# Is it plausible to accidently shoot someone if you only see empty chambers on a revolver **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-plausible-to-accidently-shoot-someone-if-you-only-see-empty-chambers-on-a-revolver/655573 "2013-04-13T04:43:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-plausible-to-accidently-shoot-someone-if-you-only-see-empty-chambers-on-a-revolver/655573/21 "2013-04-16T03:54:03Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > It depends on if the revolver was already cocked or not. Cocking the gun, that it, pulling the hammer back, is what turns the cylinder. > > **In a double action revolver (which is shown in your link) the gun can be fired in two ways (hence the term ‘double action’).** Manually pulling the hammer back (with your thumb) cocks the gun, but doesn’t fire the gun (pulling the trigger fires the gun). But the bullet will already be in line with the barrel, so if the other chambers in the cylinder are empty it would look like the gun was unloaded, even though there is a live load in firing position. In this mode, the trigger pull is relatively short. > > Now, a double action revolver can also fire by simply pulling the trigger without using your thumb to pull the hammer back. What happens is that the trigger pull in this mode is much longer, as the pulling of the trigger cocks the hammer, **advances the cylinder** , and fires the gun. In this case, the bullet will be visible on one side of the barrel before the gun is fired, so if you looked at it you would know it was loaded. Well that is not what defines a revolver as a double action. A single action revolver is defined by the trigger preforming a single function and that is releasing the hammer from a cocked position. Without the hammer being cocked the trigger can do nothing. A double action revolver is define by the trigger doing both cocking and firing with a single pull of the trigger, (hence the term double action) 😉 some double action revolvers can also be cocked manually and then can be said to be in single action mode. All modern double action revolvers weather classified as double action or double action ONLY (unable to be placed in a single action mode) will have a swing out cylinder and when one swings out the cylinder to check for loads one should always rotate the cylinder to verify that a round isn’t still in the 5:00 (O-clock) position. I call this a redundant safety check and will only work if one always preforms this function. And in the case of a simi auto handgun where there are single action, double action/single action and double action only, a redundant check would be checking the loading path after 1st dropping the magazine, then check of the chamber then a check of the loading path by elevating the muzzle and then looking through the action verifying that a magazine is in fact not still in the pistol. ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-plausible-to-accidently-shoot-someone-if-you-only-see-empty-chambers-on-a-revolver/655573/22 "2013-04-16T04:15:32Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t understand this. Normally, to check a revolver for ammo, you pop the cylinder to the side, where you can see all the chambers (usually 6, but I’ve seen 5). No pointing at oneself required. No way you can do this and then fire a round, if all chambers are empty. > > **The alternative is to rotate the cylinder while it’s still housed, in which case you’d have to point it at yourself, but why would anyone do that?** > > Regardless, you always treat a weapon as if it’s loaded, unless it’s disassembled to the point that it’s impossible to fire. If one is observant, which one should always be anyway, and it is a modern Center Fire DA revolver one can see cartridge case heads in the gap between the cylinder and the recoil shield. Now this isn’t a foolproof check because the cylinder chamber opposite the crane where the cylinder rotates cannot be seen, but one can get a preliminary assessment prior to a hands on cylinder swing out check that cannot be done with a cocked hammer without first de-cocking, thereby no check from the muzzle end need ever be done. And the Statement, > [@](#): > > Regardless, you always treat a weapon as if it’s loaded is the only way to treat a firearm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-plausible-to-accidently-shoot-someone-if-you-only-see-empty-chambers-on-a-revolver/655573.md?page=1)