Fanning a revolver

[quatin]

Good idea? Bad idea? Any harm done to the gun? I just now noticed some vids of people actually doing this.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Bad idea. The guns used for fanning are specially tuned for that purpose. Using a standard Colt SAA would be an act of desecration.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Fanning only applies to SAA type guns.
It's extremely hard on the hardware and very inaccurate.
I did it once just to see what it was like, wouldn't do it again.

 

[Plink]

Fanning throws the gun out of time very quickly as the internals take a heavy pounding that they're not designed for.

 

[bakert]

Don't do it regardless of what you see on TV and movies. Fine way to really mess up a single action revolver. Very good way to screw up timing and innards and even the cylinder notches.

 

[plumberroy]

the rear sight of a blackhawk leaves a nice imprint on your off hand If you use maxload .41 mag. with 215 hardcast bullets. ouch!!!! last time I fanned a revolver
Roy

 

[lensman]

You might want to try it just once ... then again, you might not.

As an aside, this is from the Cowboy Fastdraw Association competition guidelines:

1. FANNING OR TWO HANDED SHOOTING IS ALLOWED: If
fanning or using the opposite hand for recoveries, the
contestant’s opposite hand must not be moved in front of the
body until the start light comes on.
Warning: Fanning is very hard on your hammer notches, cylinder
notches, and trigger. Revolvers with firing pins attached to the
hammers can cause injury to the fanning hand.