Comments by "Dr Gamma D" (@DrDeuteron) on "Alec Baldwin Exclusive Interview - Part 2 | ABC News" video.
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@Lepidopterous. I am by no means an expert, but a period gun would be S/A: you must manually pull the hammer back, which rotates the cylinder and cocks it, and the trigger pull releases it, but you can pull it back partially and fire it. It's just the hammer hitting the bullet's primer.
I have examined a modern double action revolver: here, the initial trigger pull (12 pounds!) rotates the cylinder, pulls the hammer back, and releases into a firing pin that then initiates the primer. I tested it (dry) with my finger on the firing pin: it does move at all if you "drop the hammer" from any point less than fully cocked.
If you at first manually pull the hammer back, then it rotates the cylinder, and leaves the trigger in a much more sensitive state (like 2 pound maybe?).
Note that before the cylinder is rotated, you can usually see the bullet sitting there, waiting to be moved into the firing position.
In many films, you'll note an empty cylinder as they fire away.
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