Can you de-cock a handgun?

[Full Metal Jacket]

Is it possible to de-cock a semi automatic so that it wont fire even when the hammer is down? In other words, a button or something that basically makes the hammer hit the firing pin as usual, but doesn't fire the bullet?
how about on a revolver?
Hollywood movies are so confusing :barf:

[Hard Ball]

Almost any semiautomatic pistol with an exposed hammer can be safely decocked. Exactly how dwpwnds on the make and model of the pistol/

[Gonzo_308]

Hammers hitting firing pins are never a good thing unless you pull the trigger and mean for it to go bang.

I'm not sure what the question is actually. Do you mean to ask if some fireamrs have a Decocker lever built into the design? yes, many design incorporate a lever to decock the weapon dropping the hammer to a safe position without hitting the firing pin.

The designs are different in the way they work.

What particular piece of Hollywood confused you? By the way Hollywood is notorious for not knowing what they're doing when it comes to firearms.

Some movies even have revolvers with "silencers"

and the Foley artists will have an actor decocking or cocking a Glock or something like that.

[FrankDrebin]

Yes, but use a very sharp knife, or you'll just make it mad.

[Full Metal Jacket]

My main question may have been poorly asked since I was in a hurry, here's what I meant:
With a gun of any kind that uses an exposed hammer, can you make the hammer return to a safe position even after the gun is cocked without firing the bullet? A response a few posts above says it is possible with some modern semi-autos that have levers designed to do that. So is this possible on a revolver?

[Kayser]

Unless your gun specifically has a decocking lever (typically part of the thumb safety) it is an incredibly bad idea to decock a gun by hand. Especially an auto.

Some auto's, like a 1911 have an incredibly strong hammer drop and you're almost certain to have it slip out of the grip of your thumb and fall. If the gun goes off at that point, well, you're probably looking at least at a broken and/or shredded thumb. Possibly worse. Just don't do it "the movie way".

On a revolver, you might be able to get away with it (decocking the hammer on a Python for example is quite easy), however this is still a pretty poor safety practice. You're not going to have a proper grip on the gun, and if/when you screw it up and it goes off, that's not gonna be a fun time.

In short - Hollywood is stupid. Never manually decock any kind of pistol.

[Kayser]

and the Foley artists will have an actor decocking or cocking a Glock or something like that.

Heh. I always get a kick out of that. Exactly what is our hero decocking?

Also amusing : they always play that low volume "metal tinkle" whenever a gun is moved in any way whatsoever. A guy swings a gun 2 inches to the left, *metal tinkle*. Guy picks up or puts a gun down, *metal tinkle*. It's practically impossible to have a hangun anywhere in a scene without multiple *metal tinkles*. I don't know about you, but I'd be pissed if my guns rattled that much :)

[Dre_sa]

semi autos you have to be careful when de-cocking. conatc between the firing pin and hammer is never a good idea, unless 'you want it to go bang'.
some have a half cock some have a blocking mechanism.
most revolvers nowdays have a transfer bar that raises when you pull the trigger. the hammer and pin never touch each other. so revolvers should be safe but just check for that transfer bar before you try. also be wary of single action revolvers. not sure if they have that bar or not.

[UT_Air_Assault]

I've seen more than one AD arise from someone doing a poor job of decocking a weapon. But the best way to do it is to place your other hand's index finger against the hammer and use that to slowly ease it down. Once it is on it's way down you release the trigger so that it will only go down to half-cock and make discharge impossible (on a 1911-type gun or a newer revolver with a transfer bar safety.).

[Majic]

Yes you can decock any firearm with an exposed hammer without it firing. Some may say it's dangerous and the potential is there, but with a little caution it can be safely done and has been by many people with semi-autos and revolvers.

[Blue Heeler]

Revolver de-cock. Yes possible. Thumb on hammer pull trigger and let the hammer down s l o w l y. Make sure the gun is pointed in a safe direction 'cos if your thumb slips off the hammer it can discharge. I can't think of many occasions when anyone would want do do something risky like this.

[JohnKSa]

It's possible to MANUALLY decock any firearm with an exposed hammer. That means very carefully controlling the hammer, pulling the trigger, and slowly releasing the hammer to its fully lowered position.

This is a pretty dangerous thing to do--more so in some firearms than others. WHENEVER possible, the firearm should be completely unloaded before decocking. That's not usually possible with revolvers, but revolvers usually are designed so that they can be manually decocked while maintaining a higher level of safety. Still something that demands a lot of care, but not as risky as manually decocking a typical semi-auto pistol.

Many semi-automatic pistols provide a decocking lever that performs this action automatically without having to touch the hammer or trigger. This is much safer but the muzzle should be kept pointed in a safe direction throughout the decocking procedure (actually it should ALWAYS be kept pointed in a safe direction). A firearm which provides this feature should NEVER be manually decocked.

