Safely uncocking a loaded revolver

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Welcome Jazz
I'm more of a pistol person but I do have a couple of revolvers for my wife.
I did learn a few things about revolvers from this thread so thanks for starting it.
As far as the hawk thing.
I am a licensed wildlife rehabilitator but I work only with mammals. I am also on the advisory board for our state rehab assoc.
Yea--the Migratory Bird Act is not some whacky enviro thing. It was first enacted in about 1918--revised in 1932 and again in 1972.
Shooting any bird of prey is a big no no. Big fine and possibly jail time.
Before Bush left office he pardoned a dude who was serving time in a Federal prison for killing several owls and hawks accidentally as secondary kill when he was poisoning coyotes.
Hawk attacking chickens--need to build a better coup--can't kill them.
I know it happens a lot though. My friend Segrid runs a bird of prey rehab facility here and she gets shot and poisoned hawks , owls and eagles all the time.
It is also illegal to be in possession of the feathers from these birds. All dead birds of prey are sent to a USF&W repository which happens to be at the Rocky Mtn Arsenal here in Colo. The feds will sometimes give dead birds or the feathers to native Americans for rituals or ceremonies but other than that it is illegal to be in possession of any body parts of a bird of prey.
Glad you missed the hawk. Scaring them away is ok (as long as they're not nesting with eggs or young) but killing them is a major federal offense.
I really understand about wanting to protect your squirrel though. I have nightmares when I release my raccoons in Mt Lion country but what can you do. The earth is nothing more than a revolving buffet table:D
 
John Parker said:
I'm amazed that this thread has gone on this long. It was really wrapped up in the first ten posts.
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Don't you know anything about the Internet?......why end at ten posts when you can stretch it out to ten pages?.....at this rate, we could even start a Twitter account just on this alone... :D


Jazziette: Any word on when your radio show will be starting? We've never had a gen-u-wine radio personality on THR before.....(well, there was some guy named "Tom" that claimed to have a show, but no one here's ever heard of it.... ;) )


j/k http://www.guntalk.com/site.php

Defintely worth listening to.... :cool:
 
So, what happens to your firearm when you accidentally discharge it into a pad that is in contact with the barrel? and what about all the blowback out the sides of the barrel crown? Not to mention the projectile....

Not so sure I would use one of those... pointing it in a safe direction and decocking/dry firing would seem much safer....
 
Can't say I've ever encoutered this problem. Any time I've ever cocked a hammer on a revolver, I had intentions to and did fire. Unless the cylinder was empty and I was messing with the action. My carry weapon is a Ruger P345, DA .45ACP. I keep one in the chamber but uncocked with the safety off. It has a de-cocking mechinism built into the safety. If the hammer is back and you flick the safey on, it de-cocks it's self. As far as my 1911's go, I drop the magizine out, eject the live round, and ease the hammer down with an empty chamber.
 
I have an 85, and the hammer cannot be released as stated in the begining of this thread.... the spur is cropped and the hammer is mostly concealed with only the knurled end protruding from the hammer shield.... this gun must have the trigger pulled and the hammer slowly lowered while releasing the trigger.... you cannot get a finger in the way to stop the hammer....

But yeah, it's cool
 
let me repeat that I'm not trying to imply that carrying a cocked single or double-action revolver is a good idea. Just that it's not quite as hazardous as some would think.
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What? Are you serious. Please dont give anymore advice like this. Is is very irresponsible. The way a safety bar transfer is designed to work is to prevent the accidental discharge of a cartridge if the gun is dropped on the hammer (WITH THE HAMMER DOWN). In that respect it does an excellent job. It is almost impossible to discharge a modern revolver by dropping it when the hammer is down.

If a SA or DA revolver is cocked there is no saftey whatsoever to prevent the trigger from being pulled or the hammer from dropping. Any thing that bumped the trigger would most likley keep it depressed long enough to keep the transfer bar up untill the hammer struck it.

Carring a cocked DA or SA revolver is very dangerous and should not be done under any circumstances. I am sure there are others here that will back me up on this.
 
