18+ Content Warning

By clicking Enter, you confirm you are 18 years of age or older and agree to comply with all applicable local, state, and federal laws.

Notice: Any content or member activity - including anything you may buy, sell, transfer, or discuss - must comply with current and upcoming laws.

Members are encouraged to stay informed: California Firearm Laws: 2026 Outlook & 2025 Recap . Responsibility for compliance rests solely with the individual member.

caguns.net

Welcome to CAguns.net!
Join our growing community where you can ask questions, share knowledge, or browse our classifieds section.

Sign up for a free account today and unlock full access! Once registered, you can search, post, and take advantage of exclusive features unavailable to guests.

A note on why more of the site now requires an account: automated scrapers and AI systems have been crawling our forums and classifieds at a scale. Requiring sign-in for those sections is the most effective tool we have. It takes a minute to register, it's free, and it keeps what happens here between actual members.

New to California gun ownership or trying to keep up with the changing laws? Check out our sister site CA2A.com — free courses, plain-English legal updates, and step-by-step guides built for California owners.

Advanced features are available only to registered members. Register today!

  • 📢 Classifieds Update — Effective Monday, September 21

    Starting Monday, the free Classifieds ad limit will be lowered from 3 to 2 active ads.

    Verified accounts will keep their limit of 3. All other account limits stay the same.

    Existing ads are not affected and will remain up until they expire.

    Want to keep 3 listings and add features like removing comments and emojis? Upgrade/Verify your account

    More information here

Why revolver?

Because revolvers are bad ass! I got into revolvers when I started reloading. I hate chasing my brass. I wish i had more.
 
I hear people say revolvers are too limited on ammunition, who are they planning on going up against ? Like already mentioned, Smith J frame hammer less can be fired from a jacket pocket and you can’t do that with a semiautomatic. No rules say you have to pull the gun in self defense. I’ve got numerous Smith J frames, usually as a back up to my M-17 or Beretta just depends on the situation which one I will use first. Always carry.38 +P HP . Never had screws back out, I have my father’s Smith model 27 .357 magnum from when he was Chief of Tribal Police after he retired from the military, no telling how many rounds have been fired in it no screws backed out of it. For now, just get what makes you happy. Life’s short just get one and enjoy. BTW does CA have a law that limits the number of guns that you can carry on your person ?
 
I hear people say revolvers are too limited on ammunition, who are they planning on going up against ? Like already mentioned, Smith J frame hammer less can be fired from a jacket pocket and you can’t do that with a semiautomatic. No rules say you have to pull the gun in self defense. I’ve got numerous Smith J frames, usually as a back up to my M-17 or Beretta just depends on the situation which one I will use first. Always carry.38 +P HP . Never had screws back out, I have my father’s Smith model 27 .357 magnum from when he was Chief of Tribal Police after he retired from the military, no telling how many rounds have been fired in it no screws backed out of it. For now, just get what makes you happy. Life’s short just get one and enjoy. BTW does CA have a law that limits the number of guns that you can carry on your person ?
Yes you can only carry two of the guns that are on your permit at any one time. I can’t imagine a situation I’d even carry two, let alone three.

And hold on bro, you’ve been telling us the last two weeks all about all the secret terrorist attacks that you’ve thwarted on US soil and now all I need is six rounds? You’ve got me planning how to get my AR on my permit with freedom week mags duck taped to my chest lmao
 
Yes you can only carry two of the guns that are on your permit at any one time. I can’t imagine a situation I’d even carry two, let alone three.

And hold on bro, you’ve been telling us the last two weeks all about all the secret terrorist attacks that you’ve thwarted on US soil and now all I need is six rounds? You’ve got me planning how to get my AR on my permit with freedom week mags duck taped to my chest lmao
Well I wasn’t going to post why I carry a.38, it’s the same reason my father did when he was in combat in Korea, Vietnam and elsewhere. Last resort, not to be captured, I don’t think I have to spell it out. I never used duck tape BTW we used wrap which is pretty close to medical cling bandage wrap just in different camo patterns. I’d put your AR on permit carry lol. Remember I’m on my way out too, these pain meds aren’t helping me very much, I’ve had 24 surgeries. I can still pass on info if anyone is interested or cares, I still have a lot of contacts.
 
I’ve got a Smith.38 revolver chrome plated that’s only known as a M&P from around the 1920’s. You can see on the bottom of the grip where they spot welded the lanyard, because it was for civilians and the other blued handguns with lanyards were for LE and I suppose military. It’s still in perfect shape and shoots like new. I wouldn’t put a +P round in it though.
 
