maybe im just stupid...

[discussion]

ive never operated a handgun before, but why is it in movies, theres always the scene where some guy has a gun to another guys head, and then after talking for awhile, he THEN decides to cock (or whatever its called) it....in an attept to show he is actually serious or some shit

 

[discussion]

yea but can you still fire the weapon if its not cocked?

 

[bdog527]

dramatic effect

 

[discussion]

so what does cocking it do?

 

[ZKaudio]

it's an easier trigger motion once cocked.

 

[bdog527]

yeah I'm not an expert on guns or anything but I'm pretty sure that most revolvers will fire without being cocked. the trigger will do that.

 

[discussion]

oh ok, i guess i am stupid. i thought you HAD to cock it for it to fire. so thats why those kind of scenes never mad any sense to me. thanks for clearing it up.

 

[F117A Active Stealth]

Cocking a gun usually gives you better accuracy and loosens the trigger, so you actually have to use less force to pull it.

Yes it can still be fired if it's not cocked, but the trigger will be twice as hard to pull, and the hammer will jump harder, adding to the recoil of the weapon already.

At point blank range to the head it really doesn't make a difference though, even if you miss by two inches, you're still gonna hit the target...

 

[bdog527]

I guess for practical purposes it would ready the weapon and shorten the time required for it to fire. but like I said I'm no expert I just figured they do that shit in the movies to add to the effect.

 

[F117A Active Stealth]

Yes, most guns, be it revolvers or semis will fire without being cocked. Like I said before, cocking is primarily for accuracy...

 

[discussion]

Yes, most guns, be it revolvers or semis will fire without being cocked. Like I said before, cocking is primarily for accuracy...

cool, i never knew that. thanks

 

[bdog527]

the post order of this thread went to hell rather quickly. lol

 

[Code]

Yes, most guns, be it revolvers or semis will fire without being cocked. Like I said before, cocking is primarily for accuracy...

Single action revolvers and double action revolvers.

 

[F117A Active Stealth]

Ok, I just realized that you may be thinking of the Slide on most Semi-Automatics and not exactly the Hammer.

Well, when you pull the slide, what you're doing is loading a bullet into the chamber and cocking the hammer back at the same time.

If you don't pull the slide back, then the gun isn't loaded and will not fire.

However, once you pull the slide the gun is loaded, and when fired, the pressure of the explosion will push the slide back and auto reload the chamber.

That's why you see the slide pull back everytime you fire the weapon.

You can pull the Slide and have a gun loaded anytime you want, but you better not forget to unload that bullet, or you could pay a big price for it

Revolvers don't work this way, because there's no bullet to load into the chamber. All you have to do is line up the hole with the barrer and the hammer will do the rest. The only way to keep a revolver unloaded is to take out the bullets out of it.

 

[PBR]

trigger pull....revolvers are typically 8-13# trigger pull in the double action mode...meaning hammer not cocked....hammer back the trigger pull goes down to about 2-3# pull...AUTOs start out at around 10# pull in double action mode...single action mode they go to around1.5# pull...thus little room for error and the weapon will not pull down and to the right, thus missing a kill-zone.....

 

[Paulo]

Not to mention that a lot of 1911 style autos are Single action only. So, if the hammer is down, then you have to pull it back for it to work. A lot of people carry with a round in the chamber but the hammer down out of fear. In most newer 1911 styles autos, you can have the hammer cocked with the safety on.

But yes, it is for dramatic effect usually, just like them racking the slide all the time.

Only ultra-crazy competition pistols go down to 1.5 lbs of pull. Mine is around 2.5-3 and ultra light at that. Anything less and it gets dangerous.

Paulo