{"id":8295,"date":"2020-05-12T16:35:58","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T20:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/?p=8295"},"modified":"2021-07-30T10:07:55","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T14:07:55","slug":"the-best-revolver-in-the-world-2020-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/the-best-revolver-in-the-world-2020-update\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Revolver in the World [2020 Update]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"style-scope yt-formatted-string\" dir=\"auto\">It&#8217;s a blast from the past! (No pun intended. Probably). I&#8217;m looking back at one of our most popular videos ever to provide some new reflections, revisions, updates, and other commentary. Do I still think the Smith &amp; Wesson Model 66 is the best revolver in the world? Did I ever really think that to begin with? Does it even matter? Find out in this 2020 update of The Best Revolver in the World.<\/span><\/p> <p>Details are in the video below, or scroll on down to read the full transcript.<\/p> <div class=\"entry-content-asset\"><script src=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.com\/assets\/external\/E-v1.js\" async><\/script><\/p> <noscript class=\"idle-load\"><div class=\"wistia_responsive_padding\" style=\"padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;\"> <div class=\"wistia_responsive_wrapper\" style=\"height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;top:0;width:100%;\"> <div class=\"wistia_embed wistia_async_nnx7o407ny dnt=1 videoFoam=true\" style=\"height:100%;position:relative;width:100%\"> <div class=\"wistia_swatch\" style=\"height:100%;left:0;opacity:0;overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0;transition:opacity 200ms;width:100%;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.com\/embed\/medias\/nnx7o407ny\/swatch\" style=\"filter:blur(5px);height:100%;object-fit:contain;width:100%;\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" onload=\"this.parentNode.style.opacity=1;\" \/><\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/noscript> <\/div> <hr \/> <p>Lately, I\u2019ve been looking through the Lucky Gunner content archives and I decided it might be time to update a few of those older videos. There are things I\u2019ve changed my mind about since I started making content for Lucky Gunner almost eight years ago. There are videos that could use an update based on new products that have come out and new information that\u2019s become available. And sometimes I wish I had just explained certain things a little better.<\/p> <p>So today, we\u2019re going to watch a few highlights from one of the most popular videos in the Lucky Gunner archives and I\u2019ll interject periodically to offer revisions and other commentary. If this turns out to be a format you guys like, we\u2019ll try more of them in the future. For now, let\u2019s take a trip back to 2015 and watch some clips from a video titled \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/the-best-revolver-in-the-world\/\">The Best Revolver in the World<\/a>.\u201d<\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66-range.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8316\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66-range.jpg\" alt=\"Smith &amp; Wesson Model 66\" width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66-range.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66-range-600x337.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66-range-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66-range-350x197.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p> <h3><strong>The Best Revolver in the World: Revisited<\/strong><\/h3> <p><em>\u201cThis is my Smith &amp; Wesson Model 66 and it\u2019s the best revolver in the world.\u201d<\/em><\/p> <p>Okay, let\u2019s pause it right there. I promise, I\u2019m not going to stop this thing every five seconds, but I gotta say something here.<\/p> <p>A\u2026 not insignificant number of people who watched this video pretty much stopped right here and raced to the comments to let me know that some revolver other than the Smith &amp; Wesson Model 66 is, in fact, the best revolver in the world.<\/p> <p>And that\u2019s probably my fault. At the time, our blog had a pretty decent following, but this is one of the first videos we posted to YouTube. I knew that in order to get an audience there, I would have to use some kind of sensational title in order to grab people\u2019s attention. Well, it worked\u2026 kind of. But a lot of the attention that video has drawn over the years has been from angry people who think I have bad taste in revolvers. I asked for it, though.<\/p> <p>Anyone who bothered to watch past the first ten seconds found out this video was not actually about one particular revolver being superior to another.<\/p> <p><em>\u201cOkay, that might be an exaggeration, but only slightly. I have some good reasons for believing this Model 66 is about as good as a fighting revolver can be, but first &#8212; a little background.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>I\u2019ve always been a fan of revolvers\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p> <p>What I\u2019m about to spend way too much time explaining is that I like revolvers, but I think semi-autos are better in most respects. This video is really about me shooting and studying revolvers as much as possible to find out if maybe I was wrong about that.<\/p> <p>So let\u2019s just fast forward for a second&#8230;<\/p> <p><em>\u201cSo for the first half of the year, I shot revolvers almost exclusively. Every week, I was at the range with a few boxes of .38 special and a couple of wheel guns trying to find one that would give me that balance of shootability and concealability.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>After a lot of trial and error, the revolver I landed on is the Smith &amp; Wesson Model 66. It\u2019s a 6-shot .357 magnum made in 2004 and based on the Smith &amp; Wesson medium size K-frame, a design that goes back to 1899.