Safely uncocking a loaded revolver

[NMPOPS]

Why would you want to carry one cocked? I don't know where you live in AZ but everywhere I have lived discharging a weapon in the city limits (as lohg as you don'y hit someone) is only a misdemeanor, not a felony.

 

[murf]

condition RED.

murf

 

[Nushif]

I really, really hate to say this.

But I smell a massive troll, too.
First a talk show host, readily showing off the real femality (Yes, now it is a word) via a pic, then a licensed animal rehab type ... shooting hawks in Texas on a ranch ... before living in AZ or wherever...

I've played enough online games to smell a troll fairly well. And even if this isn't a troll in the traditional sense ... this a favour-badger.

 

[joeq]

Why does the person that fired up this thread again sound eerily like the lady that stopped posting in 2009? Not only that but this is their first post? Wasn't she from Texas originally also?

 

[Buck Snort]

HO-CHEE-MAMA!! I just flat out CANNOT BELIEVE this thread racked up 129 posts, and now 130!! Hey guys, go watch some "I Love Lucy" reruns on TV!!

 

[Tomcat47]

Me Either...............131................

But I Read all of Them..........

She Done the Right thing (cops) if she felt uneasy though!

 

[NavyLCDR]

Then would have had it taken away because i'm not registered to carry it.

Might want to become familiar with even the most basic of Texas firearms law. There is no registration of guns in Texas. There is no permit required to carry a firearm on one's own property in Texas.

132!

 

[788Ham]

She made a statement about, "Not being able to decock it with the "barrel" open." Explain how you open the barrel Jazz!

 

[NavyLCDR]

She made a statement about, "Not being able to decock it with the "barrel" open." Explain how you open the barrel Jazz!

Usually there is a latch that is below the rear sight that you pull back and then the gun breaks open on a hinge below the barrel, in front of the cylinder.

 

[AuntFrahn]

Why I cocked my .38 and want to uncock it

Here’s the thing. I went target practicing yesterday and removed the snake shot. When done, I put the snake shot back in it.

This morning before heading out for a run, I strapped on the holster and remembered switching to regular bullets and wanted to be sure I had snake shot in. I’m not that good a shot yet and don’t want to miss. So, I removed them - yes, they were snake shot.

I have only four of those left which left an empty slot. [Yeah, yeah, I know that’s the wrong term.] So, I could see the empty one when I snapped it back after looking. Hmmmmmm.....do I now have the empty slot positioned to go off first when I cock it? Being the good programmer that I am, I tested. Oops. Dang!!!!! Sure, cocking it does position move it up one where I thought. But, now, I have a live round ready to fire. Dang!!!

The suggestion to place my thumb in between and click it. Well, sounds logical. But, as the first person said, if you’re nervous about it, don’t do it.

This is especially frustrating since my neighbor [a former Marine] isn’t out and about yet, so I can’t ask for his help and worse yet, my target shooting buddy told me about a recent incident with an illegal in her yard with law enforcement tearing after him. Unfortunately, law enforcement deemed it necessary to run THROUGH her house and threaten to taser her HUSBAND who they thought was the bad guy. Uh.....he’s huge and the other guy was certainly not so. The illegal was NEVER in her house! So, the illegal gets away. The husband had almost caught up with him but stopped when the law threatened to taser him.

As, you can see, walking/biking/running in what I thought was a safe neighborhood is no longer the case. Actually, I had the gun for packs of dogs! Oh, yeah there was that incident almost two years ago when another neighbor went berserk and started firing his gun with the bullets getting way to close to those in my yard! SWAT team, the whole works.

So, yes, I cocked the gun before thinking it through. Duh!!! I’m looking for my Marine guy on the way out and if he’s not there, I guess I’ll just hope no dogs or illegals head my way. I hear javelinas are dangerous, too but I think it’s kind of late in the morning for those guys. I suppose I could carry my gun that just shoots blanks and scare them to death.

Done now.
Thanks for listening.

 

[BRE346]

I love this exchange. It made me go check my revolver to learn about the safety with my finger off the trigger. Good call. My gun has such a light SA trigger that I wouldn't dare cock it unless it was aimed at a hostile threat.

 

[BCRider]

AuntFrahn, a few things you can do.

First off practice cocking and decocking with an unloaded gun. Get familiar with it and come up with a resonably foolproof method. Learn how to hold the cylinder as it latches into position so that the empty, if you want to carry with one chamber empty, is under the hammer/firing pin. Next try dry firing the gun with it EMPTY enough to learn and take note of the direction of rotation. Knowing which way the cylinder turns will lead to knowing where to put the bullets and give you a better understanding of how to load it if you want to use a mixed load of shot and hard bullets at some point.