[Greenfurniture]

Unload weapon.

Check to make sure weapon is in fact unloaded.

Check it again.

Pull trigger.

Gun is no longer cocked.

[Bullrock]

It's possible to MANUALLY decock any firearm without an exposed hammer. That means very carefully controlling the hammer, pulling the trigger, and slowly releasing the hammer to it's full lowered position.

I have done this for years with wheelguns, and with a AD. I don't recommend it if the gun is being used for the first time, or new&tight. Whenever I pick up a wheelie I check to be sure it is not loaded, and then using the method described above check the action 5 or 6 times to familiarize myself with the weapon. :rolleyes:

Most of my auto's have varient 1 decockers (not all). :D After loading a full magazine, I rack the slide, and pull down on the decocker. I've not had a AD.

The CZ 75B doesn't have a decocker :( , and I (very carefully) lower the hammer to half position using the method described above... :)

[Overman]

Revolver de-cock. Yes possible. Thumb on hammer pull trigger and let the hammer down s l o w l y. Make sure the gun is pointed in a safe direction 'cos if your thumb slips off the hammer it can discharge

Put your other thumb between the hammer and the frame. Remove your thumb incrementally as you lower the hammer. This removes alot of the risk, plus, gives you added incentive to let the hammer down slowly (actually, even if you let the hammer fall on your thumb, it dosen't hurt much, at least with my Smiths)

Also, if you're de-cocking a Smith, take your finger off the trigger. This will engage the hammer block inside, and make it so it can't discharge (for modern S&W's anyway). If your finger is on the trigger and the hammer goes, it will discharge. If your finger is NOT on the trigger and the hammer goes, it will not discharge (probably, if the hammer block is still inside. Some knuckleheads remove the hammer block on their S&W's)

Try it and see. Make sure your gun is unloaded, then cock it. Holding it sideways so you can see what the firing pin does, decock it with your finger on the trigger, and watch the pin make a stab at it. Then de-cock it again with your finger OFF the trigger, and the firing pin will not appear. With Smith revolvers, anyway.

[Moe Mentum]

Yes, hold the cocked hammer with your thumb, pull the trigger, and slowly return the hammer to its natural state.

[Gonzo_308]

one crucial step on a revolver everyone is forgetting to mention(but I'm sure they mean to) is that after gripping the hammer with your thumb, you pull the trigger and release the trigger to let a hammer block move into position.

Keeping the hammer pulled will not let the safety features work.

[impact]

Quot from Greenfurniture

Unload weapon.

Check to make sure weapon is in fact unloaded.

Check it again.

Pull trigger.

Gun is no longer cocked.


This is the correct way to decock a 1911 or any semi auto without a decocker!

[Stiletto]

Hey yeah, if you swing or break out the cylinder, can you still pull the trigger?

[chris in va]

This is the reason why I got my CZ in a decocker version. It's not hard to manually decock on it, but I like to just hit the button and have it do the work for me, safely.

http://img83.echo.cx/img83/5994/318iw.jpg

[JohnKSa]

Gonzo is right about releasing the trigger to deactivate any internal safeties. However, on guns that are not designed to be decocked, releasing the trigger to early may prevent you from decocking all the way.

Stiletto,

Most revolvers are designed so that the cylinder can not be swung out with the hammer back. Similarly they're designed so that the hammer can not be easily cocked with the cylinder swung out.

[BatmanX]

I am a fan of safety.
The first two I bought have decockers.

I have more I want to buy that don't have them, where in, I would repeat what a few others said:

Drop mag - semi
Empty wheel - revolver
make sure it is empty, make sure it is empty again.
rack the slide to clear chamber - semi
check to make sure empty again
decock

/edit: in response to next post. Don't know. Thought you could. ??? Anyone chime in on this one? I don't own wheels.

[ATW525]

I'm not a revolver expert, but I don't believe it's possible to empty the cylinder on a revolver when it's cocked. At least my smith doesn't open with the hammer back.

[k_dawg]

Every time I hear of someone who had a ND while decocking a handgun manually, what strikes me is that they have done so "thousands of times" without incident.

[Handy]

K,

That's true of every type of AD. "I've holstered thousands of times", "I've dry fired thousands of times."

What amazes me is what spins everybody up. Manual decocking, if both hands are used, is a pretty darn safe procedure. There are plenty of devices and procedures involved in the use of handguns that present similar or greater risks, but don't get discussed.

Decockers are great idea, but the number of CZ-75s in military, police and civilian use should suggest that manual decocking doesn't present the ticking time bomb it is sold as.

[ed1921]

I don't think anybody mentioned this, so I will.
Be sure it's pointed in a safe direction when/if you do it.

