Military/Police Special forces who use revolvers?

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British police are not normally armed, with the exception of those serving in Northern Ireland.
I'm not sure what they use today, but back in the 70's they were issued with revolvers.
 
A common theme of shootouts is that the participants have a tendency to pull the trigger until the gun no longer fires. The difference is that you'll get to 6 before you get to 15. And trying to compare the skills of a highly trained folk to that of a beat cop or homeowner is fanciful.

Autos are popular because they are easier to shoot, easier to reload, hold more rounds, and cheaper than revolvers.
 
my dad was a MP in ww 2. the story was that they used a semi auto, i think .45. and i think a 1911, but not sure. dad said most guys couldn't hit a barn with them. but they had one guy that could hit anything. does my story sound right?
 
I have both revolver and semi-auto. I shoot the revolver a lot more accurately than the semi-auto. I suppose if I were to choose between the 2 in a life or death situation, I would go with the revolver every time. I have a speed loader for the revolver just in case. The revolver loaded with .357 would have more knockdown power than the 9mm.
 
Originally Posted By: morris
my dad was a MP in ww 2. the story was that they used a semi auto, i think .45. and i think a 1911, but not sure. dad said most guys couldn't hit a barn with them. but they had one guy that could hit anything. does my story sound right?


The GI 45acp 1911A1 and earlier 1911 did have some pretty mediocre sights, but they were meant to only be used at close range of under 25 yards. A pistols was a way to fight your butt back to the rifle you should have never set down in the first place or a weapon of last resort in a war. Unless you were a high up officer and did not see front line combat. Infact the M1 carbine was designed to issue to troops who needed more than a pistol but less than a rifle. But it ended up in wider issue as a supplemental carbine since Garand and 1911A1 production had a hard time meeting demand at various points.
 
Originally Posted By: ediamiam
I have both revolver and semi-auto. I shoot the revolver a lot more accurately than the semi-auto. I suppose if I were to choose between the 2 in a life or death situation, I would go with the revolver every time. I have a speed loader for the revolver just in case. The revolver loaded with .357 would have more knockdown power than the 9mm.
us

A lot of that may be ergonomics. I find some autos harder to shoot than others as they have a unnatural grip angle or size, shorter sight radius, or something like that.
 
Originally Posted By: Bangaroo
Now I gotta watch that movie! Does Netflix have it?


The movie is really good. I'm not a fan of French movies but this one was really good. I don't' know if Netflix has it but I rented mine at a local video rental store.
 
I've always thought the real advantage of a revolver is reliability. When you pull the trigger 6 times, you get 6 shots, without the risk of needing to perform immediate action on a jam.

In terms of a backup gun or home defense, it makes sense, though I definitely see the appeal of a high capacity magazine and single action firing. Though for home security, I've always been dubious of automatics, where it's possible that the magazine would be under pressure for weeks or months at a time.
 
The fix for the magazine is use more than one and rotate your rounds between magazine's, also clean and maintain your weapon. But I willing to wager the majority of gun owners could not take apart their pistols and clean them. Just judging from personnel experience.
 
Originally Posted By: expat
British police are not normally armed, with the exception of those serving in Northern Ireland.
I'm not sure what they use today, but back in the 70's they were issued with revolvers.


No. But they do have very fast police cars stocked full of weapons--ready at a moment's notice...
 
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I think it should be said, and I am speculating here, that the French GIGN uses the revolver as a situational weapon like all special operators have a different 'golf-bag' assortment of weapons for various contingencies. I believe they also use (or used) H&K MP-5's as their main weapon in many hostage rescue situations as a .357 Magnum would tend to over-penetrate and potentially kill hostages on the other side. In this case however, they were fighting on an airliner with most of the fire going into the cockpit and the hostages were compartmentalized in the cabin, and having a handgun gave them the drop on the terrorists...
 
Originally Posted By: kb01
, I've always been dubious of automatics, where it's possible that the magazine would be under pressure for weeks or months at a time.
That is a non issue. Using springs is what wears them out. A good spring can stay compressed for years to decades. And if you can afford to shoot enough to wear out mag springs you can afford the few $ to change them out every once in a while.
 
But there is the catch, the springs have to be good. The issues we had early in operation Iraqi Freedom with M9 magazines failing was because the contractor was using poor quality springs that took a set. Had they used someone besides the lowest bidder, it would have been a non issue.
 
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