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George - thanks for your response and no flames from me. I was just curious as to your experiences and with which type of SA handguns.

I have three wheel guns - a Charter Arms Undercover, a S&W 629, and a S&W 65. I would, and do trust my life with any of them when it comes to reliability and function. In fact when we go fishing in bear country the S&W 629 (44 mag) is the gun I carry. My wife carries the S&W 65 (.357 mag) and we load them both with hunting ammo.

When it comes to SA handguns I really only have experience with a few. In the mid 70s I purchased a S&W 59, and while I liked that gun, I don't know if I would have ever trusted my life to it. Every once in awhile it would have some type of failure and while that's an inconvenience when target shooting, that could be fatal if used for protection.

In the mid 80s I bought a Glock 17 right after they first came to the states. For 15 years I put countless thousands of rounds through that gun with never a problem. It got to the point where I tried to make it malfunction (clean the gun with solvent, not re-lube it, and then run hundreds and hundreds of rounds through it) but it wouldn't. In my opinion Gaston Glock designed and manufactured a very good weapon system in his SA pistols. I subsequently purchased a G-26 for a backup gun. For over 15 years my wife has carried a G-17 daily for her duty weapon and she also has a Glock 19 for an off duty weapon. Both of us would and do trust our lives, and our family's lives, with any of those weapons.

In the late 90s I transitioned over to a Sig P230 as an off-duty and back up weapon and found it to be a reliable pistol. In 1998 I switched to a Sig 226 in 9mm as my primary carry duty weapon, and as soon as it was available in .357 Sig I moved to that caliber, but still in the Model 226. Again, never a problem with any of these Sigs and I trust them as much as I would a Glock.

Even though I've never had any problems, I'm sure that some people have had issues with Glocks, Sigs and other SAs, so I could understand why someone might be hesitant to make the move from a revolver. In my opinion the most important thing is to have some type of dependable pistol that shoots well, is loaded with good ammo, and has a good operator. It really doesn't matter whether it's a revolver or SA pistol - either will get the results.

Again, thanks for your reply and stay safe.

George posted:

...because I never, ever, ever shot an automatic I could trust.

I'm curious as to what type of SA handguns that you've had issues with and what type of problems they've been?