[jonathon]

Nice thing with modern ruger revolvers, is you hold the hammer and depress the trigger, release the hammer just a bit, release your hold on the trigger, and then ease the hammer down.

Releasing the trigger after moving the hammer from the cocked position(just slightly), 'causes the transfer bar to drop, so it won't fire.

I believe most modern DA revolvers have somethign similiar, as in the hammer rebounds after firing, so if you remove your finger from trigger before easing the hammer down, it won't come into contact with the primer(for all hammer pointed firing pins anyways..).

For an SAA revolver, decocking is almost a nessecity to know...

[CastleBravo]

If you just have to lower the hammer on a loaded chamber, block the path of the hammer before you pull the trigger. Simplest way is to use a finger. That way, worst-case is that you pinch your finger.

In a semi-auto with no decocker, there is really no reason to do this, though.

[Dave Sample]

If you lower the hammer all the way down on an 1873 type Colt Action, you may get an unpleasant surprise when it goes KABOOM! You should NEVER lower the hammer on these types without an EMPTY chamber under the hammer. The hammer has a 1/4 cock notch, a half cock notch and a full cock notch. None are safe or secure. They break.
Double action revolvers are at rest with the hammer down. Period.
Single action semi automatiic's with rounds in the chamber are dangerous and letting the hammer down on a live round can produce another KABOOM if you slip. If it is a Star, the firing pin protrudes though the hole when the hammer is down.

Double action autos are something that I don't have much to do with except for my little FEG which is very easy to handle with the safety on.

I can never understand why people would want to do these things to a loaded gun.

[vitesse9]

but it's always a good practice on a revolver to place your thumb between the hammer and the frame until you your release the trigger and ensure that the hammer can safely fall without hitting the firing pin.

This doesn't mean it's advisable to decock all revolvers, but rather that its a good pratice if it is safe to decock your particular model etc . . .

I also agree that I wouldn't decock a semi-auto unless it had a decock lever.

[OBIWAN]

Amen Mr. Sample!

[James K]

Holy Toledo, Batman! What a bunch of baloney and theory. Do any of you guys actually own a gun? I believe in safety, but I have been uncocking loaded revolvers for about 55 years and never had an AD yet.

As for 1911 type pistols, I don't carry them loaded with the hammer down, so I pop the magazine, eject the chambered round, then just pull the trigger. I have been doing that for about the same amount of time, and have never broken any parts or had an AD.

Jim

[Handy]

I can never understand why people would want to do these things to a loaded gun. Because they were designed to be used that way?

Or is there some other reason the CZ75 has a DA trigger?

[tipoc]

I have to agree with you Mr. Keenan. It is the responsibility of the shooter to be familiar with their firearm. If they do not know how to safely decock the gun, and all types of guns can be safely decocked that I have seen and used, than either learn how, or do not use that firearm. Under no circumstances should you be carrying a firearm you are afraid of or so unfamiliar with that you can not safely lower the hammer on a loaded chamber.

tipoc

[KP345PR]

On my handgun, flip the safety on, the hammer will drop, and you're good to go

[cje1980]

In my Beretta just use the safety to decock it or chamber the round with the safety on. You can also hold the hammer while pressing the trigger and letting the hammer down slowly. If doing this make sure the firearm is pointed in a safe direction. The bottom is never point the firearm at anything that you don't intend to shoot or kill. Whether decocking, chambering, loaded, unloaded.

[k_dawg]

As for 1911 type pistols, I don't carry them loaded with the hammer down, so I pop the magazine, eject the chambered round, then just pull the trigger. I have been doing that for about the same amount of time, and have never broken any parts or had an AD.

that's the proper way. ;-0

[ATW525]

The only autoloader I don't decock on a loaded chamber is my High Power for same reasons Jim Keenan stated about his 1911. I always carry it cocked and locked or store it chamber empty and the hammer down. All my double action autos have decocking levers so lowering the hammer isn't much of an issue with them.

[OBIWAN]

"uncocking loaded revolvers for about 55 years"

:confused:

I have done this exactly once

For a neighbor that had a revolver for home defense

She had cocked it in response to a "bump in the night" :rolleyes:

Why are all these people cocking revolvers and then not shooting :confused:

Ok...I suppose a SA revolver might find itself "all cocked with nowhere to go"

I have a lot of experience with DA autos...just not much use for them. They are certainly safe to decock...assuming they are mechanically sound.

Revolvers CAN be decocked certainly.....but that does not make it inherently safe...or something you want to do regularly

All my handguns get "decocked " when they are empty

And I still point them in a safe direction

[CastleBravo]

Or is there some other reason the CZ75 has a DA trigger?

Second strike capability is a common requirement for military handguns.

