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The Colt and S&W work a bit differently. The S&W hand moves up and turns the cylinder, then moves upward until the side of the hand is bearing on the ratchet. That can, depending on how tightly the hand is fitted and the amount of wear on the hand and ratchet, allow a slight rotational movement. Colt, on the other hand (OK, OK!), has a hand with two "fingers". The top one pushes on the one ratchet tooth to start the cylinder around, then the lower one picks up the next ratchet tooth to effect the final cylinder movement. The lower hand bears on the ratchet to keep the cylinder pressed against the bolt at the moment of firing, but before that there has to be enough play for the trigger to move.
Neither is the perfect system, but both are more than adequate in the real world. The S&W can loosen up enough with wear that the forcing cone really does align the cylinder with the barrel. In the Colt, with wear, the powerful hand can force the cylinder past alignment with the barrel, even distorting the cylinder notches, the bolt or the bolt window in the frame to do so.
Jim
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