Revolvers, Pistols & Handguns

Frank Borelli
Editor In Chief
New American Truth
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Just recently, a man I’ve known nearly all my life (since I was four years old) called my attention to the fact that I’ve inappropriately been using the term “Pistol” in my reviews and articles. He, quite accurately, pointed out that – by definition – a revolver is a pistol but not all pistols are revolvers. Some pistols are semi-automatic handguns. Not one to simply accept his comments as fact (even if he was right) I decided to do some specific research to find out what the history of the terms is and to discover whether or not I was in fact improperly using the terms. It was interesting enough that I decided to share.

As with all modern researchers, I started with Wikipedia. Yes, I realize that is far from the end-all be-all of researching factual information, but it’s not a bad starting point. Oddly enough, when you type “pistol” into the search engine on Wikipedia it redirects you to the page for handguns.

I need to explain at this point how I’ve always viewed the definitions.

A revolver is a hand held firearm which carries the ammunition in a cylinder which revolves when the weapon is operated. Revolvers can be single-action or double-action, and some double-action revolvers can be fired in a single-action fashion (by manually cocking the hammer first).

A pistol is a hand held firearm which carries the ammunition in a box magazine, most commonly inserted into the grip frame of the weapon. The chamber is integral to the barrel and the weapon cycles spent brass out and feeds a new cartridge in without manual manipulation by the shooter. There are single-action, double-action and “safe-action” pistols and many pistols are both double-action and single-action: double-action for the first shot, but single-action for each shot thereafter until the weapon is decocked.

A handgun is any hand held firearm.

Those are my definitions. That’s what I’ve been working with since I was a young military police officer in the early ’80s. Realizing such I tried to remember where I learned that there were revolvers, pistols (semi-automatic handguns) and handguns. If memory serves, this was taught to me by a firearms instructor in the mid-’80s. He taught me that revolvers have a cylinder that revolves; pistols have a slide that cycles; the term “handgun” encompasses both.

with that in mind I began to read through the information available from my first research source, as cited above, Wikipedia. According to wikipedia my long-time friend is right, and the understanding I’ve carried for more then 25 years is incorrect. The word “pistol” redirects to “handguns” because – as is explained on the page, the term “pistol” was first coined to refer to a hand-held firearm. Revolvers were a distinction due to their rotating cylinder, but it would be equally accurate to call a flint-lock handgun a pistol as it would be to call a Sig Sauer P226 9mm a pistol or a Smith & Wesson M&P 45 a pistol. They all are. In fact, by strictest definition, revolvers ARE pistols, but their distinct functionality sets them apart from semi-automatic handguns.

so, where did I end up? He’s right; I’m wrong – and it won’t change how I write. I’ll still more than likely refer to revolvers as revolvers, semi-automatic handguns as pistols, and both as handguns. If, as you read my reviews or articles in the future, you wonder what I mean by these terms, feel free to come back to this blog entry and read the definitions as I’ve listed them above.

Stay safe!

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