I carried a revolver as a duty weapon for 10 years and still carry one concealed. I always make sure that the cylinder is locked in place after I load it. I even did it on the qualifying range under time limits and stress runs. I think it's better to take a quick second to make sure. Chances are the cylinder will automatically line up and lock when you pull the trigger, but I have never tried it and I'd rather be sure than have a possible accident.

 

I always, by habit, just turn the cylinder so it locks up after I load the gun.......it takes a split second, and it satisifies my "gun OCD" because I couldn't stand it if the chambers were not lined up the way they should be on my carry revolver

But, you don't have to. We are revolver aficionados and avid shooters, so we have our little habits and quirks. The hand will simply move up and push the ratchet tooth so the cylinder rotates into lockup regardless of whether the cylinder is locked up or not.

Think of the millions and millions of "non gun" people who have used revolvers over the years.......security guards, police officers, etc. not all of them are "gun savvy" and I guarantee many millions of wheelguns have been reloaded on qualifying ranges or in life or death scenarios without locking the cylinder up after closing and the guns have functioned fine.

 

I agree. I always lock mine out of habit, but have done a half trigger pull which left the cylinder only half way to the next indent, then when I pulled the trigger again, it was fine. Revolvers would blow up all the time if there were susceptible to this.

 

I did that for many years when carrying a revolver. I do not bother on a range.

 

I always lock mine in.

 

As a target and range shooter, not only do I rotate the cylinder to lock, I often cycle my DA revolvers in SA mode once to make sure everything is in sync. Old habit from shooting Sa revolvers for so long, but I agree, not necessary.

 

When closing a double action or single action, the correct drill is to rotate cylinder until it clicks. Mechanism is designed to operate lock-to-lock.

Always "click" check cylinder to be sure it is locked before holstering.
David Bradshaw

 

What's a holster? My revolver keeps firing until I'm out of .357 magnum rounds!

(Sorry range joke)

 

I have read that the S&W Bodyguard .38 revolver has to be rotated into lockup, or it won't carry up right.

I don't own one so I can't confirm.....

 

I have read that the S&W Bodyguard .38 revolver has to be rotated into lockup, or it won't carry up right.

That happend to me when I had one. While target shooting my body guard just "clicked" once when I didn't lock it in. To test it I emptied it and proved to myself that it had to be locked in.

 

I always index the cylinder after closing the action. Not only is it locked in properly but this prevents wear to the mechanism.

 

In just about all revolvers, you can find a "dead spot" where the pawl (AKA hand) will stub on the cylinder ratchet rather than rotating the cylinder. Usually this dead spot is only about a degree of cylinder rotation wide so odds are with a 6 shot cylinder (60 degrees of rotation per chamber), you have a 59 out of 60 odds that the cylinder will rotate properly when you pull the trigger or cock the hammer. Even though the odds are slim, it's still worth indexing your cylinder each time. Nothing would excite you more than to pull your gun in a self defense situation and find the trigger won't pull back. I always index the cylinders on all revolvers ... that's the way they were designed to operate so that's the best procedure.

 

Thanks for that explanation lowegan & thanks Chris for posting the question! I'm new to shooting revolvers & was wondering the same thing myself. Cheers guys

 

I load and lock. Yiogo