shooting a double action as a single action

Shooting DA will greatly improve your trigger control with practice, thus making you a better shooter with revolvers and semi-auto's. Try giving an ICORE match a try if available in your area.
 
He said using SA under stress is likely to result in accidental discharge possibly hitting an inniocent person.
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This is a common view among many who have had law enforcement experience. And they are right, for them. But not as right, for you, or I. Police officers hold people at gun point, more often than they actually have to shoot them. Holding someone (who might possibly move suddenly, etc.) at gun point with a cocked revolver is very likely to result in AD, and multiplied over the number of officers and times it happens is a very poor policy for and Dept. to endorse or teach. Also the people they are holding at gunpoint are often in public where other (innocent) people are near.

Personal defense, particularly in the home is not the same situation.

And while I do agree that one can focus on teaching only DA shooting, particularly for personal defense, its not the only thing we do with our guns.

He also says a high percentage of personal defense situations, one does not have time to cock the hammer.
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I also hear this one a lot. And I have to disagree, slightly. If you have time to draw the gun, you have time to cock the hammer. What you might not have is time to aim well, and certainly not have the time to do it in the way you are used to shooting casually.

And that's where the trouble comes in. Shooting SA "teaches" you to do things slowly and precisely. Very good for everything except close range personal defense. Its not the physical time needed to cock the gun that puts you at risk, its the other factors one is used to doing when shooting SA that are dangerous in that situation.

Note that the world record draw and fire times (fast draw) have been dominated by SA revolvers for generations. Its not just the cocking of the hammer that slows you down and puts you at greater risk in a defensive shooting, but cocking the hammer is what many people focus on and say is the problem.
 
44 AMP said:
Holding someone (who might possibly move suddenly, etc.) at gun point with a cocked revolver is very likely to result in AD, and multiplied over the number of officers and times it happens is a very poor policy for and Dept. to endorse or teach. Also the people they are holding at gunpoint are often in public where other (innocent) people are near.

Personal defense, particularly in the home is not the same situation.
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The situation may not be exactly the same, but they're similar in that drawing and pointing doesn't automatically mean "shooting" is required or that shooting won't get you into a heap of trouble. Whether to fire or not is a decision must be made quickly, and a decision the shooter (not an adrenaline-filled trigger finger) needs to weigh and make.

BTW, I've seen several references to "Accidental" Discharges wrt a cocked hammer. Ain't no thing, IMHO: Plain and simply, it's a Negligent Discharge.
 
If you have time to draw the gun, you have time to cock the hammer.
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That's true for the first shot. After that, the shooter will either have to compromise his/her grip to put one of the thumbs in a position to rapidly recock the gun for each shot or slow things down by taking a conventional grip, then moving the hands around to recock and reacquiring the grip for each subsequent shot.

One of the best reasons not to cock a revolver for self-defense is for the occasions when no shooting is actually required. That leaves the defender with a cocked revolver and, most likely with a massive adrenaline dump. The choice is now between decocking with all that adrenaline in the system or leaving the gun cocked until such time as things calm down a little. Neither choice is particularly attractive.
 
My revolvers are all long barreled hunting revolvers so I don't really feel guilty about shooting them SA 99 percent of the time. They aren't and never will be used for SD or home protection since I have other firearms that are much better suited for that purpose. My next revolver will be a 44 magnum Blackhawk with the longest barrel I can find.
 
"...how the "fastest gun" in the fight..." Fast didn't mean accurate, even 100 plus years ago.
Nothing bad will ever happen by shooting a DA revolver on single action only. Not even to your morals. In any case, the revolver must fit your hand properly to shoot DA well.
"...have to compromise his/her grip to...to rapidly recock the gun..." Think in terms of having two hands. You have a free thumb.
 
it will never hurt the revolver to shoot it SA instead of DA. the only things that can happen are this..

1. youll notice the difference in the trigger betweens mode of firing.
The difference in SA for me can easily make me want to shift my grip into a traditional SAA style hold, that means bad accuracy with a da.

2. you can loose your rythm with the gun. ive seen myself open groups up SA mode because my brain gets the time to see teh individual bullet hits. shooting in DA mode i never see the actual hits until im done with my cylinder ful.
 
Don P. mentioned ICORE. I shoot it in Northern Ca. and we've gone down to the International Revolver Championship in San Luis Obispo area for 4 or 5 years. You will occasionally see a newer shooter who is having difficulty hitting some steel targets finally go ahead and cock the hammer and engage them single action. All of the experienced shooters, fire all shots double action. Including the standards stage with 6 shots from 50 yards. It's amazing watching the top shooters with a revolver shoot a stage. Mark
 
Double/single action.

