SA or DA revolvers for home/self defense?

[Kaleva]

For those who have a revolver for such, I'd like to hear your comments about which you prefer and why?

[Remmah2]

1. Home defense; Ruger GP-100 or SP-101; both DA.

Built really hearty so you can practice, practice, practice without worries about wearing it out. In DA it has a nice long deliberate trigger pull. If you're pulling the trigger, ya know you're pulling the trigger. Also w/the pop out cylinder, easy and quick to reload.

With a SA, you have to cock it and the cylinder does not slide out. Most SA's have a lighter trigger pull. With fixed cylinder, slow reload.

[doc03]

2. I would prefer a DA if that was my choice. Myself I have a Springfeild 40 CAL semi auto for home

and the rare ocation I carry I have a Ruger LCP 380.

[Bonhomme Richard]

3. LOL, I guess I couldn't decide. Mine is SA/DA. n/t

[trouble.smith]

10. I started out on a model 25-5 when I was about 14 years old. It is a great gun.

It's very difficult to choose between a model 25 and a model 325 night guard, or between a model 627 or 327 night guard. The 624-3 in .44 special is equally desirable and of course there's the venerable 629. There's just no end to the excellent DA revolvers made by smith and wesson. All that being said, get a Glock.

[trouble.smith]

15. I have a titanium/scandium M&P340 .357. It isn't a range gun

It did shake a screw loose right off the bat. A little loctite fixed that. Most people shoot it once or twice and set it down due to the recoil. It's never failed me beyond that one screw. it goes bang every time.

I have owned 6 Glocks-all of them in .45 acp. 5 of them were Glock 21s. My current ccw piece is a Glock 30 (.45 acp). I think I made one of my 21s jam once when I was experimenting with bump firing. Seems like it stovepiped. In all the thousands of rounds I've put through those Glocks, I don't recall any other functional issues and I consider the Glock 21 to be a true combat masterpiece.

I don't have a lot of experience with the Glock .40 so I can't say much about that.
I do know lots of folks who carry Glock .40s though. I've never heard any of them complain about failing to function.

[Eleanors38]

5. I keep a Ruger Police Service Six in .357 magnum...

A double action allows point & pull speed. No magazines, no slides, no safety.

The Service Six (and its successors) are quite strong and durable.

I have read where SD experts discourage single-action due to both lack of speed and quick target reacquisition.

[oneshooter]

6. I have been known to carry a SAA Colt 45, or a

4"1860 Army 44 cal caplock. I have built IWB holsters for both, and do not feel underarmed with either one.
Of course I do practice with both on a weekley basis, same as I do with my SIG220.

[Eleanors38]

8. I'll certainly defer to your experience!

[oneshooter]

11. I have been shooting SA revolvers in competition and for fun for 40+ years.

[Egalitarian Thug]

7. Neither. Unless you are well trained and devoted to constant practice over a period

of years, a pistol is about the worst weapon you can pick for home defense.

They are inherently inaccurate under the best circumstances and in the scenario of defending your home from a marauding band of invaders the odds are that you won't hit anything you intend to even though you are sure to hit something. The DA is even worse since the trigger pull for the first shot is at least double that of the following shots.

The best weapon for home defense is universally acknowledged to be a shotgun. Since most of the members of my household are neither large, nor especially well trained, I go with a 20ga, it makes a sufficient boom and accuracy is not as big an issue. The 12ga kicks like a mule and despite media myth is overkill.

[Clames]

17. I don't hold to this theory at all.

Accuracy is very much an issue with any shotgun. You have to AIM because the pattern of shot isn't going to appreciably expand over the very shot distances involved with a typical room or house layout. Especially when using heavy loads or self-defense specific loads. I have a 18.5" 12'ga with a cylinder bore and I know it won't pattern over 2" across the width of my apartment with #4 shot in it.

[Egalitarian Thug]

20. I see I should have been far more specific, this is DU after all.

For legal reasons I'm not going to be as specific as is probably required, but I was talking about a weapon that is dedicated to the highly unlikely event of home defense. Enough said.

I am not concerned in the slightest with being drawn into the fantasy world of gun magazines and the equivalent of Penthouse forum. I was talking about what happens IRL in these very rare situations.

[Clames]

24. IRL, you still have to aim.

Better luck next time.

[Egalitarian Thug]

33. Luck has nothing to do with it. Thankfully, you are unlikely to learn the hard way. n/t

[PavePusher]

18. With all due respect, please refresh your training....

At any practical defensive distance, a shotgun requires just as careful aiming as any other style of firearm....

And they require two hands to operate.

