The point about capacity with a revolver is a fair one. You can get 7 rounds easily in a .357 swing gate, but most .44 and .45LC are 6 shot. Compact revolvers and large caliber revolvers tend to hold 5. Old ones, without a between-the-cylinder rest or a transfer bar need a chamber left empty, further reducing the practical capacity. Many DAO and S/DA revolvers are swing gate, which will spit the shells out via an ejector rod and can be quickly reloaded with a speedloader. Small revolvers are often top break, which will spit empties out automatically when you open them (a spring hits them, which lifts unspent shells a little ways, but sends the lighter empties flying). Some expect the cylinder to be removed for reloading (North American Arms Blackwidow and the walker and dragoon colts). Generally, if the revolver is not a swing gate or top break, the cylinder is loaded through a port, one chamber at a time. However, most of these have easily removable cylinders. With a bit of practice you can change cylinders about as fast as a semi-auto can change magazines. Of course you still have the limited number of rounds per cylinder, and spare cylinders tend to be more expensive (and heavier!) than extra mags. As for SAO for self-defence and everyday carry, the time to first shot is unaffected by having to pull the hammer back. As you begin your draw, your thumb cocks the hammer essentially on its way past. Second shots are slowed slightly if you are shooting with one hand; but, with large calibers (.44 mag et cetera), generally this delay is swallowed by the time taken to get back on target anyway. Shooting with two hands, one hand can run the hammer and the other the trigger, which can allow very rapid firing (hold the trigger down and fan). SAO actions tend to be slightly less likely to fail than S/DA, though generally a S/DA which fails turns either into SAO or DAO rather than totally failing, so I don't see a strong reason to prefer SAO over S/DA. If I had to choose SAO or DAO, I'd go SAO every time, it is easier to be accurate at long distances with SAO, thanks to a light trigger pull.
As for revolvers in general, for self-defence carry... Capacity tends not to be too big of an issue, most of the time. I remember hearing something like an average of 2-3 shots being fired in the usual self-defence situation. So if you're carrying a revolver with 5, you're probably fine. Add in a spare cylinder or speed loader, which could potentially hold an additional 6 rounds if you're in the leave-an-empty boat, and you're looking at 10-11 rounds of .45LC, which is ~3-5x the number usually used. My thinking is that if I need more than that, it's time to get to my rifle.
I dislike relying on mechanical safeties to prevent accidents. It is rather unlikely for a SAO revolver to fire unintentionally when its hammer is resting on an empty. Something would have to catch the hammer spur and pull it back, then pull the trigger. This is the reason I prefer SAO over DA revolvers, which only require a hard pull on the trigger. Consequently, I'm not a big fan of the cocked-and-locked method of carry. True, it is superior to carrying a semi-auto with an empty chamber, but all it takes is getting the mechanical safety bumped and you can have an accident. (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzCDNtRZsYU) I think there may be some semi-autos which allow the hammer to be placed on a half-cock, which puts them about on the same footing as a SAO revolver for going from safe-as-is-practical to ready-to-fire, except that the hammer spur is generally too small to catch with a thumb on the way by easily.
The second reason (and more major one for me) to prefer revolvers to semi-autos is reliability. It is possible to have a revolver break or jam, often from bad ammunition or being coated in mud. However the mode of failure most of the time does not render the revolver inoperative. As I mentioned before, S/DA revolvers often become DAO or SAO. In one incident I reviewed, the trigger got bent when the OCer dove for cover, so he had to fan the hammer to continue shooting (the trigger stuck in the pulled position;
Details here). The most serious failure I encountered was when my brother got a box of bad ammo and didn't notice that the first bullet lodged in the barrel. The second shot mushroomed the end of the barrel. In an emergency, the gun would have made an acceptable third shot even with the mushroomed barrel. Most failures I have experienced with semi-autos must be fixed before operation may resume.
In the interest of full disclosure, and to answer the original question of this thread: My rig is similar to Chief's, except the belt and holster aren't so fancily tooled (they're hand made by me, and I don't have the patience for frills), and don't have the ammo loops (which are uncomfortable for sitting a long time). Oh, and it's a left handed holster, which I think is part of why people often don't notice it, something about it not being where they'd expect it. As for what I carry, it's a .45-70 BFR from MRI, and like Chief said, the 11.5" sight picture makes it easy to hit human sized targets at 75 yards.
