How do you tell a single action from a double action revolver?

Question

How d you QUICKLY tell a single action from a double action revolver from just looking at it? I need to do this as part of my gun permit, but I am not really sure how, they both look a hell of alot alike, since the difference is internal.

Anyone have any tips/ways to do this?

I know the difference is. But I can not tell by just looking. It failed me today when they asked me to select a single action, and I grabbed the double action.

I am not a noob to guns. I served in the forces. (I've used Selective fire rifle(our version of the m16A2, substituting the 3 round burst for fully auto), automatic belt fed weapons(m249 and a 7.62mm NATO one), semi automatic hand guns 9mm browning HP) and I do alot of rifle shooting as well. I just do not know jack about revolvers.

I am in Canada also, and it is very difficult to get time with hand guns here at all, as they are heavly regulated.

Answer 1

This is not 100% true all the time but...

This is the typical design of a SA revolver http://www.wcc.at/waffen/img/Smith-&-Wesson-Revolver-Sin.jpg
Note the curve where the grip meets the gun.

This is a typical DA revolver
http://www.falconarmas.com.br/shop/images/REVOLVER%20MOD%2088%20CI%20INOX.jpg
Note the shorter distance between the grip and the action.

Answer 2

The gentleman was probably referring to the notion that firing a double action revolver can cause the sights to not be on the target when the hammer is dropped. The bullet will still exactly where the sights were pointing when the revolver was fired, but that might not be the target. A typical double action trigger pull on a revolver can measure between nine and fifteen pounds. On a three pound revolver, there is a great chance that the shooter, while applying ten pounds of force on a three pound gun, will pull the revolver off target. Practice and lots of dry fire will allow a serious shooter to shoot double action very fast and accurately. There is a video of Robert Mundon shooting a target with a double action snub nose revolver at nearly two hundred yards. And Jerry Mickelek shooting double action revolvers faster and more accurately than anyone could do with a semiauto pistol. Mechanically, the two types of revolvers with all else being the same, should be the same accuracy. It the shooter that makes one more inaccurate than the other.

Answer 3

On mine the only difference I can see, excluding style which does not matter for even western style come in both forms double and single action.
Would be the distance of the back of the trigger to the trigger guard, or you could say the position of the trigger in relation to its trigger guard.
Double actions require more travel distance so as to cock and fire, where as apposed to the single action requiring only enough travel distance to fire resulting in less movement to accomplish the job.
My Ruger GP100 is double action the trigger is dead center of the trigger guard.
Whereas my Ruger Blackhawk single action is 2/3 the way back to the rear of its trigger guard.
My Colt Python is a double action its trigger is again true center of its trigger guard.
My Colt New Frontier is a single action and it’s trigger is ¾ the way back to the rear of its trigger guard.
Other then working the action which is what I do, when fondling a potential new purchase, that is all I see as different
But there is one style made that is double action revolver only, it has a totally enclosed hammer, you cant see or touch the hammer on this style. Commonly referred to as a pocket pistol.
Because of the enclosed hammer it functions freely with out interference of clothing.
Which can and will hamper models utilizing the exposed hammer.

Answer 4

Several folks have mentioned the position of the trigger in the trigger guard. You can also get a good guess looking in the area of the back strap, where the single action has that graceful, curving line down into the grip, but the double action tends to have some of its mechanism making a squared-off spot.

Answer 5

Single Action revolvers look like the "old west" guns in Western movies.
Double action Revolvers look more modern, as seen in police shows. (think Dirty Harry)

The trigger in a single action revolver is also situated toward the rear of the trigger guard, while the double action trigger hangs from the center of the inside of the trigger guard.

Answer 6

You should really read up on guns before messing with them. I take it that you are not in the USA. Most single-actions (almost all) are based on the Colt 1873 "cowboy model". There were some variants (like the SW model 14) that did have special Single-action only reverse-engineered designs, but this was an option.

Answer 7

Single action is when you have to pull the hammer back before it will fire, and double action is pull the trigger and the hammer will move with the trigger.

Answer 8

Cannot tell by just looking. A single action will not fire until the hammer is pulled back. A double action will fire just by pulling the trigger. If your instructor has the hammer pulled back on one it is probably the single action although I can't see him doing that.

Answer 9

double action will have a release tab on the left side of the gun, a single action will have a loading tab on the right hand side of the gun.

Answer 10

Ask Dick Cheney