[Egalitarian Thug]

21. See #20. n/t

[PavePusher]

35. That post does nothing to address the reality of using a shotgun for defense.

I am starting to think you are not well informed on the subject.

[Egalitarian Thug]

36. Nope, not at all. Carry on. n/t

[Straw Man]

26. Revolvers -- remember?

The DA is even worse since the trigger pull for the first shot is at least double that of the following shots.

I don't know of any DA revolver that cocks itself after the first shot. You must be thinking of SA/DA semi-autos.

[Egalitarian Thug]

31. You're right, I was. Still, if home defense is the purpose, I'd go with the scatter gun.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

30. "a pistol is about the worst weapon you can pick for home defense"--Actually, a can of beans may be.

Wasn't there someone who used to post recommendations about using a can of beans.

[Egalitarian Thug]

32. LMAO. Throw an angry cat at them and run.

[Kaleva]

38. Opinions on this are varied and each argument has merit

In truth, purchasing a shotgun would make much more sense as I could bird hunt with it and put food on the table. The chances of needing a weapon for home defense is minimal.

I would get much more bang for the buck buying both a used lever action .30-30 and a shotgun which, in a pinch, could be used in the very unlikely event I'd need them for home defense

[sarisataka]

9. I would recomend DA

SA revolvers are excellent in the hands of a well trained shooter but the majority will not train to the needed level. DA revolvers are the pocket camera of guns, point and shoot- no safety to disengage, no slide to rack, no hammer to cock; just pull the trigger.

Many would say get a .357 a powerful and excellent round for stopping an aggressor. Its power is also the main drawback. The muzzle bast and recoil can be intimidating to someone not completely familiar with shooting. If fired in darkness the muzzle flash is very dazzling. For most people a .38 is plenty.

As to the manufacturer, any reputable maker will do. Rugers are noted for strength, Taurus and Charter Arms are reasonably priced; I happen to be partial to S&W.

One bit I cannot stress enough is practice, just because it is easy to shoot hitting what you aim at needs to be trained. While you can load a revolver, put it in a drawer for 15 years, pull it out and fire it just fine familiarity will greatly enhance the odds of hitting the target rather than a miss or worse- striking an unintended person.

[montanto]

12. DA

I've had a 586 S&W for over twenty years. Super accurate, powerful, never ever fails to work. Mainly shoot SA so I'm used to that, but you can use it either way, so I'd go with DA.

[krispos42]

14. Whichever you can use better.

If you're a Cowboy Action Shooter, then your SA .357 or .44-40 might be your best bet simply because you can handle it with high levels of confidence.


But if you're at a gun store and deciding between a DA and a SA revolver, get the DA. Not only it is more foolproof, the swing-out cylinder makes it much faster and easier to reload or to check the cylinder.

[Kaleva]

16. I take care of a Ruger Blackhawk SA .357 revolver for a sibling.

Last night I took it out of its hiding place (no simple task) and for the first time in about 5 years, took it out of its case and handled it for awhile and dry fired it.

It's a solid gun and appears well made and I think it'd be quite good for hunting or for shooting at a firing range but for home/self defense, I think it's lacking. The fixed cylinder makes reloading slow compared to a revolver with a swing-out cylinder and having to pull the hammer back each and every time to fire a round would make shooting slower too compared to a DA revolver.

About the only advantage I could see with a SA for home defense is that having to cock the hammer back could be considered a safety as it's impossilble to fire the gun without first doing so. That is, if one trains oneself not to cock the hammer back until one is actually going to fire the revolver.

So I thought that while I could use such a gun for home defense, it would also require a great deal of practice at the firing range in order for me to fell competent with it in a emergency. Far more time then I would think with a DA.

But I wanted to get the opinions of others here who have a great deal more experience with guns then I.

[krispos42]

19. If it's what you have them it's what you use

Remember, only a tiny percentage of armed confrontations result in having to shoot, and only a small fraction of those require reloading. Unless you fear some kind of professional hit, 6 rounds should be plenty.

You can dry fire it fit practice; it's free and effective. You can become very proficient simply during in your moving room.

You might be able to swap it for a DA revolver, though. However, regardless of the gun you'll need to spend a good amout of time dry firing and otherwise handling your handgun.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

29. In the OP, it wasn't clear that you were actually thinking about using a SA that you already have

for home defense. FWIT, here's a thought or two.

(1) Ruger warns it is always safest to have an empty chamber for a hammer to rest on, even those made after 1972, because an external blow to the hammer can cause the revolver to discharge. The ones made after 1972 are some somewhat safer than the SA revolvers made between 1953-1972 because the ones made at the earlier time period because a hammer for the earlier models in the full forward position rested directly against a firing pin. I.e., less of an external blow to the hammer is required to set them off.

