DA vs SA on a DA revolver.

[KJS]

If you are target shooting with a DA revolver do you manually cock the hammer or do you feel that a DA revolver should be shot DA basically all the time?

I'm a novice and I personally have always cocked the hammer. I used to assume that this was the manner in which almost everyone used a revolver, with the obvious exceptions of an emergency where you must fire DA as you don't have a moment to spare to manually cock it or in the case of some revolvers made for concealed carry that DAO as the hammer is covered so as to not snag.

And if you normally fire it DA, why? Is this to prepare you for some emergency situation that I give as an exception above where you'd want to fire DA?

Seems like SA shooting is natural enough. After all, there was a time when SA was the only kind of revolver that existed. And plenty of semi-autos are SA as well, so cocking the hammer manually replicates the short, light trigger pull of both modern autoloaders & 19th century revolvers that cowboys carried.

 

[MrBorland]

IMO, if you're going to shoot a DA revolver, learn to shoot it DA. That doesn't mean one should never shoot it SA, but one should at least be competent shooting DA. Why, you ask?

1) The obvious and most defensible first: If you're not capable of shooting in DA mode under optimal conditions at the range, you certainly won't be in a emergency SD situation.

2) Shooting DA well is fun and not something everyone can do well (mostly because they don't practice it). There's also the satisfaction of knowing you've put in the hard work and reaped the rewards, and can do something most can't.

3) Hang out on the Brian Enos revolver forum, where competitive wheelgunners hang out, and they'll kick sand in your face for even having a hammer on your revolver!

4) There's a certain zen-like quality to shooting DA.

5) Finally, if you like shooting revolvers, and this doesn't inspire you, you don't have a pulse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giSaNiQ-Wb4

As far as accuracy, those proficient at shooting DA can do as well shooting DA as they can shooting SA. This is not to say, however, that the ceiling's the same for both: If I were to shoot a formal target shooting match (i.e. bullseye) with a revolver, for instance, I'd put in some quality time with the SA trigger. OTOH, PPC is essentially a target match shot in DA, and if I were to compete (I'd love to), I'd have no problem shooting that DA. That I'm currently as good in DA as in SA simply reflects how much I shoot DA and how little I shoot SA. But...good wheelgunners can be pretty darned accurate in DA, capable of shooting tighter groups than most.

 

[Old Fuff]

Your observations are mostly correct. Most of those that use a revolver to "plink" cans and shoot paper targets thumb-cock the hammer, and don't worry about the greater speed that is possible shooting double-action.

But on the other hand, those who use a revolver as a defensive weapon practice so that they can accurately shoot using the double-action mode.

And there are those that shoot using the double-action on their revolvers simply because they enjoy the challenge.

So take your pick. Whatever you choose you won't be wrong.

 

[KJS]

Your observations are mostly correct. Most of those that use a revolver to "plink" cans and shoot paper targets thumb-cock the hammer, and don't worry about the greater speed that is possible shooting double-action.

I fire at nothing more dangerous than paper. I didn't buy a GP100 with 6" barrel with self defense in mind. It's purely recreational. I doubt anyone would buy a handgun that long & heavy with shooting bad guys in mind. If I was really worried about bad guys I'd get something that was smaller and had more capacity. In other words, I'd probably go with a semi-auto just like basically all modern day law enforcement carries as they must be prepared to shoot at bad guys rather than just paper.

 

[Old Fuff]

Well I try to avoid shooting bad guys (unless they are made of steel or cardboard) because that can be a risky business, and my dear ol’ Dad told me it could be hazardous for one’s health.

However along the U.S./Mexican border we get a few individuals with questionable intensions. I feel that a small .38 pocket revolver will usually suffice, and if something larger is called for I make my car carry it. In that context a 6”/GP-100 would work fine, and I have no desire to take on a whole gang.

I have on occasion carried a single-action revolver for social purposes, but I admit there are better choices. I think that for what you have in mind one is ideal.

Should you buy the Blackhawk you have in find you'll find it to be a rugged handgun that will last more then a lifetime if you take care of it.