<\/em><\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-1\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66.jpg\" alt=\"Smith &amp; Wesson Model 66\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/Model-66-350x197.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p> <p><em>The K-frames are a good middle of the road size &#8212; they\u2019re not awkward to use like the small J-frames and they carry a lot easier than the bigger L and N frame Smith &amp; Wessons.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>I picked the 66 in particular out of all the other K-frame models mostly because of the adjustable sights, and the option to get a 3-inch barrel &#8212; it\u2019s a nice balance between the short snub nose barrels and the full size 4-inch barrels that are more common.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>The gun weighs just over 2 and a half pounds loaded with a holster. That\u2019s about 20% heavier than my M&amp;P. It\u2019s also a little longer, and the grip sticks out farther, but I can still conceal it with a little effort.\u201d<\/em><\/p> <p>Okay, I really should not have glossed over that point so quickly. The difference in the size and weight of these two guns is actually a pretty big deal.<\/p> <p>This video was really supposed to be the conclusion of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/category\/wheel-gun-wednesday\/\">Wheel Gun Wednesday<\/a> series that I had started on the Lucky Gunner Lounge blog six months earlier. My original goal was to find a revolver that was roughly equivalent in size and weight to my everyday carry gun and see if I could learn to shoot that revolver just as well.<\/p> <p>The eventual conclusion was that even when I set up a revolver with what I considered to be the ideal configuration &#8212; the Best Revolver in the World &#8212; it was still not any better as a self-defense tool than a boring, mostly stock, plastic 9mm.<\/p> <p>In hindsight, what I actually did was pick the smallest revolver that I could already shoot fairly well. That ended up being a Model 66, which was quite a bit larger and heavier than the M&amp;P Compact I was carrying at the time.<\/p> <p>But it doesn\u2019t really matter. If a compact nine is your starting point, any way you look at it, there is no service caliber revolver in the world that is as easy to carry as a compact 9mm that is also as easy to shoot as a compact 9mm. I did get around to making that point eventually, but that really should have been the focus of this video. Instead, I got side-tracked with all kinds of other stuff. Like how much fun it is to customize a Smith &amp; Wesson K-frame.<\/p> <h3><strong>What Do You Mean, &#8220;Un-American&#8221;!?<\/strong><\/h3> <p><em>\u201cSo the first thing I did to this Model 66 was improve the action.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>I installed a few different springs until I found a combination that lightened up the double action trigger a little bit, but would still reliably ignite the primers on my carry ammo.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>And thanks to this excellent vintage 20th century instructional DVD from Jerry Miculek, I also smoothed out some the rough spots in the action.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>The final result is a buttery smooth double action trigger that breaks at about 8.5 pounds.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>I changed out the factory adjustable sights for a for the more durable Rough Country rear sight from Bowen Classic Arms. The original front sight was fiber optic, which I like, but it had a rounded profile that makes it tough to get good sight alignment on longer shots, so I got rid of that in favor of a square fiber optic from Cylinder and Slide.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>For a self defense revolver, you\u2019ve got to get rid of that hammer spur and convert it to double action only. Using the single action feature on self-defense revolvers is, frankly, un-American. And the hammer spur will get caught on clothing during the draw stroke anyway.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>So I installed the spurless Evolution hammer from Apex Tactical. I also got an XP firing pin from Apex, which helps with more reliable primer ignition.\u201d<\/em><\/p> <p>Okay, lots to talk about there. Let\u2019s start with the phrase, \u201cusing the single action feature is un-American.\u201d That has probably upset even more people than claiming that the Model 66 is the best revolver in the world.<\/p> <p>\u201cUn-American\u201d was meant to be a joke because I kept noticing people using that word to describe any kind of behavior they didn\u2019t approve of. It wasn\u2019t a very good joke. A lot of people took it as an insult to anyone throughout all of history who has ever carried a single action firearm. I did want to make a point that I knew a lot of people would find hard to swallow, but I didn\u2019t really bother to explain that point in any detail. So people got offended for all of the wrong reasons.<\/p> <p>Some time later I did try to clarify that message with another video called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/double-action-only-revolvers\/\">Why All Defensive Revolvers Should Be Double Action Only<\/a>. That was another case where using an inflammatory title primed the audience to feel defensive from the very beginning. I also, again, took way too many detours to make what should have been a very simple point.<\/p> <h3><strong>Making the Case for Double Action Only&#8230; Again<\/strong><\/h3> <p>So let me try this for a third time and hopefully, it will be offensive for the right reasons. If you have a modern double action revolver that you intend to use for self-defense, thumbing the hammer when you\u2019re practicing with that revolver is a crutch to compensate for the fact that you don\u2019t know how to shoot. In a real fight to save your life, you will not have time to cock that hammer, and doing so introduces opportunities for your thumb to slip or fumble that are not present if you simply fire the gun double action.