Finally if you feel that you may need to de-cock a loaded revolver at some point it's handy to have a safe target to point it at "just in case" A 5 gallon bucket of sand with a snap lid (an old contractor's bucket o' paint and lid can do nicely) gives you enough stopping power to soak up a bullet if the gun should go off. Often folks will put such a safety spot on the floor. But that means having to point the gun down while de-cocking the hammer. That might put your hands and arms at an awkward angle. If that's the case then this is where the lid comes in handy. You can seal the sand in the bucket with the lid and aim the gun ahead at the lid with your hands level. It's nice if the bucket is also down in the basement with it sitting back against the outside concrete foundation wall. If you're in an apartment up in the air just be sure that the other end of the bucket faces out and away towards as safe a direction as possible/practical. Or put a round layer of 1/4 inch steel in the base of the bucket before you fill it with sand.

There also used to be a product out there called "Aimpad" which is a special ballistic pillow which is used as a bullet stopper just for situations like this. It's about the size of a sheet of paper and about an inch thick. To use it you put the muzzle on the spot in the center of the pad and then manipulate the gun to de-cock the gun. If you slip the pad will stop the bullet.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The suggestion to place my thumb in between and click it. Well, sounds logical. But, as the first person said, if you’re nervous about it, don’t do it.

The proper way to uncock a revolver is:

1. Point it in a safe direction.

2. Place your right thumb on the hammer and apply pressure, as if cocking the gun. The hammer will move back slightly.

3. While holding the hammer back, apply pressure to the trigger, and slowly let the hammer down, controlling it with your thumb.

 

[1911Tuner]

The proper way to uncock a revolver is:

1. Point it in a safe direction.

2. Place your right thumb on the hammer and apply pressure, as if cocking the gun. The hammer will move back slightly.

3. While holding the hammer back, apply pressure to the trigger, and slowly let the hammer down, controlling it with your thumb.

Bingo...and that applies to lowering the hammer on any weapon. Get control of the hammer first. Pulling the trigger and trying to catch the hammer is a surefire way to set one off.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Ya'll behave now. Hear?

LOL!!!!

 

[T Slothrop]

Good lord, y'all: He/She/It is a troll. Please stop feeding it!

 

[Certaindeaf]

.I have only four of those left which left an empty slot. [Yeah, yeah, I know that’s the wrong term.] So, I could see the empty one when I snapped it back after looking. Hmmmmmm.....do I now have the empty slot positioned to go off first when I cock it? Being the good programmer that I am, I tested. Oops. Dang!!!!! Sure, cocking it does position move it up one where I thought. But, now, I have a live round ready to fire. Dang!!!.

When you're monkeying around/trying to figure out how a particular gun works/operates, make sure it's unloaded. Only load it after familiarization/mastery of the basic fundamentals.

 

[1911Tuner]

Good lord, y'all: He/She/It is a troll. Please stop feeding it!

Oh, we know that. Every so often even a troll will ask a question that can be of use and interest to somebody. In this case, possibly a newcomer to handguns who isn't very adept with them...and learning the manual of arms would come in handy.

Incidentally, I don't dry fire unless I'm checking the trigger action...not even when clearing the pistol. It's an old habit that comes partly from my father's admonition to "Never snap the gun" and partly from the oldest story in the book: "Oh my God! I didn't know the gun was loaded!"

I'm such a stickler for controlling the hammer that I do it even when handling pistols with a decocker.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a Troll exactly? I've been hearing that thrown around on the forum lately and I'm not sure of the meaning.

 

[rodregier]

Troll explained:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)

 

[smalls]

Thus thread came back from the dead twice!

 

[NavyLCDR]

The proper way to uncock a revolver is:

1. Point it in a safe direction.

2. Place your right thumb on the hammer and apply pressure, as if cocking the gun. The hammer will move back slightly.

3. While holding the hammer back, apply pressure to the trigger, and slowly let the hammer down, controlling it with your thumb.

2a. Place index finger of non-firing hand between hammer and firing pin.

4. As the hammer goes forward past the sear, release the trigger, to engage any internal safeties.

5. Continue to gently lower the hammer, removing the "safety" index finger at the same time.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Ah.... I see. A trouble maker. Thanks for the link.

 

[Alnamvet68]

I cannot imagine why anyone with any common sense, and of course, experience in the safe handling of firearms, would want to carry a revolver cocked. I know of only two instances where I would cock a hammer...when on the firing range when shooting single action, or at home, with an empty weapon, triple checking there are no rounds in the cylinder, and cocking this empty gun to check its action.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I carry all mine cocked with the trigger guards all cut off. I also carry them in sholder holsters specially modified so the muzzle is pointed at my own heart all the time. It's totally safe!!!!!

Yep, carrying a cocked revolver is about the stupidest thing a firearm owner could do.