Revolver owner irritations

[jrhoney]

So today I had some friends over for lunch and went to show one of them my newly purchased Smith & Wesson Model 28-2 6". I bring it out of its case, unloaded and open the cylinder after showing it is unloaded and hand it to him...

The first thing he proceeds to to do with my new to me 95% condition Model 28-2 is check the chambers to confirm they are indeed vacant and then does his best 1935 detective impression by swinging the cylinder shut one handed with a loud clack. Then tell me how nice a gun it is
I was very temped to take his keys and hop into his car, put emergency brake, set it in neutral and redline the engine for a minute or so.

Anyway, guess who is not invited into my reloading room/office anymore...

 

[chud333]

You should have pistol whipped him even if he was a friend.



chuck

 

[jrhoney]

Well my hand did reflex into a fist when i saw it happen but I thought better of striking someone who is enlisted active duty Air Force. Too much paper work involved. Either way, the crane, cylinder, and frame appear to fine and feeler gauges don't show any changes in the cylinder gap so I guess the N Frame survived yet another person's clutches.
I'm just going to keep them close to my chest from now on if someone wants to see one of my Smith's, I'm going to need a safety deposit first.

You should have pistol whipped him even if he was a friend.



chuck

 

[310Pilot]

I certainly hope you took the opportunity to instruct him in the proper way to close a cylinder, and the reasons never to flip one closed. Oh, just the thought of it makes me cringe. A few weeks ago, I was at my favorite LGS, and one of the gentlemen who works there asked me to talk to a customer about an old, off-brand el cheapo imported revolver he had brought in for repair. He was the employee's uncle, and did not believe anything the young man (who is quite knowledgeable) would tell him about guns, or anything else, apparently. Of course, the old guy flipped the cylinder closed, and I almost yelled at him to never do that, and explained why. Of course, it was unrepairable anyway, but I just can't stand to see any revolver mistreated like that. Later, the young man said he had cautioned his uncle mot to do that numerous times, and was glad to see that he finally believed it after I explained it to him. Anyway, I hope the perpetrator in the OP learned never to mistreat a revolver in that manner again.

 

[oldman45]

May I take another view?

I have owned revolvers for more years than most here have been alive. All my revolvers have been mostly S&W with just a few Colts. About half were bought new and the rest were close to new condition.

Today, those guns still look new, shoot fine and would please a new gun buyer.

Now to the subject at hand. These guns are tougher than one thinks. They do not bend easily, they do not have too many fragile parts and they hold their value. I am very careful with mine. Each one is handled with care and caution.

That said, an occasional idiot flipping one closed, popping the ejector rod or dry firing is not going to harm one. A good revolver is made tough. They are far less prone to damage than an auto loader. You would not believe the pressure exerted on just about every part when the gun is fired.

A well intentioned, ill informed friend is not going to do damage with a stupid act on occasion. While I would not loan such a person a gun for a week, I refuse to stop sharing my hobby by showing my collection to friends due to what actions they make. As was said by another poster, politely inform the person as to proper action and not Hollywood hype. Even an idiot can be educated. Friends are difficult to come by.

 

[wbraswell]

Be glad you didn't hand him a Single Action Army.

 

[Mickey D]

You should have pistol whipped him even if he was a friend.

chuck

Mmmmm

 

[old bear]

It’s really maddening when anyone abuses your property, but why not turn this into a learning experience? Politely explain to your friend why that is considered bad form, how it could damage the revolver, and it makes the person who does something like that look punk. If it were to happen again then it’s OK to ask the person to put the gun down and leave your home.
Is one act of stupid really worth losing a friend over?

 

[Bat Guano]

Reminds me of an ATV I once saw in the shop. It was literally destroyed by abuse. I asked the shop owner what had happened to it. He shrugged and said, "ranch ATV" and resumed what he was doing.

Some people could destroy a ball bearing in a rubber room.

 

[4011]

I vote to take time to instruct the idiot as to the proper way of closing the cly. We had an armor one time that saw one of the shooters sling the cly shut. He told him to use the hands to close it. By doing that you are sure the cly is closed and latched. Your gun is to strong for one slam to hurt it. It just pi--ed you off and we all understand. I don't like my mags to hit the ground either. But if your being timed you have let them fall. Least that is what we are told. Well I need to go rub my little J frame. Has been two days since I last rubbed it.

 

[Arik]

Ok here's an idiots question. Why can't you flip it closed? What happens? Just for reference I own zero revolvers and shot 5 rounds out of one a few years ago.

 

[snowman]

Hi, Arik.

While others have correctly stated that slamming the cylinder shut once in awhile won't hurt the gun, it does tend to increase wear on the components which hold the cylinder in alignment with the barrel, etc. This is particularly true of the center pin at the rear of the cylinder, and the hole into which it snaps when the cylinder is shut.

Others may have further insight for you on this.

Andy

 

[kraigwy]

Why can't you flip it closed? What happens?

Cause it will get your "flipper" broke.

 

[jimmyj]

The "Hollywood" one hand slapping the revolver cylinder closed is always going to be with us. After all the movie and television people do it, so it must be correct??

