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Mark Milton · June 2, 2008, 07:20 AM

People weren't jumping you, they were setting you straight.

For the record, its also a bad idea to flip the cylinder opan and slam it shut with a flick of the wrist on a double acton revolver like Bogey on the late, late show. And its a bad idea to lock the slide back on an autoloader and to trip the slide latch letting it slam forward on an empty chamber.

Hollywood actors do this silly stuff all the time and they don't care becuase its a gun the studio rented from somebody else, and they generall don't know any better.

As for why its a bad idea to fan a sixgun, let me refer you to Elmer Keiths' book "Sixguns". In one chapter Keith has directions for how to alter the internal parts of a SAA colt so it can be fanned without breaking the bolt and all the springs.
Basically some of the internal parts "drag" over each other, but they can be relieved so that the dragging is eliminated. The gun really is designed to be cocked slowly. When you fan the gun, it increases the pressure as these parts contact each other, leading to breakage.
Keith notes that when the new Ruger came out , with it's coil springs, Bill Ruger displayed it at an NRA trade show for a week, with a machine that constantly cocked and fired the gun showing it was not damaged, and he noted that the unmodified Colt with it's flat mainsprings would never have withstood that.
Bob Munden goes even further when it comes to modifying a SAA for rapid fire. He also cuts the locking bolt notched deeper on the cylinder to prevent them from burring and modifies the bolt face itself.

Movies are not real life.They are misinformation. If you ever drop a DA revolver on the sidewalk like Dirty Harry did, don't be surprised if the cylinder gets busted open, breaking the latch and bending the ejector rod, making the gun a fancy paperweight.

The original Charles Askins had an interesting book about handguns that came out in the 1930s. He pointed out the reason the old SAA was so popular on the frontier was because even though it was fragile, it was easy to repair, or make it fire when broken.

June 2, 2008, 07:20 AM	#15
Mark Milton Junior member Join Date: January 30, 2006 Posts: 504	People weren't jumping you, they were setting you straight. For the record, its also a bad idea to flip the cylinder opan and slam it shut with a flick of the wrist on a double acton revolver like Bogey on the late, late show. And its a bad idea to lock the slide back on an autoloader and to trip the slide latch letting it slam forward on an empty chamber. Hollywood actors do this silly stuff all the time and they don't care becuase its a gun the studio rented from somebody else, and they generall don't know any better. As for why its a bad idea to fan a sixgun, let me refer you to Elmer Keiths' book "Sixguns". In one chapter Keith has directions for how to alter the internal parts of a SAA colt so it can be fanned without breaking the bolt and all the springs. Basically some of the internal parts "drag" over each other, but they can be relieved so that the dragging is eliminated. The gun really is designed to be cocked slowly. When you fan the gun, it increases the pressure as these parts contact each other, leading to breakage. Keith notes that when the new Ruger came out , with it's coil springs, Bill Ruger displayed it at an NRA trade show for a week, with a machine that constantly cocked and fired the gun showing it was not damaged, and he noted that the unmodified Colt with it's flat mainsprings would never have withstood that. Bob Munden goes even further when it comes to modifying a SAA for rapid fire. He also cuts the locking bolt notched deeper on the cylinder to prevent them from burring and modifies the bolt face itself. Movies are not real life.They are misinformation. If you ever drop a DA revolver on the sidewalk like Dirty Harry did, don't be surprised if the cylinder gets busted open, breaking the latch and bending the ejector rod, making the gun a fancy paperweight. The original Charles Askins had an interesting book about handguns that came out in the 1930s. He pointed out the reason the old SAA was so popular on the frontier was because even though it was fragile, it was easy to repair, or make it fire when broken.