Single Action Army Operation: Fanning vs Speed Shooting

Just what is "speedy type shooting"? I know about "fanning", which puts incredible wear on the components of a revolver, but not the other. If it is anything similar, don't do it, unless one has a gunsmith at one's (zero-dollar) beck-and-call. Do I hear Hollywood calling?

I had one of these (late 50's). Loved it! Shot the plastic bullets all over the house, then reloaded the cartridges. Note there is no funky red tip on the barrel.

This is speed shooting:




Here is a video showing “fanning” and “thumbing” a single action revolver.



Personally, I never “fan” my single action revolvers. Also. I have been told that fanning a Single Action Army is very bad for the gun. I have no experience with that but I believe it.

I broke the tip off the trigger fanning a single action when I first started shooting. Never again. Who buys a single action to shoot fast anyway? And its right up there with a bump stock or bump firing for accuracy.

Howdy

First off, let's be clear about this: Although some historically minded outsiders look down their noses, Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) always involves shooting two revolvers.

There are basically two ways to shoot a revolver in Cowboy Action Shooting.

One way is to shoot the revolver one handed, cocking the hammer with the thumb of that hand and pulling the trigger with the trigger finger of that hand. This is known in Cowboy Speak as Duelist Style. Touching the revolver with the other hand while shooting Duelist is not allowed, except to clear a malfunction. There are a couple of variations. Double Duelist shooters shoot one pistol with one hand, then shoot the second pistol with the other hand. Then there is Gunfighter, which is the only time two loaded pistols can be in the shooters hands at the same time. When shooting Gunfighter, the pistols are fired alternatively, first one, then the other, alternating both pistols until the course of fire is completed. Shooting Duelist generally stresses the pistol the least. The 'strong hand' thumb does not have enough strength to yank the hammer back hard enough to stress the lockwork of the pistol. Also, very generally speaking, Duelist shooters tend to be a little bit slower than shooters who hold their pistols with two hands. Also in the one handed categories is Frontier Cartridge Duelist. That is when the shooter shoots his pistol one handed, but the ammunition is loaded with Black Powder or a substitute. That is the category I always shoot in.

The fastest shooters in CAS hold their pistols with two hands. The pistol is held with one hand, the 'strong hand'. The trigger is pulled by the trigger finger of the 'strong hand' while the hammer is cocked by the thumb of the other hand. Note, this is not fanning. More about fanning in a moment. With a two handed hold on the pistol the off hand thumb is able to cock the hammer very quickly, faster than in duelist style, because the off hand thumb can rotate to cock the hammer very quickly. This is not physically possible when shooting one handed, the strong hand thumb does not flex that way. There are two basic variations on two handed shooting. In one variation, the off hand thumb cocks the hammer and the strong hand trigger finger pulls the trigger separately for every shot. Slip Hammering differs from regular two handed shooting in that the strong hand holds the trigger back for the entire shot string while the off hand thumb cocks and releases the hammer for every shot. Both of these techniques are very fast, and it is virtually impossible for an observer to tell if the shooter is Slip Hammering (holding the trigger back for the entire shot string) or pulling the trigger separately for each shot. Both techniques are legal.

Fanning is forbidden in CAS. Fanning involves shooting the pistol from the hip, without bringing it up to the eyes to sight it. The off hand slams the hammer back while the hand holding the pistol pulls the trigger. The reason fanning is forbidden in CAS is because it is not a controlled way to shoot a pistol. Shooting from the hip, the shooter cannot sight the pistol, and the action of slamming the hammer back with the other hand will tend to cause the pistol to move and point somewhere other than where it started pointing. Fast draw competitors usually fan their pistols, but they are never shooting live ammunition. They are either shooting blanks, or ammunition loaded with wax bullets. CAS ammunition is always live ammunition, loaded with lead bullets.

Of these techniques, fanning is the most likely to damage a pistol. The force imparted by the hand slamming the hammer back will be directly transmitted to the delicate internal lockwork parts of a traditional Colt style single action revolver. Fast draw competitors often shoot pistols that have been modified inside to put up with the stresses fanning causes to the lockwork.

Shooting a pistol two handed tends to put more stress on the lockwork of a single action revolver then shooting one handed because the off hand thumb can exert more force on the hammer than is possible when shooting one handed. Don't get me wrong, I have seldom seen a single action revolver actually damaged by a two handed shooter, but it does stress the lockwork more. The hammer slams back faster, and the cylinder revolves more quickly, putting more stress on the bolt as the momentum of the cylinder is broken when the bolt stops the cylinder from rotating.

As stated earlier, shooting a pistol one handed tends to stress the pistol the least because the strong hand thumb is not capable of yanking the hammer back as quickly as the off hand thumb can.

Finally, for all those who have been going apoplectic when I refer to our revolvers as pistols: In CAS we always refer to our revolvers as pistols. Just part of the game.

Driftwood Johnson said:

Finally, for all those who have been going apoplectic when I refer to our revolvers as pistols: In CAS we always refer to our revolvers as pistols. Just part of the game.

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walter winans book "art of revolver shooting", in chapter v, states" ...the book as complete as possible on the subject of pistols,- single shot pistols, revolvers, and automatic repeating pistols.".

how it was at the turn of the twentieth century with the still new revolving pistol and the very new automatic loading pistol.

murf

Welp, there are "Stock" revolvers and there are "Race" revolvers . . . just like stock cars and race cars. If the stock revolver is asked to preform race duties, it will easily fail same as the stock car. Likewise, a race gun will perform for what it is set up for just like the car.

A S.A. setup should have an action stop to prevent overloading the action with undue stress. Also, there should be a bolt block to remove the side to side stress the cylinder will impart on the bolt. Those 2 items are very important to have in a competition revolver . . . I put them in every revolver I tune no matter what it's duties are going to be.
Another feature included would be the bolt drop being advanced as well as the hand length being reduced to help keep throw-by at bay. That is also a danger for those not aware of the setup as the normal cycling of the action will not have the chamber make it to battery. Firing a revolver out of battery can be rather dangerous so always make sure you cycle a race revolver with force!!

Mike

My own opinion is that if you want to break your sa, fan it. You can waste a lot of ammo fast at the same time. To each his own. I've bought a couple sa guns cheap that had been fanned into inoperability by non- mechanical types and I then rebuilt them. Takes more than triggers, hammers and bolts, sometimes. Recut star, cyl locking notches and more

again, it depends on what it's setup for. I fanned an Uberti made El Patron Competition min. 50 times a day for at least 2 yrs. No broken parts, no notch damage. I was doing it for my own R&D. I had added a 45acp cyl to it so I would do 50 with each cyl.! A shooting buddy of mine just had to have it so I sold it to him . . . at least I get to see it when we shoot!!

Mike

Oh, it wasn't set up as a fanner for competition like I described above, it was my normal Outlaw Mule service.

Craig_VA said:

I had one of these (late 50's). Loved it! Shot the plastic bullets all over the house, then reloaded the cartridges. Note there is no funky red tip on the barrel.

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(Totally off topic)

I had a double set of those, with a double gunbelt and holster. Man, I was the boss dog on the wild west side of the creek, let me tell you. I think I lost all those little plastic bullets within a week. My poor mother used to go through the vacuum cleaner bag looking for them (And Barbie doll shoes for my sisters).