you've got something that just requires a bit more work. Also, a lot of revolver finishes aren't as tolerant of moisture, fingerprints, and general neglect. While your Glock may laugh off anything even remotely close to rust, a lot of revolvers do not have that same bulletproof finish.

Unfortunately, as fewer people are using and learning about revolvers, knowledge about these classic firearms is in danger of being lost. This is especially true for younger generations of shooters who may not have grown up with revolvers and may not have had the opportunity to learn about them from experienced shooters. The decline in popularity of revolvers has also led to a reduction in the availability of training, resources, and gunsmiths for these guns, which makes it harder for people to learn about them. As a result, important knowledge about the care, maintenance, and use of revolvers is at risk of being lost.

So back to the newest "resurgence" of revolvers. This is leading a lot of people with no or almost no experience with revolvers to try them out. And most gun owners try out a gun by purchasing it and either not shooting it or barely shooting it. So the odds of those people experiencing any real problem with a revolver is very low. But what of the new revolver owner who gets one and shoots one a lot?

There was a video posted recently that featured two shooters having some serious issues with a Taurus revolver. While it is easy to be dismissive of those two, due to their lack of revolver knowledge, I think that their experience is likely to be the same as many new Gen Z revolver owners. Most shooters these days don't even understand the terms "double action" vs "single action," much less have any real experience running a double action trigger. The jump from a striker fired gun to a double action trigger is real, and if you've never done it before, it'll be interesting, to say the least. Not that you can't jump onto a double action trigger and become proficient, but it takes practice, and it wouldn't hurt to have a little bit of training or coaching.

Of course, today's generation of firearms owners is a very social media centric group. They're not worried about being ultimate masters of anything, they just do things and put them on social media. While some of the old guard may find this to be a bad practice, it certainly allows us all to see what a learning curve looks like. Seeing people do things at regular human speeds and pacing isn't bad, despite what some naysayers would have you believe. Not every shooter out there is Jerry Miculek or Bob Vogel, but sometimes you wouldn't know it from watching some videos. Then again, you can veer off into Instagram and see lots of examples of bad technique, so there is an obvious counterpoint. And while it is very easy to dismiss the people in that one video as "not revolver masters, therefore their perspective is useless," understand that their perspective is much more the norm than the old school master.

It is easy to be dismissive of those guys, to deride those guys, and to note that they "just don't understand" those older guns. Certainly they don't. For a generation that grew up with Glocks and AR-15s, working on a gun is as simple as trading out one part for another. Right now with a minimum of tools you can build an entire AR-15 on your kitchen table. The same cannot be said for a revolver.

So, as the old guard, what do we do? Make fun of them? Understand that the gun owning 2nd amendment crowd isn't growing by leaps and bounds these days. If we're not careful, we'll gatekeep ourselves out of existence. If you think you have things to complain about now, just wait until you can't have a gun at all. The gun community is guilty as hell of being judgmental about the other members of the same damn community. So in closing, I just want you to think about this.

We all know a woman that went to a gunstore and had the guy behind the counter act like a total ass to her. Hell, some of you may very well BE that woman. Hopefully that gunstore idiot didn't completely dissuade her from being a gun owner, but he very well might have. If you're not careful, you could BE the guy at the gunstore. Be a helpful gun owner, don't be that guy.