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TOPIC:
Efficiently Cocking the Single Action & Primer Recommendations for use
with Light Actions
Q: We’ve heard you say a lot of people switch to Bisley hammers when
they don’t need to. Why?
Bob Munden: Well the main reason customers will ask me to
put Bisley-style hammers on their guns is to try to avoid missing the
hammer. Because a Bisley hammer has a low profile, shooters get the idea
that it might be easier to cock than a regular hammer. What these
shooters don’t realize is that all they need to do to solve the problem
is to change the way they cock the gun. If you watch most people cock a
gun, even people who have been shooting for many years, you will notice
they use the tip of their thumb to cock the gun and they approach the
hammer directly from the back above the back strap. With their thumb,
they reach over the tip of the hammer and pull it straight back. The
problem is our thumbs aren’t m eant
to work that way, at least quickly, so even if they switch to a low or
Bisley-type
hammer, the physical effort to cock the hammer is still awkward because,
as I said, the thumb is not physiologically designed to quickly and
efficiently make that motion. Bisley hammers look cool and have their
place in shooting, definitely, but it isn’t necessary to choose that
style of hammer to try to make it easier to cock the gun.
Q: So you say all they have to do is change
the way they cock the gun?
Bob Munden:
Yep. The most efficient way to cock a single
action, and I am assuming anyone who wants to protect their guns will
have had an action and trigger job before they use the gun – especially
if they are going to compete in Cowboy Action matches for example, is to
use the thumb in a sideways motion, which is a
more natural movement for the thumb. Hold your hand out and look at your
palm. Then take your thumb and move it over to the bottom of your third,
or ring, finger. That will give you the idea of the motion involved.
Now, pick up your revolver and remembering that motion, bring your thumb
sideways like that and the middle, or meaty, part of your thumb will
roll over the hammer to cock it. You go right to the grip. Practice a
little bit and you will be amazed at how much quicker, and more
comfortably, you can cock the gun.
Of course there are other
reasons people might like to have the Bisley-type hammer and that’s
fine. But so many people say it is to make cocking the gun easier and if
they just make an adjustment to the way they cock the gun, the problem
is solved and they can get on that hammer I mean right now. It is much,
 much
faster and more efficient to use the more natural sideways movement and
go right to the grip. In the process, you cock the hammer.
Q: I had an action job and now I keep having misfires. What do you think
the problem is?
Bob Munden: If a client contacts me and says they are suddenly
having misfires after I have worked on their gun, the very first thing I
ask is what kind of primers they are using. Inevitably, the primer is
the problem and it is because they are using Winchester primers. Now
there is nothing wrong with the Winchester brand, but with the lighter
actions necessary to prolong the life of the gun, Winchester primers are
too hard due to the thickness of the plating. They are good primers --
they just need a bigger impact to set them off. With a light action,
other brands like Federal and CCI work better.
WARNING:
DO NOT EVER
FAST DRAW WITH
LIVE AMMUNITION. NOT EVEN ONCE. IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
-----------------------
Do you have questions about Bob Munden's Six-Gun Magic
gunsmith work on single actions, Marlin
Lever-Action Rifles, Stoeger (or IGA) Double-Barrel Shotguns, Smith &
Wesson Double-Action Revolvers, the Bond Derringer and other guns? Call
Munden Enterprises at (406) 494-2833 (8am- 8pm MST), or
visit our
contact
page.
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