Most accurate handgun ...revolvers or autos?

Rembrandt

OK you pistolero's....which is the most accurate handgun? Semi-autos or revolvers?

badboybob

The most accurate is the one in the hands of the best shooter.

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PC=BS

songdog

I am not big on the semiautos but I do take a fancy for those revolvers. I prefer colts over any other type of revolver. I have not tested alot buty i have tested enough that there is nothing as smooth running as a colt. I have the python and King cobra both in 357 and then I also have the anaconda in a 8 inch 44 mag. They shoot well for me. I have taken the 357 for coyotes and other types of varmints and also small game. I used the 44 on a mountain lion and several deer. I take it with me on small colorad black bear as well. but no luck their yet.songdog

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Tailgunner1954

The most accurate handgun is a Bolt action followed by the top break single shots

Rembrandt

Between my Smith Model 41 and K17 Masterpiece...the 41 seems more accurate.Compared my Desert Eagle .44 (6") and 629 Smith (6")....the Desert Eagle came out on top....wondered if there was a pattern here?

dheffley

I've found the revolvers to be the most accurate, and the ones from the S&W Performance Center top the list.

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califsaeco

I have been a Distinguished expert since 1954 and the most accurate hand weapon for me was a K-32 S&W Long 6 inch barrel with a Fitz olympic pistol grip with thumb rest and palm swell plate. JP

offeror

The traditional wisdom on this, assuming we're talking only handguns, is that the revolver is more accurate than the semi-auto. The reason is that the barrel of many semi-autos is a separate moving and removable part. Obviously there are lots of design variations that prevent a hard and fast rule. Then too, the wrong ammo in the best gun can go off the mark. But in the most general terms, the answer would be revolver. If you factor in bolt action and single shot handguns designed for accuracy, they theoretically would, if expertly made, outdo the revolver. I have a feeling though, that designs are getting so good that most top quality guns are more accurate than most shooters can shoot them. That's why Ransom rests are worth having around when testing a gun's capabilities. But again, performance can vary widely with ammo, no matter the gun design.

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groundhog devastation

XP-100s!!!!

daddo

They are both as accurate as what is relative.A 4" barrel semi will be as accurate as a 4" barrel revolver. Since we don't have long barrels on semiauto's, such as 8" to 12", they cannot be compared. Therefore a revolver will be more accurate with a 10" barrel than a semi, but I've never seen a semi with a 10" barrel so there can be no fair matched comparison. Getting the right ammo each pistol likes will probably show that both "can" be as accurate, relatively.

Tailgunner1954

I think there ignoring our opinions GD shall we offer to meet them at the 100 yd range ? Lets say you and your XP-100 me and my Encore 7-08Bob

idsman75

Tailgunner--Excellent points...noted and well-taken. I thought I'd get around Iowa's lack of a modern rifle season for whitetail by purchasing a T/C in 7-08. I was looking at a $1500 custom job done for me right around the time my tax return was coming in. Needless to say, I didn't spend the money because handguns used during whitetail season here can't be chambered for what is traditionally known as a rifle cartrige. Darn!P.S. I'm still thinking about that T/C in 7-08. What a beauty!

varmit hunter

For me,Revolver S&W 29 in revolver.Baby eagle 9MM in semi auto.

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A unarmed man is a subject.A armed man is a citizen.

Iconoclast

At the highest levels, some semi-autos will outshoot all the wheel guns, but I don't buy that any but the top 10% (& probably less) of handgun shooters would notice the difference if all factors are held equal. I like both, but find I consistently shoot best with a large-gripped revolver. Never had jams w/ my wheelguns, either.

mudge

Both Mrs. Mudge and I do better with the S&W 29 than with our .45's. Like the man said though, "I'd hate to live on the difference."The 29 is way too big to carry concealed, so we HAVE to live on the difference.Mudge the armed

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gunnut505

OK, I'll bite- I shoot a pinned barrel on my Iver Johnson TP22; if they get outside an inch at 50yds., it's me.I also shoot a sigpro 2340 in 357sig that will often leave a ragged hole @50 yds.; It's like the old Capstick quote (my apologies Pete);"at which point in the animal's death did your bullet/gun combination fail?"