<\/p><p><\/p> <figure id=\"attachment_8314\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8314\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/DA-trigger.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-2\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8314 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/DA-trigger.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/DA-trigger.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/DA-trigger-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/DA-trigger-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/DA-trigger-350x197.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8314\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrating the double action trigger stroke without disturbing the front sight on a S&amp;W Model 64.<\/figcaption><\/figure> <p>Running a double action trigger is not a hard skill to learn. You can do it in just a couple of weeks of dry fire practice at home &#8212; 10 minutes a day. And once you\u2019ve got it down, you will rarely, if ever, feel the need to cock the hammer and fire that gun single action. Even on the hard shots &#8212; you can quickly learn to finesse that trigger without disturbing the sights.<\/p> <p>That comes with a couple of caveats. Like, I know that some people with health issues don\u2019t have the physical strength to pull a double action trigger. They\u2019d probably be better off with a different gun, but if that\u2019s not possible, obviously you just do what you have to do to get the gun to go bang. I also know a lot of revolvers have really heavy and gritty double action triggers. Especially some of the new ones. Don\u2019t put up with that. Get it fixed or get a different gun. It\u2019s really hard to learn double action with a bad trigger.<\/p> <p>You\u2019ve got plenty of options these days. The Ruger LCRs tend to have a really nice trigger right out of the box. The GP100 and SP101 are pretty decent, especially if you drop in a Wilson Combat hammer spring and then dry fire them a bunch. The Kimber revolvers and the new Colts also have good double action triggers from the factory. With Smith &amp; Wesson, you pretty much have to go with either a Performance Center model or an older well broken-in gun.<\/p> <p>These days, I am not nearly as emphatic about the issue of the hammer spur. If you learn how to run the double action trigger, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a big deal if the gun has a hammer spur. I prefer it to not have one &#8212; at least not one this big. But if you put some serious practice into your drawstroke and that hammer isn\u2019t snagging on your clothes, don\u2019t worry about it. Just make sure you test it when you\u2019re wearing multiple layers because that tends to make the snagging issue a bigger problem.<\/p> <p>I also got a lot of questions about why I would go with a spurless hammer on this Model 66 to prevent snagging but then add this giant rear sight. That\u2019s a good question. I did eventually have some snagging problems with the rear sight in the video. It wasn\u2019t so much the sight itself as this big gap between the bottom of the sight and the top of the frame.<\/p> <figure id=\"attachment_8318\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8318\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-old.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-3\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8318 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-old.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-old.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-old-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-old-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-old-350x197.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8318\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 2015 version of the Model 66 had an aftermarket sight that was too tall. That required the rear sight to be at the top of its adjustment range, leaving a big gap beneath it that was perfect for snagging on clothing.<\/figcaption><\/figure> <p>I\u2019ve got a different set of sights on the gun now. The front is a shorter red fiber optic from Dawson Precision and that allowed me to use a much shorter Bowen rear sight blade. So now that gap is much smaller and I\u2019ve filed down all the sharp edges to try and make it as snag-free as possible. Honestly, it\u2019s still not really ideal.<\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-new.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-4\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8317\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-new.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-new.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-new-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-new-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/rear-sight-new-350x197.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p> <h3><strong>A Better Best Revolver in the World<\/strong><\/h3> <p>If I was going to set up &#8220;the best revolver in the world&#8221; today, it would still be a 3-inch Smith &amp; Wesson K-frame, but I would probably change a few things. First of all, I would start with an older model because the actions tend to be much smoother and there\u2019s no internal lock where the gun\u2019s soul leaks out. I would also use a fixed sight revolver like this Model 64 and have a gunsmith machine the top for a set of larger semi-auto style fixed sights. The end result would be a lot like this Model 64 belonging to Darryl Bolke with custom work by Ted Yost. You get a bigger sight picture, but you still have a nice snag-free profile. For the front sight, I\u2019d have a fiber optic or tritium insert.<\/p> <figure id=\"attachment_8322\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8322\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/yost-model-64.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-5\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8322 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/yost-model-64.