#Single action revolver technique full#

They felt that the transition from a double action pull to a single action one inhibited accuracy. Colonel Cooper (and other authorities of the day) mainly had a complaint with the trigger system of DA/SA pistols. Once the first shot is fired from a DA/SA pistol, the action of the slide mechanism automatically cocks the hammer for each subsequent shot for the much lighter single action pull. of pressure needed for a single action pull vs. Or, on one can manually cock the hammer first for a single action shot, again wherein the trigger only releases the hammer, making any single action trigger pull much lighter than a double action one because it does less mechanical work. Simply put, the first shot fired from a fully loaded DA/SA comes from a long, revolver like, double action trigger pull, where as described, the trigger cocks the hammer and releases it. The DA/SA system is what they came up with.

#Single action revolver technique full#

Walther wanted to improve on that situation by making a semi-automatic pistol that could be kept fully loaded (round in chamber and full magazine) with the safety off and fired simply by pulling the trigger. The single action trigger of a single action revolver or semi-automatic pistol only releases the hammer and doesn't cock the mechanism. The double action revolver, on the other hand, simply required the trigger be pulled since the 'double action' of the trigger pull meant that it cocked and released the hammer. With any of these methods, extra manipulations were needed to fire a first shot in self-defense. Up until the PP's introduction, semi-automatic pistols could be carried for use in basically one of three different ways: with a loaded magazine and empty chamber and the hammer or firing pin down and safety off (military carry style), with a loaded magazine and round in the chamber and the hammer down and safety off, or with a round in the chamber and the safety on. 380 ACP caliber (ACP stands for Automatic Colt Pistol) is still in production today as the smaller PPK and PPK/s. The DA/SA trigger system has been around for a very long time, making its first successful appearance in the Walther PP. Many of us bought into his philosophy in 1985 because, unlike today where we are awash in firearms 'gurus' and authorities, Colonel Cooper was it back then! But was he right? In the end, I respectively have to say 'no'. I was only half right.Ĭolonel Cooper famously called the Double Action/Single Action (DA/SA) operating system 'an ingenious solution to a non-existent problem'. However, I thought at the time it would only be over the choice of the 9mm cartridge as the choice of chambering over the. 45 in 1985 that the outspoken Colonel Cooper would blow a gasket. Army adopted the 9mm Double Action/Single Action Beretta 92 to replace the military 1911. 45 caliber semi-automatic pistol as the finest defensive handgun on the planet-which was made all the more so by the use of the 'Weaver' stance and two hand shooting position used in the Modern Technique. Sadly I never found time to go when the Colonel was still alive.Ĭolonel Cooper was THE major advocate of the Colt 1911. But under Colonel Cooper, a trip to a training course at Gunsite was seen as a pilgrimage that every handgunner hoped to make sometime in their lives. Gunsite was and still is, a legendary shooting school. Cooper was the founder of the Gunsite Shooting Academy in Arizona in 1976, and ran it until he sold it in 1992. If some of you who are newer to the firearms field are not familiar with the late great Colonel Jeff Cooper, I would highly recommend obtaining some of his books, many of which are still in print, while others can be found in their original form from sources like Ebay or Etsy.Ĭolonel Cooper is the founder of what was known as the 'Modern Technique' of pistol shooting in the late 1950's and early 1960's (it is still totally viable today).