Ignatius Piazza

Gun Training: Loading and Unloading the Single Action Revolver

Gun training not only involves how to shoot a firearm, but also how to load and unload the gun as well. For those individuals who have not yet attended a firearms training class provided by Front Sight or any other firearms training provider, the steps that follow will be very useful when handling a single action revolver.

(Disclaimer: These instructions are for example only and should not be used in replacement of actual firearms training or gun training. This is not a gun training document, and it is not intended as a substitute of an actual training course with Ignatius Piazza or Front Sight.)

Step one the shooter should take the gun in his non-shooting hand, cupping it in position with the four fingers and thumb. With the thumb of his shooting hand, the shooter opens the gun cylinder. Next, using the thumb and two of his fingers on his shooting hand, he then rotates the cylinder six times ensuring that there is no ammunition loaded into the firearm. Once the shooter sees that there is no ammunition currently loaded, he will then load six cartridges, one in each chamber into the gun. The final step in loading the revolver is to close the cylinder with the thumb of his shooting hand. Now the gun is ready to fire.

After using a firearm, all guns should be cleaned. To clean the revolver, the user would simply cup the revolver in his non-shooting hand and open the cylinder with his thumb from his shooting hand. With that thumb, he would then press the extractor rod. If pressed properly, the cartridge will pop out and can then be stored away. The shooter will do this for each of the six cartridges in the gun. After emptying all cartridges from the firearm, the handgun must be double checked by spinning the cylinder and looking into each chamber. Once it has been confirmed to be empty, the cylinder can be closed and the firearm can be stored away.

You should always get the proper gun training from the best facility in America: Front Sight. At Front Sight training in the courses designed by Dr. Ignatius Piazza, you will learn everything you need to know as well as lots of information you didn't know you even needed!