I own revolvers because I enjoy shooting revolvers. They can be a great training tool for new shooters or sharpening fundamentals for experienced shooters. As a handloader, they will shoot anything from powder puff to full power loads without any modifications. For handgun hunting the .41 mag, .44 mag, and .460 offer significantly more power than a 10mm and are offered with longer barrels which produce greater velocity than most semiautos. Not sure they offer an advantage for CCW.
 
1. You don't leave brass (obvious)
2. You can shoot through pocket, still with a chance of a jam btw (was widely used)
3. Snap shooting is much easier if you have at least 3 inch barrel (per my experience)
4. If this is a special type of revolver with a sealing between barrel and round and the time of shot, silencer can be used and this silencer is much simple than for semi-auto and doesn't impact reliability of a gun (was used in USSR for Nagant revolver)

Everything else is on the negative side.
 
I’ve shot two revolvers in my life. One was my brother’s S&W 686. The other was a 38, reportedly formerly owned by Al Capone. Interesting but they didn’t impress me.
 
My go-to carry is a snubnose revolver (S&W M&P 340). My BIL derisively calls it a "belly gun" and carries something akin to a G19, but I can make solid hits at 25yds with my snubby and indeed qualified with it.

Light .357 loads in a tiny, lightweight revolver deliver about the ballistics of a 9mm, but the recoil is admittedly unpleasant for long sessions.

It's a good bit lighter than my P365, it conceals better, and it's more comfortable to carry. It's so light I can slip it in the front pocket of my sweatpants when I take out the trash and I don't even need to have it in a holster for that purpose. Heck, I can fire it from the pocket without even drawing.

Over the years I've seen a lot of failures on a lot of guns. I have personally never seen a revolver fail to drop the hammer on every round in the cylinder. I have seen a cylinder that wouldn't open, and bad ammo with primers that worked 50%ish of the time, but you just pulled the trigger again and again...

In this day and age the whole revolver vs 1911 vs Glock whatever reliability thing is kinda overplayed IMO, barring insane torture tests that will never happen in real life for those of us who aren't deployed to the armpit of the world. Start with a quality piece and take care of it and it will take care of you.

Modern, quality semi-autos are very reliable guns, but they do still care about your grip and presentation, and drawing in the heat of the moment I can tell you it doesn't always come out perfect. In fact, sometimes it's downright terrible and I've seen a lot of semi-autos go down quick due to that. *But* my revolver doesn't care too much for how funky my draw was or how poor of a grip I have. Pull trigger go boom.



Bedside pistol? Full-size Glock.
 
I will link you this thread i posted in a year ago where people already argued a lot over this. revolvers are fun and different from semi autos. they are wholly outclassed in every other aspect.

semi autos have been more reliable, with more ammunition choices, with more capacity, with easier training for 50 years now
Not outclassed in the power factor.
 
Well I wasn’t going to post why I carry a.38, it’s the same reason my father did when he was in combat in Korea, Vietnam and elsewhere. Last resort, not to be captured, I don’t think I have to spell it out. I never used duck tape BTW we used wrap which is pretty close to medical cling bandage wrap just in different camo patterns. I’d put your AR on permit carry lol. Remember I’m on my way out too, these pain meds aren’t helping me very much, I’ve had 24 surgeries. I can still pass on info if anyone is interested or cares, I still have a lot of contacts.
Who killed JFK?
 
There is a lot more to gun collecting than having a bunch of 9mm handguns and AR’s. I like having many different styles of guns. Bolt action, lever action, revolvers, semi auto, etc. Each one has its own fun factor and use.
 
One revolver is too many, ten is not enough.

The two guns I carry the most now are my SIG P356, and S&W 340PD. The S&W comes in at around 10.5 oz, unloaded. Its my everyday home pocket gun.

I would not start off with a 2 inch, J frame, chambered in 357 magnum. Do yourself a favor, go with a K, or N frame S&W, or even the new Python. 4 or 6 inch, thats up to you.
 
Last edited:
There is no reason to rationalize owning a revolver. I am a S&W guy. They are just the coolest handguns ever.
Yes, I also got tired of cocking the hammer and became accustomed to the convenience of semi auto. It happens.
I may not have any handguns, but I will always have a D/A S&W. (y)
 
Back
Top Bottom