Welcome to the first installment of our new “Shooting 101” series! As I explained in an article last week, I’ve noticed a big need for concise, easily digested resources that cater to the absolute beginning shooter who needs to learn just a few basics before they get more in-depth instruction. A lot of us have gotten that call late at night from a friend or family member that goes along the lines of “Hey, I just bought a gun. How do I load it!?” Or maybe you are that friend or family member right now. If so, this series is for you.
We’re starting things off with a basic introduction to double action revolvers (don’t worry too much about what “double action” means at this point. This article will cover 98% of the revolvers made in the last 100 years). A lot of this info is best communicated via show-and-tell, so I recommend watching the video below. But if you’d rather read, the full transcript is also provided, though a few points have been changed up a bit to make up for what’s lost in translation to the written word.
One of the great things about revolvers is that they are very simple to operate and handle safely, even with little to no training. On the flip side, they are very challenging to shoot well and that’s why most of our other videos and articles about revolvers deal with the finer details of marksmanship and gun handling. But for those of you who just got your first revolver (which might also be your first firearm, period) and you have no idea what you’re doing and don’t know where to start, this is for you.
This is not going to make you a great marksman and it’s not a replacement for professional in-person training, which I strongly encourage you to pursue, but I’m going to show you the basics of how to operate a double action revolver – how to load and unload it, how to fire it, and how to minimize the risk of having some kind of accident.
by Chris Baker