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"751\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/yost-model-64.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/yost-model-64-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/yost-model-64-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/yost-model-64-350x263.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8322\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Smith &amp; Wesson Model 64 (top) customized by Ted Yost with a matching J-frame Model 640 (bottom). From the collection of Darryl Bolke.<\/figcaption><\/figure> <p>Then I would have the hammer spur mostly bobbed, but I\u2019d want a little rounded-off nub left behind. That hammer spur does have one advantage &#8212; it lets you check for high primers. You partially cock the hammer so you can turn the loaded cylinder around and make sure there are no out-of-spec rounds that are going to bind up the action.<\/p> <p>But custom revolver-smithing is not cheap and we\u2019ve already established that I\u2019m probably not going to carry this thing, so that makes it tough to justify the expense.<\/p> <h3><strong>The S&amp;W Internal Lock Plug<\/strong><\/h3> <p><em>\u201cYou might have noticed this plug in the internal lock opening here just above the cylinder release latch. They don\u2019t make the 3-inch Model 66 anymore and the used ones are getting tough to find, so I was able to save a few bucks by getting one that was made after Smith &amp; Wesson starting putting these locks on all their revolvers. For liability reasons, our lawyer says I\u2019m not supposed to talk about how to disable the lock, but he\u2019s not here right now, so all you have to do is take off the sideplate [CONTENT REDACTED] and then it works just like any pre-lock revolver.\u201d<\/em><\/p> <p>I don\u2019t care who you are, that was funny.<\/p> <p>We do still have lawyers who won\u2019t let me go into a lot of detail here. The lock plug I have in the video is one that I hacked together in my garage. I have since replaced it with a much nicer one I bought from sightpushertool.com. I will just say that if you are forced to shoot someone in self-defense and you do it with a gun that has a safety feature you have disabled, that is not going to look good to the DA reviewing your case. It may be easier for you to defend if you have also converted the gun to double action only since Smith &amp; Wesson does sell DAO guns without locks. Either way, just be aware that plugging the lock puts you at a legal disadvantage even if your actions were justified.<\/p> <figure id=\"attachment_8321\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8321\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/sw-lock-plug.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-6\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8321 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/sw-lock-plug.jpg\" alt=\"Smith &amp; Wesson lock plug\" width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/sw-lock-plug.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/sw-lock-plug-600x337.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/sw-lock-plug-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/sw-lock-plug-350x197.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8321\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A homemade S&amp;W internal lock plug. These are now available commercially from various online vendors.<\/figcaption><\/figure> <p>Okay, let\u2019s look at one last clip&#8230;<\/p> <h3><strong>Rethinking Revolver Emergency Reloads<\/strong><\/h3> <p><em>\u201cI got really comfortable with emergency reloads on this revolver using Safariland Comp II speed loaders. I couldn\u2019t find a speed loader pouch that I liked, so I just keep the reload in my front pocket.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>With this setup, I can reload in about 4 and a half seconds if everything goes smoothly. One of the only benefits of having such a low ammo capacity is that you get lots of opportunities to practice reloads at the range. It doesn\u2019t take long to get in plenty of repetitions, even if you don\u2019t set aside much time to specifically work on reloads.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>A three-inch K-frame is pretty bulky compared to a five shot snub nose, but a medium size revolver offers some pretty compelling benefits. That full size grip that\u2019s such a pain to keep concealed is really nice to have when you go to draw the gun. And the extra bulk really helps out when you\u2019re trying to keep the sights still on targets out past 10 yards. And the recoil &#8212; it\u2019s hardly even noticeable with .38 special ammo.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>I could load it with magnums and it would be quite a handful, but there\u2019s not much evidence to suggest that running .357 instead of a good .38 +P load would help end a fight any quicker. I keep my 66 loaded with Speer Gold Dot .38s. The recoil and muzzle flip is pretty much the same as the mild range ammo I\u2019ve been training with, so really, I can empty the revolver as fast as I can pull the trigger.\u201d<\/em><\/p> <p>Okay, back that up a second. That is actually not a very good reload right there.<\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-incorrect.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-7\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8320\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-incorrect.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-incorrect.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-incorrect-600x337.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-incorrect-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-incorrect-350x197.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p> <p>Speed loaders rely on gravity to get the rounds in the chambers, so the gun needs to be completely vertical. It can\u2019t be tilted back or over to one side. That\u2019s why I was having trouble getting the last couple of rounds to let go in that shot.