I have seen several comments saying to use D/A only and never shoot S/A,now I shoot targets and game out to 75 yds with my magnums and would like someone to explain how in the world a person would hit the vitals on an animal the size of a pop can by using the D/A mode and why would you want to?????????????Now I can understand if you are shooting a man size target at 5 paces D/A would be o.k. but other than that I am lost why anyone would use D/A.
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D/A versas S/A
- Thread starter 44-40
- Start date
Dfariswheel
New member
Usually the DA-only thing is for DEFENSE pistols.
Nobody in their right mind would try to shoot SA in a gun battle at short range.
Accurate distance shooting DA is entirely possible, and it's simply a matter of practice.
Back in the late 1940's, early 1950's there was a man who went around the target shooting circuit making bets on his shooting skills.
The bet was, you would shoot your 6" S&W or Colt target revolver single action at 50 yards.
He would shoot his Colt 2" Detective Special DOUBLE ACTION at 50 yards, and his bet was he could out score you.
This guy cleaned up, and people could never understand how a 2" revolver could out shoot a 6" much less in DA only.
His "secret" was, first, he had a custom tuned Detective Special with smooth DA trigger, and a revolver that was in 100% proper adjustment.
EVERYTHING was set to optimum specs.
Next, he was a great shot who'd practiced with his gun until he'd mastered it.
He knew that if you pull a DA trigger until it was JUST ready to drop the hammer, then stopped the pull, the remaining pull was really little different than in single action.
Learning how to shoot for accuracy DA is one of the "games" revolvers shooters can play, and it can be quite fun.
One year, I bought a Colt Trooper Mark III in .22LR with a 6" barrel.
The Mark III is a massive revolver to start with, and the tiny .22 holes in the barrel and cylinder made for a heavy gun.
The weight and a tuned trigger action made DA shooting easy, and I spent every summer and fall weekend with a 500 round brick of ammo practicing DA shooting exclusively.
By early winter I was shooting pecans off trees, thrown rocks out of the air, and cigarettes off fences double action.
In early winter I switched to a Marlin 39-A rifle, and shooting it was almost TOO easy.
The pistol shooting skills do translate over to rifles, and the trigger control and sight concentration make it much easier to shoot rifle.
Since then, I believed the way to become a good shot with any gun is to buy a good .22 pistol, buy plenty of ammo and just SHOOT as often as possible.
As for double action shooting at distance, again, it's just one of the games you can play with a revolver, and I thoroughly believe it can increase your shooting skills even in single action.
Nobody in their right mind would try to shoot SA in a gun battle at short range.
Accurate distance shooting DA is entirely possible, and it's simply a matter of practice.
Back in the late 1940's, early 1950's there was a man who went around the target shooting circuit making bets on his shooting skills.
The bet was, you would shoot your 6" S&W or Colt target revolver single action at 50 yards.
He would shoot his Colt 2" Detective Special DOUBLE ACTION at 50 yards, and his bet was he could out score you.
This guy cleaned up, and people could never understand how a 2" revolver could out shoot a 6" much less in DA only.
His "secret" was, first, he had a custom tuned Detective Special with smooth DA trigger, and a revolver that was in 100% proper adjustment.
EVERYTHING was set to optimum specs.
Next, he was a great shot who'd practiced with his gun until he'd mastered it.
He knew that if you pull a DA trigger until it was JUST ready to drop the hammer, then stopped the pull, the remaining pull was really little different than in single action.
Learning how to shoot for accuracy DA is one of the "games" revolvers shooters can play, and it can be quite fun.
One year, I bought a Colt Trooper Mark III in .22LR with a 6" barrel.
The Mark III is a massive revolver to start with, and the tiny .22 holes in the barrel and cylinder made for a heavy gun.
The weight and a tuned trigger action made DA shooting easy, and I spent every summer and fall weekend with a 500 round brick of ammo practicing DA shooting exclusively.
By early winter I was shooting pecans off trees, thrown rocks out of the air, and cigarettes off fences double action.
In early winter I switched to a Marlin 39-A rifle, and shooting it was almost TOO easy.
The pistol shooting skills do translate over to rifles, and the trigger control and sight concentration make it much easier to shoot rifle.
Since then, I believed the way to become a good shot with any gun is to buy a good .22 pistol, buy plenty of ammo and just SHOOT as often as possible.
As for double action shooting at distance, again, it's just one of the games you can play with a revolver, and I thoroughly believe it can increase your shooting skills even in single action.
The DA thing is for self-defense practice. Unless you are using a single-action revolver of course.
Most people handgun hunting, or that want accuracy over everything else, shoot the revolver single-action.
However, the two aren't mutually exclusive. Single-actions can be shot suprisingly fast, and DA shots can be very accurate. It's a matter of a properly tuned revolver and practice in your preferred mode of fire. I'm not sure if any of the current-production revolvers are tuned well enough for a really good DA pull.
Most people handgun hunting, or that want accuracy over everything else, shoot the revolver single-action.
However, the two aren't mutually exclusive. Single-actions can be shot suprisingly fast, and DA shots can be very accurate. It's a matter of a properly tuned revolver and practice in your preferred mode of fire. I'm not sure if any of the current-production revolvers are tuned well enough for a really good DA pull.
Another thing to consider is that a lot of shooters today never shoot at a target beyond 15 yards. I see plenty of them at the ranges with targets no further than 7 yards and really bragging about their groups.
There's a major difference in the shooters when I was coming along and some of the shooters of today.
There's a major difference in the shooters when I was coming along and some of the shooters of today.
Ruger GP-100, DA/SA, 6 shot, fired DA.
Pull Trigger = Bang
Pull Trigger = Bang
Pull Trigger = Bang
Pull Trigger = Bang
Pull Trigger = Bang
Pull Trigger = Bang
Ruger Blackhawk, SA, 6 shot, fired SA.
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
To get the same number of shots, you have to perform twice as many actions. When things get very scarry, very fast, and very loud, you want to do as little as possible as fast as possible to insure your survival. Also, let's say one of your hands is damaged beyond functioning. With SA you now have to cock and shoot with only one hand, maybe your off hand. DA is simply easier to shoot faster than SA.
Pull Trigger = Bang
Pull Trigger = Bang
Pull Trigger = Bang
Pull Trigger = Bang
Pull Trigger = Bang
Pull Trigger = Bang
Ruger Blackhawk, SA, 6 shot, fired SA.
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
Cock Hammer + Pull Trigger = Bang
To get the same number of shots, you have to perform twice as many actions. When things get very scarry, very fast, and very loud, you want to do as little as possible as fast as possible to insure your survival. Also, let's say one of your hands is damaged beyond functioning. With SA you now have to cock and shoot with only one hand, maybe your off hand. DA is simply easier to shoot faster than SA.
smithyman said:Why do people say to shoot D/A for defense?
Because shooting DA is much faster than single action.
We've all seen some kind of shooting exhibition where some pistolero "fans" the hammer of a revolver and thought "wow, that's fast". Oh, so wrong!
The fastest shooter in the world was Ed McGivern in the 1920's-30's. On September 13, 1932, McGivern fired five shots from five yards into a group the size of his hand, in a time of 2/5 of a second! I've seen a photo of the target and all his hits were in the black!