(2) One trick for dry-fire practicing, and you may have seen this before, is to balance a penny on the revolver while you squeeze the trigger. Of course, if you only have a limited number of rounds, accuracy and the ability to squeeze a trigger out of habit in order to be accurate is important.

(3) Accuracy is important but given the cost of getting some range time and price of ammo, you might consider getting a Remington 870. One with an 18 1/2" barrel is inexpensive and reliable. Although I gave you a straight answer above about my home-defense revolver, my go-to home defense weapon is an 870. If you decide to go with a shotgun, load with 00 except for the last round. For that, use #4 shot. If you are ever in a position where you anticipate an immediate potential need to shoot, the first round that you load in the chamber will be your #4 shot which, of course, has a wider pattern than the 00 buck. With a follow-up shot, you can aim more carefully.

It's only my opinion (I was under the Department of the Navy but not in the Navy), if you are considering getting a DA for home defense, I would recommend a short-barreled shotgun. A new 870 pump is relatively inexpensive and known to be reliable. You'll get more for your money than any comparably priced DA revolver. In WW I, shotguns were used as trench guns to clear trenches.

[ManiacJoe]

22. Outside of the historic replicas used for cowboy-action,

does anyone still make a modern SA-only revolver?

[gejohnston]

23. Ruger, Colt might.

The cool thing is that Ruger makes the Bearcat, which is based on the Remington design.

[spin]

25. Ruger makes a large selection of modern single action revolvers ...

in a number of calibers. Visit http://www.ruger.com/index.html

[razorman]

27. For self-defene, a DA would probably be recommended. There are many good choices available

from Colt, S&W, Ruger, Taurus, etc. Selection of caliber and barrel length and so forth depend on the user and the circumstances. But, semi-autos aren't the only choice. Basically, there is nothing wrong with a good wheelgun.

[Straw Man]

28. DA, absolutely ...

... and unequivocally. SA is good for accurate shooting, but it has two drawbacks in a self-defense scenario. First, it adds a step of preparation, potentially slowing down reaction time to a threat. As a result, one might be encouraged to cock the hammer ahead of time when something goes bump in the night. This leads to the second problem: a possible unintentional discharge due to the lightness of the trigger. In other words, SA is either too hard or too easy to fire.

SA has its place, but there's a reason that DA was invented.

[spin]

34. Most people practice single action shooting with a DA revolver. ...

Since a person will revert to what they practice in a stressful "life or death" situation, they will cock their double action revolver which eliminates the advantage that the double action feature offers.

Of course the solution is to practice double action shooting with your DA revolver at the range. Unfortunately it is harder to master DA shooting than SA because of the longer and heavier trigger pull.

With some practice you can become very proficient at double action shooting especially at close range.

You mainly have to realize that while target shooting is a great basis for all handgun shooting, self defense shooting is a different art. The object is not to place all your shots in a VERY tight group but to be able to hit "kill zone" of a target as rapidly as possible without missing the target. (In passing, I should mention that your object when using a firearm for self defense is not to "kill" but to stop a violent attack.)

In my opinion the biggest advantage that a revolver offers is simplicity as you do not have to worry about mechanical safeties and a revolver is far less sensitive to ammunition and therefore less likely to jam or malfunction than a semi-auto pistol.

Of course a revolver does not have a high capacity magazine and can not be reloaded as fast as a semi-auto pistol. This might be a serious drawback if you end up facing a number of attackers or if you feel your best defense to fill the air with lead.

The choice of a revolver or a semi-auto pistol for self defense is one that should be made on an individual basis. i would suggest a newbie shooter try both styles out before deciding which style suits him/her the best. Of course before you actually have one available for your defense it is very wise to learn firearm safety and practice enough to become fairly proficient with your weapon.

[Straw Man]

39. SA with a DA.

Since a person will revert to what they practice in a stressful "life or death" situation, they will cock their double action revolver which eliminates the advantage that the double action feature offers.

Hence the DAO. I'm a big believer.

[slackmaster]

37. I use a sword because it's always loaded

And a Louisville Slugger as a backup.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

40. For home defense... I'd either go with "Safe-Action" or "Pump-Action"

[rDigital]

41. I'd go with double action.

Way easier to operate under stress. Just pull the trigger and repeat until desired results are achieved or ammuntion is depleted.

My personal home defense guns are a Colt M4 (6940 monolithic upper) and a Sig P229 (.40). The M4 bullets penetrate less walls than the .40, so it's actually safer indoors than most handguns.