Hi Willie, I have several double action revolvers and I usually use them shooting single action. It makes it more accurate and there should be no difference in ware. The only drawback that I find is if you carry for self defence and you get used to shooting single action that extra time it takes to pull the hammer back may mean your life. You get my drift so as long as you use your gun for target practice then fireing single action is fine. Good luck,

Marty
 
If I was going to shoot mostly double action, some of my guns that shoot fine SA would need trigger work for actions that are too stiff and stagey. I may have to work on that, but employing a gunsmith these days can be a bit of a black hole.
 
I think you'll find, a little DA practice and dry fire, will magically make the stiff and stagy disappear.

As you become more acquainted with it, and your muscle tone develops, I think youre going to find, the trigger will "seem" to have improved.
 
Originally posted by AK103K: I think you'll find, a little DA practice and dry fire, will magically make the stiff and stagy disappear.

As you become more acquainted with it, and your muscle tone develops, I think you're going to find, the trigger will "seem" to have improved.
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^^^This. You see folks recommending substantial dry-firing all the time on gun forums to improve trigger pull. I often wonder how much of it is the trigger smoothing out or the finger getting stronger. Odds are, it's a little of both.
 
I think you'll find, a little DA practice and dry fire, will magically make the stiff and stagy disappear.

As you become more acquainted with it, and your muscle tone develops, I think youre going to find, the trigger will "seem" to have improved.
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That may be a good point, but I expect I will gravitate to the guns that have a nice feel to the trigger action. Otherwise, I will be naturally thinking about improving the guns that do not rather than adapting to them, as if DA was the only right way to shoot.
 
I think its easier to find fault with the gun, than it is to accept that we might be the issue. Human nature I guess.

Its not so much about adapting to the gun, as it is about improving "you". Once you improve you, the little things you once thought were a big deal, are now basically insignificant, if you think about them at all.

Im just glad I learned my lesson early on, and didnt waste a lot of money on needless gunsmith bills.

I wasted it on more ammo and components. :)
 
Getting an übersmooth and überlight action by a top 'smith may be a luxury, but a gun that needs an action job needs an action job. A gun with a bad action will never allow you to shoot to your potential. You might find ways to compensate for the bad trigger, but that's usually just adapting some poor technique to offset the action issues, and isn't doing you good in the long run.

Interestingly, when Brian Zinns, the great bullseye shooter, chose a gun recently, he chose the gun with a better trigger over the more inherently accurate gun.
 
but a gun that needs an action job needs an action job.
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No doubt, but how many guns these days, do you see come with "horrid" or even "bad" triggers/actions?

Hey, I just had a thought! This isnt the logical path of least resistance, and the result of slipping into the XBox age (and trigger), is it? :)
 
AK103K said:
No doubt, but how many guns these days, do you see come with "horrid" or even "bad" triggers/actions?
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Doesn't have to be horrid or even bad. IMO, it's a rare factory gun who's trigger can't be improved with a good action job, so depending on one's skill level and the quality of the gun's action, an action job can be a necessity or a luxury.

So while I agree completely there's no substitute for practice, I wouldn't agree that getting an action job is automatically a "needless" expense or a matter of trying to buy a better target.
 
I have a half dozen DA revolvers . . . but . . . . I have mainly shot SA because I shot SA C & B revolvers since I was a kid. When shooting my DA Smiths and Colts I usually shoot SA most of the time - it has no effect on the revolver in terms of additional wear.

I do shoot my Smiths and Colts in DA as I figured it was time I learned to shoot them that way. At 61 . . . trust me . . . I'm still learning! :D I'm getting better but I'll still be more accurate shooting 'em in SA.

The only DA revolver that I really put a lot of practice in to as far shooting DA is my Smith Model 36 snub since that's what I usually carry for CCW.

If you're more comfortable shooting them in SA . . then go ahead and have at it. You aren't going to hurt them at all. But somewhere along the line . . . try the DA. I have gotten in to the hair of shooting at least a few cylinders full in DA every time I shoot.
 
Single action shooting is for just having fun.
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Incorrect. Single action shooting is for having fun and for careful aiming when you have the time and the situation demands accuracy. The whole "double action only" mantra is tiresome because it does not acknowledge the valid use of single action shooting in personal defense.
 
"...Zinns...chose the gun with a better trigger over the more inherently accurate gun."

Someone once said that "it is not how good the gun you shoot, it is how good you shoot the gun." While no one can make a poor gun shoot well, there is a lot of truth there.

Jim
 
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