Gun Digest's Customize Your Revolver Concealed Carry Collection eShort by Grant Cunningham

Author:Grant Cunningham [Cunningham, Grant]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4402-3400-2
Publisher: F+W Media
Published: 2012-04-10T04:00:00+00:00

Bobbed hammer of gun on right is a sign of double action only status, is easier to draw from concealment.

The case for double action only

One modification that’s popular among the concealed carry crowd is rendering the gun double action only (DAO). This involves taking out the gun’s single action capability by removing the hammer’s cocking notch, leaving the gun able to be operated only through the trigger. A DAO conversion is usually combined with removing the hammer spur (called ‘bobbing the hammer’) to reduce the snagging potential of the concealed revolver.

There are several reasons for doing a DAO conversion. First, as mentioned, a bobbed hammer is less likely to snag on clothing as the gun is being drawn. A revolver carried in a pocket holster, in particular, is prone to snagging and benefits greatly from this modification. Even guns carried on the belt can snag on covering garments, however, especially if the cover in question has drawstrings or large zipper tabs. A bobbed hammer just makes the gun slicker in relation to clothing. It also makes the gun easier on the hands when practicing the draw, because there’s no sharp checkering to catch and abrade flesh. (For my money, that’s worth the trouble all by itself!)

Another argument for DAO is a perception of reduced legal liability. Many trainers believe that it’s not advisable to cock a gun to single action in a defensive shooting, as the very short and light trigger pull combined with stress-induced muscle tremors (and lack of tactile sensation) sets the stage for an accidental discharge.

As it was explained to me, if you were to deliberately shoot someone in self-defense, you can invoke the legal argument known as the affirmative defense – yes, you admit that you shot someone but you maintain that you had good reason under the law to do so. The prosecution’s job is then to prove that you didn’t have a legal reason to shoot.

An unintentional discharge, however, doesn’t have an affirmative defense. You can’t say that you intended to accidentally discharge your gun. The unintentional discharge is a much easier case for a prosecutor to make, and some have been known to falsely claim in court that the defendant cocked his gun and that it accidentally went off. Rendering the gun double action only eliminates this sort of legal maneuvering.

I’ve been told many times that this concern is overblown, but I think it’s worth noting that many police departments once rendered their revolvers double action only (and later purchased double action only autoloaders) just to prevent such problems.

The last reason for a DAO conversion is, I think, the most compelling: it’s practical. We humans, by nature it seems, want to practice what we’re already good at. It’s the easiest path to take, for practicing stuff we’re not good at is both hard and just a bit humiliating. If we find double action shooting is difficult, our natural tendency is to make it easier by cocking the gun for a shorter, lighter trigger pull.

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