Anyone here have a negligent discharge with a revolver?

[pax]

So is there any really safe way to lower a hammer on a loaded gun, or does letting the hammer slip mean your going to fire it?

Decent explanations above -- I just want to comment that there's more than one way to do it, and the description is best accompanied with pictures. I'll try to gin something up in the next few days, if someone else doesn't beat me to it.

Practice with an unloaded gun, many times, until you are sure you know which technique works best for you and can do it without bumbles. And it should go without saying (but being a nag, I'll say it anyway), keep the gun pointed in a safe direction while decocking, no matter how well practiced you are.

pax

 

[Koos Custodiet]

So is there any really safe way to lower a hammer on a loaded gun, or does letting the hammer slip mean your going to fire it?

With my Taurus and Astra 357 revolvers, I can put my left thumb into the gap between the cocked hammer and the frame. Then I pull the trigger, release the trigger, and then remove my left thumb while letting the hammer down with my right thumb.

Both of these revolvers use a transfer bar type of mechanism, where pulling the trigger all the way back pushes a bar up which completes the contact between the hammer and the firing pin. When the trigger is not pulled the hammer hits the frame without the force being transferred to the firing pin. (OK, I lie, on the Astra the "transfer bar" blocks the hammer, but the principle's the same).

In silhouette shooting we also make a habit of keeping your off hand thumb in the gap between the hammer and frame when moving from loading the revolver into the Creedmore position (lying down). This is with five shot single action revolvers, all chambers loaded as per silhouette rules. And very light triggers, and stout loads, as per silhouette standard practice

 

[m.p.driver]

My dad would always bring up how he had shot a .44 mag and how much of a pistol it was,so one year i bought him one along with holster,ammo,and cleaning kit .Stopped by my parents house one day to the fragrance of gunpowder in the air,asked my mom what was going on and she directed me to their bedroom.My oldman decided to wipe the revolver down with a oily rag but felt that he really didnt need to unload it,wait a minute i didnt get that space at the top and bottom of the cylinder,i'll just pull the hammer back a little,blasted a hole right through their water bed.After that i always kept an eye on him when we were grouse hunting.

 

[Cousin Mike]

yes you can decock a loaded revolver, but if its 1950s era, you best not slip.

Well darn... I thought I'd have to re-tell the whole story... but that pretty much sums up how mine (revolver ND) happened.

when I hear of an accidental discharge with a revolver, I assume the user must have been a major league idiot, while when I hear a semi-related AD, I think "I guess it can happen to anyone."

IMO there is no safer platform. Any gun is only as safe as it's user. The fact that my thinking is the exact opposite of the above quote basically proves to me that it's all perception.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

A fair number of ADs/NDs do seem to happen with cocked revolvers. If you carry one for self defense, master the DA trigger pull. Don't cock it with either the intention of making a "critical shot" (e.g., head shot), or for an intimidation effect.

As we have seen in some of these posts, the revolver is perhaps a little more forgiving of, but not immune from, sloppy handling practices.

 

[SJshooter]

So is there any really safe way to lower a hammer on a loaded gun, or does letting the hammer slip mean your going to fire it?

With a thumb or finger on the hammer so it will not drop, press the trigger just enough to release the hammer. Immediately release the trigger. Then the hammer can go down. On modern revolvers with a transfer bar/hammer block, you can even let go of the hammer and let it fall with full force - so long as the trigger is not pulled the hammer will not come through the window. You can check this on your gun while empty: Cock and press the trigger - see the hammer nose or frame pin come through? Now try to release the hammer without the trigger pulled down - nothing should come through the frame.

 

[CWL]

Former housemate of mine put a .38 bullet thru her bed, we still don't know all the facts but it seems that she was practice aiming/playing with a loaded S&W .38 revolver (gifted to her girlfriend by the CHP when they changed over to .40S&W). Our only guess is that she was testing the pull of the trigger since she knew it was loaded.

I got home to a very quiet house, even the dogs were hiding.

 

[eltorrente]

I don't pull the trigger at home. I don't have a revolver though - but still I don't think I would unless I bought one of those "safe" dry fire targets that are designed to stop and catch an accidental discharge. Too many people who are way more experienced than myself have AD's, and there is just too much at stake. I don't ever want to have one, so I don't pull the trigger outside of the range.

 

[DavidVS]

A fair number of ADs/NDs do seem to happen with cocked revolvers. If you carry one for self defense, master the DA trigger pull.

What The Lone Haranguer says is true for me too. At the range there have been a few times when I was using my S&W 351PD single action and fired before I meant to. I do keep my finger off the trigger until I have aimed and am ready to fire. But I need to restore sight alignment after moving my finger onto the trigger, and a few times I fired earlier than I meant to as I unconsciously squeezed more than I intended.

The result at the time was merely to fire downrange at a target with less than optimal aim. But it did certainly reinforce that single action plus adrenaline would be an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Noxx]

I've had a single AD with a revolver under the same conditions mentioned a few times in this thread. While shooting a string with my 686 I had cocked it, then lowered it and turned my head to address a question from the (at the time) GF, and promptly put a round though the firing table. I shot my keys, but fortunately not my foot, or anything else squishy.

Needless to say, that incident early on in my range days incorporated itself into my own range safety practices, as well as safety lessons I've passed on to new shooters who come with me to the range. Now any weapon in my hand stays up and downrange until it's discharged or safe, regardless of what goes on around me.

 

[foghornl]

I had that happens years back with my "3-Screw Old Model" Blackhawk. Had it loaded with those CCI shotshells.....

Anyway, I was trying the 'old West Saturday afternoon drama TV show block' method of a fake "hand over the gun"....start to pass it over to the bad guy with a finger in the trigger guard, butt first, then snap it up and quickly cock the revolver, in case you had to shoot the BG.

The big mirror and a picture in the living room bit the dust.