Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Recently The Lucky Gunner did a video about this topic because his newer GP100 Match Champion had the lockwork freeze up.
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/revolver-stopped-revolving/
That is a good video that speaks the truth on the whole revolver vs. semi auto argument. Where I think he is especially correct in his analysis, is most of these revolver failures are with newer models in the first few hundred rounds. And I also agree with his reasoning that this is because they're not manufactured with the same level of expertise and care they were 30 or more years ago. In short, more junk gets out the door today. All part of the, "more / faster" manufacturing mantra.
For many years I was part of the, "Semi's will jam before a revolver breaks", crowd. But not any longer. The reason is while most modern semi's, (read Glock, S&W M&P, and CZ), have become far more reliable. Revolvers appear to have had the opposite happen to them. They simply break more often than they used to.
Most of my revolvers, with the exception of a few 10 shot .22 models, were purchased back in the 80's. Before all these internal locks started appearing. I've never had a single issue with ANY of them. But today I think the chances of mechanical issues are much greater with wheel guns. Especially the double action models. Too many parts put together by lesser skilled workers, that all contribute to a higher failure rate. To maintain the quality level that revolvers enjoyed 30 and 40 years ago, would make them too expensive to produce. One simply has to look at the current cost of a new Colt Single Action Army. Or a used Colt Python to prove that statement correct.
On the other hand, you can purchase many super reliable semi autos for under $500.00 today. Most all of which will operate reliably with minimum care and maintenance.