Revolver Basics

F

FirstFreedom

Moderator
So it's bad to slam the cylinder home, particularly when it's spinning? Damn those old Westerns.

Also, is dry-firing:
-perfectly harmless
-mostly harmless, or
-not good?

So far I've been dry firing like a man possessed on my new one - hope it's not bad - lol.

Anything else I should know, as I'm still fairly new to revolvers (have 2 now, planning a 3rd - oh brother).
 
Hi FirstFreedom. I'm new here and this is my first post but I know a few things about revolvers so what the heck, why not use my first post for something like this? ;)

Dry firing will not harm most revolvers made after WWII. It will improve both your shooting habits and the action of the gun. Fire away!

Slamming the crane/yoke shut WILL harm the gun. It will stress the steel over time and will result in excessive endshake, increased cylinder gap, could damage the cylinder stop, the hand, and the cylinder release stud, and worst of all might bend the hand. DON'T spin the cylinder and shut it hard, DeNiro style (remember the russian roulette in the Deerslayer movie? Makes me shudder to think of that poor revolver).

Scott
 
Slamming the cylinder shut with a flick of the wrist, known as "Bogarting" is bad.

Dry firing isn't harmful on MOST revolvers. The ones it may be bad for are some .22LR revolvers, and the Colt Trooper Mark III-King Cobra.

These guns MAY break a firing pin, and the gun MUST be returned to the factory for a replacement, since the job requires special tooling to remove the pin without damaging the frame.The "Fix" is to use snap caps in these guns, and in any .22LR where there is doubt.

Another "bad" for revolvers is force cocking the action by yanking the hammer back with a hard jerk.

Also firing the revolver double action by jerking the trigger as hard and fast as you can.

Doing either of these will batter the cylinder locking notches, and the bolt that locks the cylinder.
 
I've also heard that dry firing the S&W type revolvers, with the hammer mounted firing pins, can "peen" out the slot in the frame, allowing the firing pin to possibly contact the primer of a live round if dropped, ala the old Colt SAA syndrome. I've never seen one or heard of one where this has happened, but it seems logical. I don't dry fire my guns, so I don't worry about it.

Now and then, I'll see some jock at the range who thinks he's impressing people by flipping his revolver sideways to close the cylinder. I just smirk and shake my head, glad it's his gun and not mine.
 
I have had S&Ws, Colts, H&Rs, Taurus, Rossi and Ruger revolvers. I have only had problems with two revolvers that needed to be rebuilt. A 38 Long Colt DA and a Rossi. They were just continually abused. They both had less than ideal metallurgy. You can find people who can mess up anything. In regards to firearms, they usually require ignorance and some effort to really mess them up.
 
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