 

[9mmepiphany]

i've seldom shot my DA revolvers SA since i learned how to manages the DA trigger stroke when i got in LE. shooting PPC taught me how accurate you could be at 50 yards shooting DA

you owe it to yourself to learn to shoot DA if you can ever see shooting for SD/HD. practicing in SA and expecting to be abe to use it in DA should the occasion arise might be just setting yourself up for a nasty surprise. while learning to shoot DA will improve your SA trigger control, the reverse hasn't proven to be true.

BTW: many folks do choose a 6" barreled revolver with SD in mind. the California Highway Patrol mandated that duty revolvers be fitted with a 6" barrel

 

[Guillermo]

of course you need to know that Old Fuff, revolverman extrordinaire, likes to cobble up his defensive handguns, removing the single action option.

In his 249 years of revolver experience this is his only mistake.

That said, he has never suggested that anyone else do this.

BTW, he hates old shotguns too

He hates dogs too






btw, that was largely BS (barbra streisand) but Old Fuff can't just sit up their on the mountain top, cross legged and have gun people crawl up there and ask his sage advice without someone, namely me, messing with him.

I am going to harass him to the point that he offers me a shooting lesson to leave him alone

 

[Magnumite]

SA or DA...depends on the need at the time of the shot. That's what has been eluded to.

Your most accurately placed shots will be SA. I've never watched a silhouette shooter knock down a 100 or 200 meter ram by shooting double action during competition. Likewise, you'll never get far in an action event shooting single action....unless it is SA catagory.

If you are just learning to shoot handgun, begin the fundamentals shooting single action.
Finish up a couple times around the cylinder shooting double action. Use ball and dummy method and you'll see your errors glaringly obvious. And LOTS of dry fire.

 

[Jim Watson]

The DA revolver shot SA has the advantage of a lighter hammer and shorter fall than a SA revolver on the Frontier pattern. You don't see Bisleys at Bisley (or Camp Perry) any more. You don't see many revolvers of any sort but the remainder are largely K38s.
A bullseye or silhouette shooter will shoot SA.
A PPC shooter with a relatively large 4x6" ten ring will shoot nearly exclusively DA.

 

[roaddog28]

I look at it this way. If you can learn to shoot D/A if the occasion arises where you have to defend your life you have a much better chance shooting D/A. If somebody wants to shoot only S/A buy a cowboy style revolver. There are some people out there that can shoot S/A fast. I think it takes more practice to shoot S/A fast than D/A.

My take,
roaddog28

 

[warnerwh]

My shooting is for fun and shoot by far mostly single action. I have also done double action but not so much for defense but for fun. One of the things I like to do is point and shoot without sights. You can even practice at home by just pulling the gun up and looking at the sights to see where you're pointing. Once you start hitting cans or whatever you'll want to do it some more. Have fun and get better at defensive use at the same time.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I think it takes more practice to shoot S/A fast than D/A.

it takes more practice to shoot SA more accurately too...there is more temptation to flinch when shooting SA. a DA trigger stroke takes more concentration...that's why DA trigger practice will help your SA trigger stroke.

it's the same stroke, it's only that the distance the trigger is pressed over is longer

 

[earplug]

Whats the game?

Sunday was a Bullseye match at fifty feet with my 625 shot SA. Tonight was a ICORE match shot with my other 625 shot DA.
I have been beat by a good SA shooter at local steel matches and I have seen some fine scores shot DA at Bullseye. But these are exceptions.
There is a world of differance when you mix the speed and accuracy ratio.

 

[Stophel]

Drives me nuts to watch people try to two stage a DA trigger (which doesn't have two stages). Drawing it back slowly, trying to hold it and pull for a deliberate shot. Pull the trigger, Nancy. DA is for fast shooting. If you want to take a deliberate, well-aimed shot, well, that hammer don't have a spur on it for nothin'.