JudgeColt

The original question was, which is more accurate, a revolver or semi-automatic? The question was not which is more accurate for a particular shooter, or which a particular shooter prefers. How long has it been since a revolver won a major bullseye match? Semi-automatics have dominated for decades. The poster who said that semi-automatics are less accurate because the barrel is moving around may have a point with low grade and service grade guns that have a moving barrel. However, many target semi-automatics have fixed barrels. All .22 rimfire and the ultra-accurate .32 S&W centerfire semi-automatics have fixed barrels. Only when you get above that power level do you find the "moving barrels." However, the moving barrels on high grade target semi-automatics are designed to be consistant in their return to battery and are extremely accurate. Revolvers have the disadvantage of having six (more or less) different chambers, and a gap for the bullet to jump before engaging the rifling. Each chamber is different and that means a variation in each shot. As stated, one chamber will usually be more accurate. If only that chamber is loaded, accuracy will usually be better. Whether a particular shooter shoots a revolver or semi-automatic more accurately has little to do with ultimate intrinsic accuracy. In modern target guns, the semi-automatics are intrinsicly more accurate.

Rembrandt

JNA II,.....I think there are many more long barrel semi-auto's than we realize....I have a 14" (.44 mag) for my Desert Eagle. They also made 10" & 14" for the .357 and .41. Then there are the 1911 long slides and artillery Lugers....sure there are others.Judge....excellent points, thank you.[This message has been edited by Rembrandt (edited 03-23-2002).]

Rembrandt

...What's the first thing to go?

Otoman

Your Allowance!

robsguns

Wouldnt the only way to know this, be to have an assortment of custom shops all try to make the most accurate gun they can, all using the same guns to start with? A controlled experiment if you will? Then you could actually say, x amount of custom shops all tryed to make the most accurate gun they could, in caliber x, in 3 different frames,in auto and revolver models, and the most accurate is.... with the results being whatever happens. Of course they would all need to use similar methods on both their revolvers and semis, they couldnt deviate. This would involve a lot of money, needless to say, it'll never happen, oh well.

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SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC

S&W Man

This is always a touchy subject to many. I have qualified with distinguished expert certification with BOTH a revolver and an autoloader, correct terminology, Either is as accurate as the other when the shooter takes his time and concentrates on what he is doing. Neither is physically more accurate than the other in high quality guns. In the low level garbage, like jennings and brycos, well my rubber band can be more accurate.The only place that I have ever seen a real difference is when it comes to speed shooting for accuracy. It seems from my experience that a revolver is faster to return to target with, as there are less actions in the movements of the gun from firing the first shot. Yes the autoloaders seem to predominate in the bullseye contests, but than again from the ones I have witnessed the also outnumber the wheel guns almost 10 to 1. Also note that the records for fastest 12 shots from a handgun belong to and have alwasy been held by a wheel gun. The greatest point that needs to be made for all this is thus. When you are using a gun for self defense, it is normally within about 12 feet. At that range EITHER will be accurate enough to do the job. Always get a gun, weither revolver or autoloader, that YOU are confortable with and proficent at. REMEMBER: the accuracy of the GUN is not near as important as the accuracy of the SHOOTER. An accurate gun in the hands of someone who is innacurate with it is inaccurate. An innacurate gun in the hands of an accurate shooter can be accurate.

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The second admendment GUARANTEES the other nine and the Constitution![This message has been edited by S&W Man (edited 03-24-2002).]

offeror

I've been into guns a long time and I have NEVER heard the idea about wheelguns introducing a significant degree of inaccuracy by virtue of their cylinders before. Just goes to show you're never too old to hear something new...In any case, it is clear that small semi-autos wherein the barrel is part of the frame are in a different class than I was talking about -- as I said, different designs prevent the hard, fast rule. But most research on the subject finds revolvers more accurate in the same length barrel, because the semi-auto barrel is a separate moving part and the cycling of the action introduces a number of possible slight alignment shifts between rounds. One proof of this is the well-known flyer. We've known for ages that a semi-auto can throw one round inches out of its normal group -- usually I believe it's the first round, chambered by the shooter by hand. This variable would not be physically possible if the gun were toleranced so tight that the barrel couldn't shift to that degree. Flyers are a result of the mechanical operation involved in the working of the semi-auto, an operation which the revolver doesn't have to deal with. Some semi-autos, as you know, even have the barrel tip back as the slide cycles between rounds, to chamber the next round from the magazine, and use a slight flaring of the barrel at the muzzle to help bring it back into battery at the bushing before the next shot. All this motion requires tolerances that allow for reliable cycling. Technology continues to improve, but in typical off-the-shelf stock, in larger defense calibers, you are more likely to find a tack-driver in a revolver, in the opinion of many. You may never have to talk about a flyer with a revolver. You are much more likely to settle for a small "group" with a semi-auto, and semi-auto tack drivers are harder to find, even with today's manufacturing technique. Again, I'm not talking about custom race guns here. I'm talking about typical product from the major manufacturers. We could do another thread on who customizes the best combat/carry semi-autos. There are a lot of $2000 1911 relatives out there. That's my best info on the topic. I hope I'm not construed as being argumentative. Not meant to be. Your mileage may vary.

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"The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."