Don't sweat it hillbilly. It's natural to be afraid of things that you don't understand. :)

Fore the record...I haven't "advised" anyone to do anything. I'm trying to explain that modern double-action revolvers require pulling the trigger in order to make them fire...and they do. From a cocked revolver...if the hammer falls without having the trigger pulled...it won't fire. Guaranteed.

And...I've said this more than once...

If the day ever comes that I don't have the manual dexterity to safely lower an exposed hammer on any gun, I'll sell'em all and take up needlepoint.
 
The way a safety bar transfer is designed to work is to prevent the accidental discharge of a cartridge if the gun is dropped on the hammer (WITH THE HAMMER DOWN)
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+1 to 1911Tuner.

They work with or without the hammer down. The transfer bar safety works this way in a Ruger revolver. It doesn't work AT ALL in an S&W as they don't have a "transfer bar" safety. They have a "hammer block safety." They are different, but look similar at first glance. "transfer bars" do just that - transfer the energy of the hammer to the firing pin at the moment of firing. They are part of the firing system. They have to be IN PLACE at the moment of firing. This is dependent upon the trigger being pulled back because they are on spring tensioned cams. If I remove the transfer bar from a gun, it will NEVER fire.

"Hammer block" safeties work in the same method, but have to be "OUT OF PLACE" to function - meaning there is a positive "block" that the bar makes between the hammer and the firing pin at all times unless the trigger is pulled all the way back. It is not a piece required to make the gun fire. I can remove the hammer block safety from a S&W revolver and it will still fire.

Both are different systems, though related. Both require the trigger back to cam the safety (albeit in different directions - "up" for the transfer bar and "down" for the hammer block type) so the gun can fire. If you aren't clear about this, take an unloaded gun and simulate what happens when say a gun is dropped on the hammer and it jumps or shears the SA notch. In an S&W, you can do this by simulating a "push off condition" - put the gun in SA mode. Hold the hammer with your thumb and release the trigger - and remove your finger from the trigger while still holding the hammer. Now watch the hammer-block safety and the hammer "race" each other to the firing pin window. If you hold the gun thusly, and look perpendicular through the frame window at the indexed cylinder's headspace. Drop the hammer and the firing pin will not enter the window. Once released, the trigger-actuated hammer block will beat the hammer to the window and prevent discharge. This is installed on all S&W revolvers since late WWII.
 
Thanks for takin' the time to type all that up, Oro. Had to jump off and run-go-do. I'm busier'n a cross-eyed cat at a county rat-killin' today.

To expound on Oro's excellent post...

Smith & Wesson's hammer block is a redundant safety device. When the trigger moves forward...which it will do as the hammer falls if it...the trigger...isn't positively held rearward. The trigger, hammer, and rebound slide move forward in unison. When the rebound slide moves forward, it positions itself under the hammer...blocking its rotation...and preventing it from moving full forward into the firing position.

Again...Dry-fire a Smith revolver and hold the trigger rearward. The hammer will move to the firing position. Release the trigger, and watch the hammer. It will rebound into the safety position, and you can push on it until pigs fly...and it won't move forward.

Cock the revolver. Hold the hammer with your thumb and pull the trigger. Let the hammer move forward juuuuuuuuuuuust enough to clear the full-cock notch. Release the trigger...then release the hammer. The trigger will move forward, and so will the rebound slide...which will stop the hammer in its rebound/safe position....and the gun will not fire.

Go study up on it and report back, hillbilly. We'll stand by.
 
You are missing the point. I fully understand how the revolver safties work in Ruger and Smith. My point is if the hammer is cocked and something accidentally pulls the trigger the gun will go bang. There are no safties to stop the trigger from being pulled by accident. I also understand that with your thumb on the hammer you can just flick the trigger and let off and even if the hammer slips it will not go bang. However if your thumb is not on the hammer and something trips it it could very well go off. You feel so strongly about the transfer bar keeping the gun from going off if the trigger is just bumped but I bet you wouldnt load a cylinder full of live ammo and point it at your foot and practice flicking the trigger to find out would you?

