True, but most common malfunctions like failure to feed or go into battery can be fixed right away either by tapping the slide forward to resume firing or racking it to chamber a new round if it's an ammo problem.

Or, on a revolver, pulling the trigger.

How do you fix an internal problem like if the timing is off or debris getting into the action? You pull the trigger and you get a click

I was referring to the ammo problem you mentioned.

And no, you should not rely on ANY dirty, poorly maintained weapon for self defense.

Anything that would gum up a revolver would certainly gum up an automatic as well.

I'm happy with my revolver in the few times I carry. Crime is relatively low where I am, and I avoid going places where it isn't.

I've fired more than a few revolvers whose timing were off. They still fired. Just spit lead something awful. I've had revolvers which were giving light strikes. I just pulled the trigger again and the next round went off. I kept pulling the trigger and the next time around the rounds that didn't go off did. Anything mechanical can fail, but revolvers are pretty dependable. I carry a Glock and I've seen Glocks not function property. I've also seen M-16's fail and I saw an M60 machine gun experience a ruptured case. Needless to say it stopped functioning.