Willing "fanning" the hammer cause parts to wear out quickly in my Vaquero?

M

mini14jac

New member
I've added Wolff springs to my Vaquero, and it has a really smooth action now.
Will "fanning" the hammer cause the parts to wear quickly, or break?

Inquiring minds want to know. :confused:
 
From what I've heard, 'fanning' is the best way to wreck a ruger revolver.
Other ways have been devised, but often aren't as effective, or pose greater personal risk.
 
Fanning is overrated. Its hard on the gun, dangerous (loss of muzzle control), and leads to poor accuracy. The movies make it look like every old west gunfighter could easily fan, when in reality few ever did (the smart ones didn't) and it was a difficult skill to learn for those who chose to do it.
 
Seems to me that ther Ruger manual recommends AGAINST using the "fanner" method. Don't have my manual in front of me right now, but I am sure I saw that in the book.

"...upon further review....."

Page 11 of my Vaquero manual plainly states that "fanning" is unsafe and NOT recommended
 
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Direct quote from the Ruger Blackhawk/Vaquero manual:
"Fanning" Fanning is an unsafe way to fire any revolver. And it abuses the revolver mechanism.
Click to expand...

I believe them, especially the unsafe part.
 
I didn't figure it was a good thing.

When you pull the trigger, then start pulling the hammer back, it feels like you are doing something you shouldn't be doing.

On American Shooter, Saturday, Bob Munden was able to get off three shots from his Colt in some ridiculous time. (less than a second?)
He started with the hammer back, the fanned or stroked the hammer with his index, then middle finger, for the next two shots.
Really cool to watch. Without the slo-mo shot, you couldn't tell what he was doing.
It might be easier on a gun without a hammer block safety.

I know it used to work great on my cap guns. :D
 
There are gunsmiths who specialize in toughening up Rugers for fanning/speed-draw competition. But part of the deal involves ditching the transfer bar safety. Not my cuppa tea, thanks.
 
I suppose the old time gunfighters didn't live long enough to worry about wearing out their Colts :)

And Hollywood could just buy new ones ......... :)
 
Went to a Bob Munden shoot at the fairgrounds a while back, asked him about his revolvers, He said his guns were completly rebuilt for his style of shooting and figured he could break a ruger in six rounds. I must admit the guy is fast, his wife is no slouch either.
 
"Pardon my ignorance"

What exactly is fanning a revolver?

Does firing DA quickly also wreck a Ruger revolver? I know one time I was dry firing DA very quickly and didn't release the trigger all the way and it locked up the trigger till I completly released it, then it was fine after that. Does that ruin things also?

Scott
 
Fanning is when you hold your single-action revolver in one hand, with the trigger pulled; and work the hammer by hitting the hammer spur with the heel of your other hand. Since the trigger is held back, the hammer falls and fires the cartridge in the chamber.

This is an excellent way to ruin a revolver.

If you just have to become an exhibition shooter, send a gun to Bob Mundun to have him re-work and properly setup the timing etc, then practice with the gun empty until you can hold the barrel still while you are fanning. This will take 4-5 years of constant work and two or three worn out revolvers; each being re-timed several times until the frame is too battered to let the lockwork function anymore. Then you can move on to using blanks to pop ballons until you can quickly pop 5 ballons in succession from 10-12 feet. Now you can start giving exhibitions; should only take about a decade of constant practice. Now you can actually control the gun well enough so you can move on to actually firing single shots until you can get used to the recoil of actually firing a bullet this way.

Most people give up after about a month of trying to hold the barrel steady while fanning an empty gun.
 
S.F.S. - IMO, I don't think dry firing a revolver rapidly in DA will do any more damage than dry firing it slowly for the same number of repetitions. You are using the trigger in the manner for which it was designed. You can, of course, wear out any gun by continuously dry firing it (assuming the design can take dry firing without damaging the gun), but no sooner, and most likely much later than actually firing live ammo for the same number of times.
 
Fanning a Vaquero....

I need to try that out, but the only thing I have is a Glock 18. And I don't see how I can 'fan' it. It doesn't have an exposed hammer. :o :p
 
Actually, yes, FAST double-action dry firing can be as hard on a revolver as fast double-action shooting.

When you get a cylinder spinning, especially on something like a Redhawk or S&W 28 or 29, that's a LOT of mass for the hand to start moving and for the cylinder bolt to stop moving.

And those parts aren't exactly the beefiest parts of any revolver.
 
Good point, Mike. The cylinder must spin fast when you pull the trigger fast. I was thinking of firing normally but with very little time between trigger pulls. The inertia/momentum of the cylinder starting and stopping can wear out parts faster than normal. I stand corrected.
 
If you just have to become an exhibition shooter, send a gun to Bob Mundun to have him re-work and properly setup the timing etc, then practice with the gun empty until you can hold the barrel still while you are fanning. This will take 4-5 years of constant work and two or three worn out revolvers; each being re-timed several times until the frame is too battered to let the lockwork function anymore. Then you can move on to using blanks to pop ballons until you can quickly pop 5 ballons in succession from 10-12 feet. Now you can start giving exhibitions; should only take about a decade of constant practice. Now you can actually control the gun well enough so you can move on to actually firing single shots until you can get used to the recoil of actually firing a bullet this way.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with your assessment. Fanning a revolver is EXTREMELY hard to learn, and also EXTREMELY dangerous IMO. Accuracy will be terrible as the muzzle moves during the learning stage (which is extremely long). The moving barrel also is dangerous. Fanning is a terrible idea, the age of the gunfighter is long dead, and heck most of them didn't master fanning either! ;)
 
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