Carlie M. lives in Anderson County, Tennessee.
One night, Carlie’s sister called him and said there was a prowler on her property and asked him to come over right away to investigate.
So, Carlie grabbed his .357 Magnum revolver and rushed to his sister’s house.
When he arrived, he realized he had no ammunition in his gun.
The sister had some ammo and supposedly gave Carlie .38 caliber bullets to put in his gun.
While you can certainly shoot .38 special rounds out of a .357, for some reason Carlie was having trouble loading the ammunition.
So, Carlie tried tapping the .38 round into his revolver with his pocketknife.
(Please don’t ever do this. You’ll see why in a moment.)
As he was tapping, the round went off, striking Carlie in the hand.
Carlie was taken to Methodist Medical Center for treatment of his left hand.
According to police, no charges were filed since it was an accident, and no one was injured other than Carlie.
There is no question that semi-automatic pistols dominate the handgun market.
But there are still plenty of people who own revolvers for several different reasons.
One of the reasons people love revolvers is that they are easy to manipulate and there is no slide to rack.
If you suffer from arthritis, then a revolver makes sense.
Plus, a revolver is less likely to have malfunctions compared to a semi-automatic.
But when it comes to choosing a revolver one thing to decide is between a revolver with a hammer or hammerless design.
Benefits of exposed hammer:
The main advantage of an exposed hammer is the ability to manually cock the weapon.
The benefit of doing this is to deliver a lighter trigger pull.
This can help shooters with accuracy and for making longer distance shots.
Overall, it can improve accuracy of any shot.
But if you are using the revolver in a defensive shooting or for concealed carry you wouldn’t take the time to stop and cock the hammer.
Another thing is that a revolver with an exposed hammer is a simpler design with fewer moving parts.
Fewer parts can wear out or fail.
Shooters that use revolvers for target shooting or precise shots like the control of being able to cock the hammer.
Benefits of a hammerless design:
To be clear, there isn’t such a thing as a “hammerless” revolver.
But that’s what revolvers without an exposed hammer are called.
The main benefit of the design is that there is no hammer to snag on clothes or other things.
A hammer spur can catch on pockets as you draw and isn’t the easiest gun to clear the holster.
In addition, a hammer spur can poke and prod when carrying.
Lastly, without a hammer, you lose the ability to manually cock the pistol. So, you would need to be comfortable with a double-action trigger.
It just takes a little time and dry-firing practice to get comfortable with.
Which type of revolver to choose?:
The best revolver depends on what you plan to use it for.
For instance, if you want a revolver that you plan to carry concealed then I would go with a hammerless design. This way it won’t snag during a self-defense shooting.
On the other hand, if you want a revolver for competition or strictly target shooting then an exposed hammer design would be beneficial.
These days Smith & Wesson as well as Ruger make quality revolvers that come with exposed hammers or hammerless options.
You can’t go wrong with a revolver if it fits your needs.
