Quote:
Originally Posted by sjs
I doubt I would ever use the hammer for single action shooting in a crises.
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While admittedly rare, single-action marksmanship with a small-frame revolver
can come into play:
Gunman In The Courtroom:American Handgunner | American Handgunner
Quote:
Early in the standoff, the judge made the conscious decision to cock the hammer of his little Chief Special. This was a man capable of shooting a perfect 300 out of 300 on the LAPD qualification exam, all double action and while overcoming the short sight radius of the snubnose .38. But Peetris recognized a 12-pound double-action trigger press on a 19-ounce revolver could pull the muzzle off-target if he had to fire reactively in an instant.
Even then, shooters were taught not to cock the hammer of a revolver in a gunpoint situation because it increased the risk of an unintentional stress-induced discharge if one was startled. But, as a law school graduate, he also understood the Doctrine of Competing Harms, the principle which holds one is allowed to break the rules or even the law in the rare circumstance where following the law would cause more danger to human life than breaking it.
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Mas Ayoob himself advocates for the Centennial model. He says he finds it smoother to draw, and prefers the trigger pull for reasons I'll let him explain:
Massad Ayoob: Hammer or… “-Less?” | The Daily Caller
Me, I think the Bodyguard is just the snazziest little revolver ever. I like the option to cock the hammer for single-action, while retaining the smooth profile. And I've never found the DA pull on any S&W revolver to be so bad I couldn't fire it accurately and quickly with appropriate grips.
And I'll admit there's a little bit of a "jewelry" factor at play. The shrouded-hammer Bodyguard makes a little bit of a statement--"I know CCW enough to appreciate the snag-free design, but I'm also enough of a marksman to appreciate the value of a single-action shot."
On the other hand, a DA-only revolver forces people to practice DA shooting, which I don't think many do. Just the same as I can't remember ever seeing a SA/DA auto shooter decocking his pistol to practice the DA shot--a shot he's going to have to make if he carries his auto!