[DL] Cylinder Rotations (was: The Munchkin Twins)

["Guild Mistress" <guildmistress@mybc.com>]

>Your are correct that the cylinders do rotate clockwise.  Actually
>never seen a revolver cylinder rotate counter clockwise.

Let me shed some light here on the why's and how's cylinder rotations...

The hand is the name of the pawl which acts on the ratchet teeth to
rotate the cylinder.  In both Colts and S&Ws, the hand moves upward
to rotate the cylinder.  Since the Colt rotates clockwise (as seen
from the rear), its hand is on the left.  Both manufacturer's guns
have swing-out cylinders which swing out to the left (again from
the operator's standpoint).  Therefore the Colt revolver's hand is
in a position to hold the cylinder closed when it is all the way up
while the S&W revolver's hand does not serve this additional purpose.
Personally, I don't think this difference is a big deal.  There
are more important fine points to argue about such as how many
lockup points there are, where those lockup points are relative to
the cylinder, and how beefy those lockup points are.

Historically, both S&W and Colt started with clockwise rotation.
However, about the time of the Schofields the US Army told
S&W that if they wished to compete for revolver contracts, they would
have to reverse the direction of rotation of their cylinders.  S&W
complied but nevertheless did not win any large contracts.  After
having reversed the rotation of their production, S&W didn't feel
it was worth it to re-reverse it so it's stayed that way ever since.

Turth once again is stranger than fiction. :)


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