Yuhui Z. and her husband live in Modesto, California and they wanted a gun for self-defense.
Amazingly, the day after Yuhui purchased a revolver an intruder broke into her house.
Around 10 p.m. an intoxicated intruder entered the house where Yuhui and her husband live. Her husband confronted the intruder as soon as he came through the door.
The two men were in what police called a “significant fight” when Yuhui ran upstairs and grabbed the revolver she had purchased the day before.
She came back downstairs and fired at the intruder, emptying her revolver.
Responding police officers found a 22-year-old male dead in the entryway of the house.
The intruder was intoxicated and had a history of forcing his way into homes when drunk.
Based on surveillance video, the homeowners were not expected to face criminal charges. According to police, Yuhui fired in “self-defense of her husband.”
The homeowners cooperated with detectives. An official said, “preliminary findings are this was an example of strictly self-defense.”
The choice of weapon and timing couldn’t have been more lifesaving.
And even though semi-auto pistols are more popular it doesn’t mean we should ignore revolvers.
Truth is, shooting a revolver could make you a more accurate shooter with a semi-automatic.
In fact, here are a few reasons why you should consider training with a revolver every now and then.
Trigger reset:
Revolvers have a longer and harder trigger pull compared to semi-automatics. This is especially true for double-action revolvers.
Also, many revolvers don’t have external safeties, so the long trigger pull acts as a safety.
But this feature also makes a revolver a great pistol to learn how to reset your trigger.
A trigger reset is critical on a revolver because if you don’t let the trigger reset the cylinder might not rotate.
Whether you are shooting a revolver or semi-auto you don’t want to yank the trigger and let it go all the way forward.
You want to keep slight pressure on the trigger, while letting it move forward toward the reset position, and find the trigger reset spot by feel.
The spot will be different for each gun, but you will feel the trigger re-engage with the sear, which means the firearm is ready to fire.
A revolver is a great way to train yourself to do this since it’s going to have a longer and harder trigger.
Thumbs:
Many semi-automatic shooters will keep their thumbs forward and straight on the pistol.
But you must be very careful with your thumbs on a revolver.
If your thumbs contact the rotating cylinder, it can cause the barrel to be off target.
Your thumbs could also be in the way of gas escaping the cylinder.
But, if you curl the end of your thumbs down, it can keep them out of the way of the cylinder.
Another benefit is that it can help you have a better grip on the handgun. Your thumbs won’t just be straight out, instead, they will help with gripping.
So, curling your thumbs on a revolver could translate to improving your grip on a semi-automatic. It will also help stabilize the gun when shooting.
Trigger pressure:
On double-action revolvers, the hammer fall is shorter than on a single-action revolver.
This means the time between the hammer falling and the bullet firing is shorter.
Basically, this translates to less time for human error.
A double-action gun has a long pull…
That means a double-action will force you to distribute the trigger pressure if you want to be accurate.
This will also improve your performance with a semi-auto since it will help you learn not to anticipate recoil, but just squeeze the trigger and be “surprised” when the gun fires.
Next time you are at the gun range, consider checking out a double-action revolver.
There are plenty of options in .22 that can help you learn the basics of shooting a revolver.
The skills it takes to accurately fire a revolver can make you a better shooter with your semi-auto pistol.