[Handy]

Sean,

Do you honestly believe that the CZ-75 is being commonly employed as a cocked and locked SA? Come on.

[ATW525]

I would think it more likely that the CZ 75 is intended to be carried with a hammer down on a empty chamber, which wouldn't be uncommon for a military sidearm.

[Handy]

ATW,

Condition 2 has been a common military/police carry mode since the Walther PP. There is no reason to buy a gun with a DA trigger if you have no intention of letting your troops use it. That was exactly the rationale in selecting the M9 - US troops no longer carry condition 3.

[ATW525]

I don't know if I'd agree... in 1975 the main competition for the high capacity 9mm service pistol would have been the High Power, which would likely have been carried in condition 3. As was mentioned, the designers more than likely intended the DA trigger for second strike capability, otherwise why would they omit a decocking lever? I don't know about anybody else, but the thought of inexperianced troops manually lowering a hammer on a chambered round would give me the willys. Handgun training is not, after all, a priority for most militaries.

Of course that's just my opinion.

[Handy]

In 1975 Beretta, Walther, Sig, S&W, HK and CZ were all very busily selling DA guns. Of those, Sig, Walther and S&W were the only ones with true decockers as original equipment. Beretta added one, later.


I think it is more likely that military planners simply weren't aware how scary lowering a hammer is.

[k_dawg]

I think it is more likely that military planners simply weren't aware how scary lowering a hammer is.

Yep. It is one of those things, it is a risky enough behavior, that it literally only takes "one time" to mess up.

Second, for a long time ( and some to this day! ) people were "frightened" by Condition 1 "cocked and locked". They would think that by manually decocking a firearm not meant to be decocked was the "safer" route!

[Handy]

And they may have been right. Cocked and locked series 70 1911s are one of those potential accidents we politely ignore.

[tipoc]

Proper training with a handgun means that the shooter should be trained in how to safely lower the hammer on a loaded chamber. It is done the same way that you lower the hammer on an empty chamber when you don't want to dry fire (think .22 caliber wheelgun, for those that don't know, rimfire cartridges should not be dry fired). It should be practiced. Know the manual of arms for your firearm and as many others as you come in contact with.

It is extremely dangerous to drive a motorvehicle under any conditions even a bright sunny day when you are sober. The number of humans killed, maimed, crippled and harmed each year is astonding. Yet with practice and time we learn to motorvate ourselves about with relative safety. The same is true of decocking a revolver or a 1911. Learn how and fear not! The time will come when you have to. Folks have been doing it for a couple of centurys now.

With the thumb and first finger of the weak hand you hold the hammer, now pull the trigger all the way back and gently lower the hammer all the way down. Release the trigger. That's it, for many guns like the 1911, BHP, CZ75, etc. and all wheelguns. For others it's up to the shooter to learn. Practice, it's alot safer than the drive to work.

tipoc

[S.E.R.T.SGT]

Second on the CZ with the decocking lever.

[ATW525]

The same is true of decocking a revolver or a 1911. Learn how and fear not! The time will come when you have to.

I can certainly see the situation where you might have to decock a revolver, but why on earth would you ever have to decock a 1911 with a live round in the spout?

[Dave Sample]

I off load a 1911 the way Jim described but do not understand his other comments. I can't think of any weapon more dangerous than a loaded S&W revolver with the hammer pulled back in the SA Mode. These are usually a 1lb pull and there is not reason that I can see to do this. I load double action revolvers with the hammer down, carry them with the hammer down, and off load them with the hammer down. I am not familiar with the other 100 types of weapons that people talk about on this forum. Since I don't use or carry these things I can't comment about what is the proper way to handle them. All I can hope for is that you don't do it around me. I also would hope you pay attention the the four rules of gun safety when doing these things.

[Handy]

Dave,

Imagine slow firing a cocked revolver at the range. Just as you cock it a cold range is called (dog on the range). You're going to have to decock to open your cylinder.

[Dave Sample]

Wow. Good point! You are absolutely right. I do shoot my .454 Casul like that sometimes. I will take that to heart and hope I don't slip with that big baby! I will stick a finger in there if that happens!

[luckeduk]

I Have A Smith 457 And When The Hammer Is Cocked With The Safe Off, And Switch Back To Safety On The Hammer Will Drop And Then When Your Ready Again You Go Double Action For The First Shot Then Back To Single Action.

Luckeduk
I'd Rather Be Judged By 12 Than Carried By 6.

[Majic]

but why on earth would you ever have to decock a 1911 with a live round in the spout?
To have a fully loaded pistol with one up the spout laying around as a home defence weapon that you can grab and put into action easily with just one hand.
It's obvious that a lot of people don't understand decocking (the need or want), but it is a technique that should be learned rather than saying just don't do it because you have no reason to perform the act.