How "Not" to hold a revolver

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The hot gases and pressure that escape are only at the front of the cylinder and the throat of the barrel, not at the rear of the cylinder, even with the off hand thumb forward it's very hard to reach the front of the cylinder, esspecially on an X frame.The problem was his lack of training and a totally unorthodox grip, sorry Zak but I think it's common sense to expect this area of a revolver to be hazardous... the bullets are loaded in a rotating cylinder with a gap between the cylinder and barrel throat, where do you think the carbon fouling on the inside of the top strap comes from?


I can't believe i'm reading statements on this forum that are blaming the gun for his injury!
 
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I can't believe i'm reading statements on this forum that are blaming the gun for his injury!
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I know! Anyone who does not know of the dangers inherent in revolvers has no one else to blame if they hurt themselves. I do hope the guy recovers, but he learned a painful lesson.
 
If you read the guy's entire thread, you'll see that he blamed the gun at first as he couldn't figure out how it happened. Thought maybe a piece of metal blew out the cylinder gap and sliced his thumb.

But when he retrieved the gun and recreated his hold, he realized it was his fault. The gun + scope was so heavy that, without realizing it, he slide his left hand forward to support and balance the gun and wound up with the tip of his thumb next to the cylinder gap. He was aware of the danger, he just didn't realize how close his thumb was to the cyl gap.

Then he pulled the trigger...
:uhoh:
 
Two-fisting an automatic, I have often wrapped the off hand around the trigger guard. This reminds me, when two fisting a revolver, wrap the off hand around the grip.
 
Well, I think putting one's finger right on the cylinder gap is a little different than a thumbs-forward grip. That said, people aren't blowing their thumbs off all the time with revolvers, so I think it's fair to say that extreme danger is not expected from a generic thumbs-forward grip. If this were a problem for all revolvers, a majority of "retention" firing positions would cause massive limb and torso injuries.

-z
 
people aren't blowing their thumbs off all the time with revolvers, so I think it's fair to say that extreme danger is not expected from a generic thumbs-forward grip.
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Yup. This happened with a .460 - a very high-powered round. Less powerful critters won't throw so much flame around.

Of course, that wheelgun could have an overly-large cylinder gap, too.
 
Safeguard intl. teacher specifically mentioned this and retention positions in the CCW class. Iirc IRL situations if you're not careful you'll chew your clothes with an auto or burn them with a revolver.

But it seems to me the power would be subject to exponential dissipation, and holding it two inches away from you would have cube-root the effect of holding it 1 inch away.

But I've been 2 or more feet away from friends shooting my .44 magnum and the escaping gasses still surprise the face. Glad to wear glasses at the lanes.
 
I believe that anyone that has spent enough trigger time behind "old" revolvers knows about "cylinder blast" and lead shaving and recoil and gas cutting and frame stretch etc.

I was taught to shoot revolvers with one hand. I will sometimes use the "cup and saucer" hold on large revolvers.

Maybe it was an incident like the described that led my mentors to shoot one handed.
 
hi all, first post.

i can really feel for the guy, i have been shooting autos for 15 years. thats all i ever knew. my first revolver was a .500 smith i read the manual and knew that foward of the trigger guard was a no no but holy crap. i wouldn't have guessed you could lose fingers from it.
 
Did that many many years back with a .22LR revolver. That hurt plenty, but it wasn't THAT bad.

Now, when I [once in a while] take a newbie out to shoot, I set up a semi-circular sheet of paper over the gap area of my Vaquero or Blackhawk, and fire a shot with a SERIOUS .357 load....Point made, and only the paper gets hurt.
 
wow...this scared me a little bit. my brother cradled a .38 one time and burned his hand a little bit. i dont even want to imagine what a .460 or .500 would have done to his hand.

i would never have figured that this type of damage was even possible, but i guess it just goes to show how important proper handling techniques are. i think it would be a good idea for somebody to be well versed in the safe handling of a revolver before stepping up to those hand cannons.
 
Look at the PSI chambers are working with, a cursory glance can tell one that this isn't a game.