Point is it is not safe in any way to carry a cocked revolver. There are too many things that could accidentally bump pull or catch the trigger and the gun could go off.
 
My point is if the hammer is cocked and something accidentally pulls the trigger the gun will go bang.
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Yes...We completely understand that, lad. You keep missing or ignoring MY point. Several times, I've repeated that the trigger MUST BE PULLED in order for the gun to fire, and if it's not pulled and held to the rear...it won't fire.

It has never been my position that it's okay or acceptable to carry the gun cocked and holstered. Ever.

That wasn't the discussion topic anyway. The original question was how safe or dangerous it is to lower the hammer on a revolver. My point has been to explain how the gun functions...period...and that if the trigger is released while the hammer is being lowered...it won't fire, even if the hammer should slip from one's thumb.

Somehow...somebody...somewhere took that to mean that I was advocating cocked carry with a revolver. I'd suggest that rather than reading every 3rd sentence in a technical post...that it all be read and understood before launching into a tirade.

So...for the record, I'll state it again. Pulling the trigger is what makes the gun fire. If it's NOT PULLED...the gun won't fire.

Theah! Now we can be friends again.
 
And for my next demonstration! :D

Those handloaders who have a Smith & Wesson revolver...

Load a primed case into the gun and index it so it'll be under the hammer.

Cock the hammer.

Using a screwdriver...bump the trigger until the hammer falls.

The primer won't fire.

Why?

Because the trigger will move forward with the hammer...which means that the rebound slide also moves forward and arrests the hammer before it can reach the firing position.

As you were. Ill be in the area all day.
 
Not so sure I would use one of those(safe direction pad)... pointing it in a safe direction and decocking/dry firing would seem much safer....
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They are a SAFE DIRECTION. The are made our of kevlar with plates and everything. If the gun goes off, the bullet goes into the pad. It doesn't ricochet or go through a wall or anything. Just discharges into the pad, the kevlar "catches" the bullet.
 
This is funny. Does anyone honestly believe that a thread about decocking a revolver would run 100+ posts if the author were not a friendly blonde female?

Okay, I guess I'm one to talk...have contributed 2 of the 100 posts so far.
 
Vonderek said:
This is funny. Does anyone honestly believe that a thread about decocking a revolver would run 100+ posts if the author were not a friendly blonde female?

Okay, I guess I'm one to talk...have contributed 2 of the 100 posts so far.
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LOL You guys are way funny and cool!!! I do plan to reply to a few of your posts since I was last here. I'm in the process of moving and am busier than a one armed blonde paper hanger. hahaha (Isn't that the way it goes?) I've had a lot of fun reading your posts and the more I read the more important I think it is to know the proper....well...you kmow. LOL

See you soon!!

~ Jazziette

"Praise the Lord and pass me my uncocked pink revolver!!!"

:p
 
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Does anyone honestly believe that a thread about decocking a revolver would run 100+ posts if the author were not a friendly blonde female?
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I can't believe it ran 120+ posts even if Paris Hilton, and Marylin Monroe had of started it together!

rc
 
Thank you!

So this is in regards to a rather old thread however, I'd still just like to say THANK YOU to the one who posted the thread on how to safely uncock a loaded pistol. I have been around guns and fired a few but by no means did i grow up using them or really learning how to other then for protection. I had a recent scare with an intruder in my house that happened to be a neighbors kid. Needless to say for the first time i loaded and cocked my mothers 38 handgun. When I saw that it was this kid and i knew him i didn't need to shoot thankfully however, i was stuck standing there with a cocked 38 and no idea how to uncock it without just discharging it. But as stated previously by the same poster in my little community inside Houston's city limits i would have had the cops called on me. Then would have had it taken away because i'm not registered to carry it. I searched the internet and this was the first site that popped up. Thanks to your very clear description on the process, i was safely and confidently able to uncock it. I cannot thank you enough for posting something as simple as the more experienced gun handlers would think. As i always learned in any area of expertise its always beneficial to remember the basics every now and then. Thank you again! :)
 
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