why do revolvers all seem to hold six rounds? Who or what determined that?
In: 6
It’s also dependent on how powerful the round is as well. For instance, the .460 XVR produces up to 65,000 psi and thicker walls are needed on the cylinder to keep the firearm from exploding in your hand.
It’s a function of how many bullets you can fit into the cylinder without making it too large. You could hypothetically build a revolver with space for more rounds, but you’d start wasting a lot of space in the middle of the cylinder and the gun would get too bulky. [Here’s an example](https://www.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/aymp77/are_7_shot_revolvers_accepted_here/) of a seven shot revolver.
Note that revolvers made to shoot large caliber ammunition sometimes only fit 5 rounds.
Because of the way 7 circles nestle together efficiently in a tight hexagon. It is the same reason bees’ honeycombs are hexagonal.:
. O O
O O O
. O O
The cylinder holds 6 shots and the center axle on which it revolves with a minimum of extra metal or bulk. Adding rounds would increase wasted extra metal and bulk.
For an average size revolver, with an average diameter cartridge, it works out to about six rounds. More compact revolvers tend to have five rounds. Average size revolvers meant to hold smaller rounds like .22LR often hold eight.
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