 

[Magnumite]

Staging is also a DA technique for longer shots...say at the 50 yard line in a PPC match. Some of the old PPC revolvers were set up like that using a couple of methods. The shooters were good enough you wouldn't always detect it watching, but they were doing it sometimes.

 

[murdoc rose]

I shoot sa most of the time just out of habit more than anything else

 

[cz85cmbt]

6 inch revolvers even with a full lug are fine for self defense especially as a trail pistol against the 4 legged bad guys. A double action like that need only be shot single action if you are in a hunting situation or slow fire target shooting. The fact is though that double action is what these pistols were meant to do. Whether for combat, wilderness defense, or hunting it's an advantage to have a DA. The revolver is by no means a relic, it is very much a serviceable.

 

[msiley]

I fire at nothing more dangerous than paper. I didn't buy a GP100 with 6" barrel with self defense in mind. It's purely recreational. I doubt anyone would buy a handgun that long & heavy with shooting bad guys in mind. If I was really worried about bad guys I'd get something that was smaller and had more capacity. In other words, I'd probably go with a semi-auto just like basically all modern day law enforcement carries as they must be prepared to shoot at bad guys rather than just paper.

I have a GP100 w/ a 6" barrel. It is intended for bad guys. I bought it specifically because it was long and heavy. Heavy to soak up .357 Mag. recoil and therefore faster follow up shots. And long to have a longer sight radius for improved accuracy. I can shoot DA rather well. I rarely shoot SA.

 

[DennisE]

I've had trigger jobs on all my revolvers and 15 and 25 yards I shoot DA...at 50 yards I shoot SA. Dennis

 

[sheepdog]

...except on long shots, I DA...don't have to shift my firing grip or tie up the other hand...but I like to have the SA option...even when I've bobbed the hammer to CC more comfortably, I left the SA capabilities intact...

 

[NinjaFeint]

I shoot both about even. My GP100 has a decent DA pull so target shooting is fun. It's one of my home defense guns so shooting this way is constructive as well. It has a "think about it" SA trigger, as in if you think about it you have already put enough pressure to fire it. You would not want that in a defense scenario.

 

[KJS]

BTW: many folks do choose a 6" barreled revolver with SD in mind. the California Highway Patrol mandated that duty revolvers be fitted with a 6" barrel

Interesting. Given that it weighs 3 pounds loaded, I suspect cops were happy to take that weight off when their shift ended.

 

[mljdeckard]

Every informed opinion I have read on this says that if you carry a revolver defensively, you should not only shoot it DA only, you should send it to a gunsmith to have the spur and cocking notch REMOVED. The idea is that if you are shooting defensively, the process of cocking it first is unnecessarily complicated, and there is too much danger of an accidental discharge if you have the hammer cocked while your adrenaline is flowing. (Revolvers don't have a safety.)

If I got my dream revolver, (a blue 4" Python,) and I decided to carry it, I am NOT butchering it to do so. I am not at this time proficient enough shooting DA to carry. Until I AM, I won't. I even hate carrying the Beretta I am issued in DA/SA. If I have a fraction of a second to cock the hammer before I fire, I will.

 

[MCgunner]

There is no law and nothing is written in stone. Me, I shoot both ways and am practiced at both. I carry a DA and I don't have the spur removed nor do I wish to. One of the advantages to a DA revolver is the fact that you can go SA at long range if that were ever a need. I've shot a lot of game with a DA revolver and I never did it DA. I'll take that back, I finished a wounded, charging hog DA once. I didn't have time for much else and it was close range and I just raised the gun and fired.

If removing the spur somehow makes you magically better in DA mode, go for it. Me, I'll keep mine the way it is and moon the experts.

 

[KJS]

there is too much danger of an accidental discharge if you have the hammer cocked while your adrenaline is flowing. (Revolvers don't have a safety.)

Last week I found out why DAO semi-autos exist. I rented a Beretta 92 and found that it's not difficult to accidentally set it off. Of course, it was pointed safely down range, so not a big problem. That kind of sensitivity would clearly be a potentially fatal problem in a real life situation where a gun is drawn.