<\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-correct.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-8\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8319\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-correct.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-correct.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-correct-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-correct-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/revolver-reload-correct-350x197.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p> <p>I know that revolver reloads have been the topic of some internet drama recently. I have no desire to debate the finer points of the various techniques. It\u2019s not that I don\u2019t have an opinion, I just think it would be a waste of your time to talk about it here. On the list of handgun skills you are likely to need, the revolver emergency reload is close to the very bottom. I\u2019m not saying you shouldn\u2019t know how to do it. You have to reload the gun anyway when you\u2019re practicing, so you might as well learn how to do it fast. And of course you\u2019re going to need to know how to do it if you shoot competitively.<\/p> <p>But if you actually end up pulling off a revolver reload in the middle of a close-range gunfight, you very well might be the first armed citizen on record to have ever done it. That\u2019s how rare it is. Even in law enforcement, I only know of one case and that only happened because the officer was reaching for his backup gun but he found a speed loader in his pocket instead.<\/p> <h3><strong>Rethinking Ammo Capacity<\/strong><\/h3> <p>If you\u2019re really concerned about not having enough ammo in your gun to get yourself out of trouble, I highly recommend you just carry a gun that holds more bullets or carry a second gun. Even with semi-autos, emergency reloads almost never happen in justifiable shootings with armed civilians. Maybe that\u2019s because most people aren\u2019t fast enough to pull off a reload before the gunfight is over. Or maybe it\u2019s because very few people actually carry spare ammo with them. But I think the main reason is that most civilian self-defense encounters are resolved before a reload is needed.<\/p> <p>I say all of that because I think I gave way too much weight to the issue of ammo capacity in this video. If I were to compare a compact 9mm to a revolver today, I would come to the same basic conclusion, but I\u2019d definitely emphasize different points. Ammo capacity would just be a minor footnote.<\/p> <p>Yes, more bullets is more better. They\u2019re nice to have, but probably not as important as we\u2019d like to think. I believe it\u2019s possible to make a good case for the semi-auto without even mentioning ammo capacity.<\/p> <p>But this was just one of many videos and articles I\u2019ve done comparing revolvers and semi-autos. The most recent was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/pocket-pistols-vs-snub-nose-revolvers\/\">Pocket Pistols versus Snub Nose Revolvers<\/a> and in that context, I think the snub nose actually comes out on top. If you think I forgot about the issue of reliability, you might want to check that one out.<\/p> <p>You can\u2019t really do justice to the semi-auto versus revolver discussion without being more specific about what kind of revolvers and what kind of semi-autos you\u2019re comparing. It\u2019s a complex debate you can\u2019t easily reduce to a single issue. Of course, I\u2019ve also never been one to shy away from beating a dead horse.<\/p> <p>Even so, I hope you learned something new in this updated edition of \u201cThe Best Revolver in the World.\u201d Let me know in the comments if you guys like this format and if there are any more Lucky Gunner videos from the past you would like me to update.<\/p> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s a blast from the past! (No pun intended. Probably). I&#8217;m looking back at one of our most popular videos &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/the-best-revolver-in-the-world-2020-update\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[216],"tags":[47,42,17,174,404],"class_list":["post-8295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wheel-gun-wednesday","tag-concealed-carry","tag-revolvers","tag-self-defense","tag-smith-and-wesson","tag-updates"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Best Revolver in the World [2020 Update] - Lucky Gunner Lounge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chris from the Lucky Gunner follows up on his best revolver in the world claims with a revisit of the Smith &amp; Wesson Model 66.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/the-best-revolver-in-the-world-2020-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best Revolver in the World [2020 Update] - Lucky Gunner Lounge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chris from the Lucky Gunner follows up on his best revolver in the world claims with a revisit of the Smith &amp; Wesson Model 66.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/the-best-revolver-in-the-world-2020-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lucky Gunner Lounge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lucky.gunner.chris\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-12T20:35:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-30T14:07:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/media\/best-revolver-featured-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2160\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"944\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Baker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Baker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"18 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/the-best-revolver-in-the-world-2020-update\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luckygunner.com\/lounge\/the-best-revolver-in-the-world-2020-update\/\",\"name\":\"The Best Revolver in the World [2020 Update] - 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