My method is to open the cylinder, check the chambers, show the chambers to the other party, hand the revolver to the other party, butt first keeping my first two fingers of my off hand though the cylinder window and around the top strap. After the other party takes the grip, I then remove my fingers and with my strong hand, gently close the cylinder, and explain why i am doing this. Always stay close enough to stop excess dry firing or a cylinder second opening by the other party.
If while you look away at something, the other party opens and slams the cylinder, rip the revolver from the other party's hand, beat him severely about the head and shoulders until the jerk is unconscious, burn his house and barn, and steal the wife/girl friend/ companion, and run away to Hawaii with them. (p.s. take the dog too)
Jimmy

 

[feralmerril]

Just yesterday I posted this on another thread: We had a lot of speed sixs at work. Once a lady guard relieved me. I opened and closed it like I should. She opened it and flicked it closed with one hand. I told her that wasnt the way to do it. She then looked at the gun as she hadnt holstered it yet and said werch, theres sumpin wrong with this gun! I took it back and the crane was sprung, the ejector rod was visably out of line! I know they look like a tank, yet I have seen people handle our offical polices like that too, and I never seen a colt or s&w do that! Remember I was there 35 years and we always gave our guns to our relief officers and there usualy was about 5 sets of officers meeting at shift change.
That said, I agree with oldman. I think these yahoos that do it, has no real gun experiance and do what looked cool to them in some old 1939 movie. They think it makes them look gun savey and cool! How to re educate them without hurting their feelings is the problem. I guarantee that had you shown them a single action they would have spun the clyinder or rolled it down their left arm sleeve!
Once I worked with a guy who besides his day job with me, was a crack mechanic and good at it building hot rods etc. The problem was he was also a hotdog with a mean srteak. I caught onto him fast, however he had supervision and other fellow officers BSed. A janitor we all knew came to work one day with a hot brand new comaro he had just bought. Of course he was proud of it. The guard I am talking about asked to try it out. We had huge parking lots and I belive this must have been a sunday or holiday as they were about empty. This idiot took the car and did power slides, burn outs etc with the camaro while the owner stood there trying to keep from crying. I got into him. It wasnt long after that he went to prision for molesting his own daughter. Yet he was our golden boy with supervision for awhile. I know. Whats this have to do with this thread? Sorry, got carried away.

 

[Snapping Twig]

I feel your pain. I let a "friend" drive my brand new custom ordered 96 Ram 250 4x4 in a parking lot and he abused it. I never gave him a second opportunity to harm my things and demoted him in my friends list to acquaintance. He still doesn't get it.

Recently, after 30 years of revolver ownership and countless nuggets introduced to shooting and revolvers, I had two wrist flippers. Thankfully it was with unloaded and therefore lighter cylinders. Less mass = less chance for damage.

One was a 4" 624 ND and the other was the 25-7. Grrrr!

As I was explaining why NOT to flip them closed, they flipped them and said, "like this?"

I saw red in both cases and used the moment to shock them into understanding why it was a very bad idea. Nothing physical, more of the look on my face and tone I used to obviously overcome my rage as I calmly explained the hows and whys of not doing it. I had to remind myself that they didn't intend to hurt my revolvers and that their lack of knowledge was the issue. They were only caught up in the moment and not actively being hurtful.

They came away with a new religion of not doing that ever again and I learned a lesson about explaining the issue before handing a revolver to anyone.

 

[feralmerril]

I had a friend/aquaintance? That was extreamly particular with his own stuff, I went boating with him in HIS boat. You had to wash everything down etc. Then he conned me into going to lake havasu and renting a boat. It looked like he and his grown son did everything they could to abuse and wreck the boat giggeling with me embaressed and hanging on.
Of course they ran out of gas down the colorado river, claimed to be broke and I had to bail us out. It wasnt cheap. Now he calls every six months or so wanting to get together and wondering why I dont call.

 

[sigp220.45]

I'm not a cylinder flipper, but I'm curious as to how damage is caused by flipping it shut. Flipping it open I can see - but how is flipping it shut different than just closing it with your thumb, or forcefully closing it during a fast reload?

 

[Steve in Vermont]

I think what's bothering us more than having someone handling our guns in an improper manner is that fact that they are showing disrespect for something we own and have entrusted to them. If I respect you I will show it by also respecting your property.

 

[Erich]

sigp220.45, I've been told this damages the crane and I've seen cranes that were purportedly so damaged. You're right, it's akin to what might happen during a fast reload - I've seen guns used in competitions with cranes bent slightly out of where they should have been. In an emergency, do it, but it's not good for the gun.

jrhoney, I had a friend do this once with a lovely Colt Agent I owned - the look of horror on my face concerned him to where he's never done it again. He just didn't know, but it made sense to him once explained. Sorry that happened to you. When I worked at the gun store in the late '80s, we used to hand over DA revolvers while asking, "Please don't flick it shut; it's not good for the gun." I only sometimes remember to do that nowadays - generally only with someone completely inexperienced. You'd expect a shooter to know, but they don't always.

On a related note, remember the timing damage one used to see so often in DA revolvers that had been rapidly dry-fired?