If the thread said, "pictures of what 40,000 PSI does to your thumb" people might not be shocked. I know it's a lot of power, but I'm still shocked.

Glad for the internet, in the old days this thing would just be an urban legend.
 
Well, if noone else is going to say it, I will.

Just in case he has "Thunderware"...

"Remove weapon from holster before firing."

JTR
 
If the thread said, "pictures of what 40,000 PSI does to your thumb" people might not be shocked. I know it's a lot of power, but I'm still shocked.
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Try upping it a bit. I think ceiling for the .460 is around 65K PSI, blasting out of a hole around 8 thousandths of an inch wide. I'm not trying to be rude or insensitive to anybody here, but I just don't see how a shooter can NOT understand such a thing if they've ever cleaned a revolver before.
 
he didn't know that revolvers had barrel/cylinder gap blast
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When I was first teaching my son to shoot, I showed him the danger of getting his hands near the cylinder gap by laying some toilet paper over the barrel. The first shot ignited the paper as it blew it away.

He learned the lesson.
 
I was lucky I learned not to do this with a Smith K-22 22lr. It smarted for a bit but man that is just down right nasty. It must have hurt like a good swift kick to the family jewels.
 
Once upon a time I was out at a farm shooting at groundhogs with a .357 Colt revolver. I jumped out of the Jeep and saw a couple waddling out across the furrows... like some kinda movie star I grabbed my right elbow with my left hand and braced the pistol on my bicep.
The good news was the big burn scar on my jacket hurt a lot less than if I had been wearing a T-shirt.
The bad news was there was no follow-up shot.
 
I am sitting here reading through this thread with my trusty K-frame 386 PD stuffed in my drawers. I have huge hands, and this is a fairly compact revolver. I removed it from its holster and assumed my regular grip. I could not get my left thumb anywhere close to the front of the cylinder without a lot of effort and an improper grip.

And as for those here who are gleefully running the poor guy into the ground, yeah, he made a mistake, and he is paying for it dearly. He is also to be commended for showing the whole lot of us what can go wrong if we aren't paying attention. I realize that those of you who are running him down hardly ever make mistakes, so you won't need our sympathy or encouragement on those rare occasions when you do. :neener:
 
I just threw up in my mouth a little.

That being said the thumbs forward grip on an auto pistol is relatively popular now. Its NOT for a revolver but I'm not going to bash a guy who blew the end of his thumb off. I'm sure he has learned and doesn't need a bunch of know-it-alls telling him he shouldn't have done it. I think he knows.
 
I checked with a couple of my revolvers (regularly sized ones, not monsters), and even with a thumbs forward grip, and even on something as small as an SP-101, no part of my hands are near the front of the cylinder.

HOWEVER.... If I try to use the grip that was recently popular with semi-autos, with the off-hand index hooked in front of the trigger guard (never knew why anyone would do that even with a pistol, :banghead: but they did), my off-hand thumb was in a perfect position to get blown off by the gap gasses. :eek: :uhoh:

Good thing I always hated that grip. :barf:
 
Public Safety Announcement

When one purchases a firearm (or uses it for the first time) READ the Safety & Instruction Manual. One can even get them on-line.


Pertaining to this issue. Read page 19 (Firing)

Smith & Wesson Safety & Instruction Manual
Revolvers- Modern Style

http://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson/upload/other/S&W_Revolver_Manual_09-12-07.pdf

WARNING: ALWAYS KEEP YOUR FINGERS AWAY
FROM THE AREA BETWEEN THE CYLINDER AND
THE BARREL DURING FIRING. PARTICLES AND HOT
GAS WILL BE FORCED OUT FROM BETWEEN THE BARREL
AND CYLINDER IN ANY REVOLVER DURING NORMAL USE.
FAILURE TO FOLLOW THIS WARNING WILL CAUSE SERIOUS
PERSONAL INJURY.
 
Ewwww... Figure 13... looks like that is what he did (even if one of the links on here DIDN'T show someone trying to re-create it). And either figure 13 or 14 would really suck.
 
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