I wrote a long series about certain positives that can surround carrying a revolver for self-preservation. One area where it is impossible to argue that it is a positive, is when it comes to capacity. The wheelgun will have anywhere from 5 – 8 rounds on board, and regardless of methodology or skill, it will take longer to reload than almost any semi-auto. 

This is the single biggest aspect of wheelguns that the anti-revolver folks will pounce on and shout “Aha!” Here is where they can spout off endlessly about firepower and how the semi-auto has the ability to continually put more rounds on the bad guy. And it is fairly difficult to argue with them if we stay in the theoretical realm. But when we step firmly onto the real world with actual empirical data, does the theory hold up? 

Before we go any further, and just so we do not obfuscate the discussion with points that are irrelevant, let me be clear about this, since the last time I touched on this was in the very first article in the series, the prologue. My focus has been, and will continue to be on what is most logical for the private citizen. For the professional gunbearer like military or law enforcement, there is no doubt that the primary handgun should be a modern semi-auto. These two groups stand a good probability that they may face dedicated multiple attackers who are determined to press the fight even after rounds start getting fired. With that risk, then it stands to reason that a higher capacity on the gun, plus a faster reload capability is a definite plus. 

However, I contend that this does not matter for the private citizen. Well, not that it does not matter, but that is very much an extremely low likelihood where dedicated multiple attackers continue to press the attack after the good guy fights back. Here is a perfect example of a recent situation : 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFk8T2pxy5R

Bad guy car rolls up on good guy who is armed with a revolver. One bad guy gets out with a gun deployed but good guy fights back and shoots bad guy. How many other bad guys are in the car? We don’t know because they got the hell out of there as soon as the good guy started firing. The car could have been full of bad guys but it is a moot point because most bad guys are not interested in well trained fire and maneuver elements as they close on their target. They want to get some form of payment and get away, and they have little interest in getting into some form of John Wick style Gladiatorial Combat. 

This scenario plays out time and time again. If bad guys can retreat in the face of good guy fighting back by firing a revolver at them, they will not willingly sacrifice themselves so their partners can succeed. They want to live, and have no problem with running away. A number of firearm Subject Matter Experts over the decades have asked for a real world instance where a good guy private citizen making good hits lost the fight because he ran out of bullets. There are almost no provable data that shows that to be the case. 

Am I saying that capacity is meaningless? Not at all. As I wrote in the original prologue (months ago now!), it is not my job to tell you as an individual what you should do. If you make the decision that you want to be covered for the worst case Black Swan scenario, and prefer to not only carry a duty size semi-auto with 15+ rounds onboard, but even have multiple spare magazines available, then that’s awesome! I am merely pointing out that for those who choose to run a revolver as a primary, they are not necessarily doing a dumb thing.