1880 Arizona. I want my characters to be firing a single-action revolver (needing to cock the hammer is a plot point), probably an 1873 Colt or equivalent, but I can be flexible on that if needed. (Obviously can't use anything that wasn't produced until after 1880, though. Not THAT flexible). I've got a ladylike character who needs to learn to fire the gun. Is it reasonable for her to have trouble with either thumb strength or reach if she's needing to cock the hammer? Like, would a woman on the small side have hands strong enough and big enough to easily cock the hammer, or not? If she would have trouble, would it be reasonable for her to use the other hand for cocking? Like, hold the grip in her right hand and cock the hammer with her left? Are there any other limitations/details anyone can share for this situation?
https://www.writingforums.org/members/bayview.66590/ When I lived in Idaho I used to do a lot of shooting and even did a little gunsmithing. I had a Navy Arms reproduction of the Colt and my wife had to use both hands and both thumbs to pull it back. There were other women friends of ours that had no trouble, but none of them could pull the hammer back as they were drawing it hot of the holster.
Not sure about the strength thing, but I passed on a single action revolver once (stupid big one, .454 Casull or something) because I couldn't reach the hammer with my primary thumb. I've got average size hands for a guy, so a person with smaller hands could plausibly have difficulty with the reach on something more standard sized I think.
I was watching a Cowboy Action Shooting competition near here a few weeks ago. Most, if not all, of the shooters seemed to be shooting that way, so I presume it's the fastest way to shoot those guns.
Agreed, especially if you want to fire more than once. I'm not sure I've ever fired a gun that had a hammer like that, but I feel like if you handed me one, I'd instinctively use my left hand to cock it while holding it in my right. I'd treat it like a mini-rifle and the hammer would act like the bolt. If I tried to use my thumb, I would feel as though I had less of a grip on the gun and I wouldn't dare put a gun in ready-to-fire mode if I felt I didn't have a good grip on it.
With a (functional) replica of a cap and ball revolver, I can work the hammer one handed, but it is kinda awkward and slow. I have small hands, but can do it alright. Though if you are in a hurry then using the left hand to pull the hammer back would be better.
I wouldn't be surprised if the single-handed cocking is a movie thing, rather than real life. Even there, though, they seem to fan the hammer when they want to shoot fast (which I gather is a bad idea in real life because it can break the gun).
Someone with large enough hands (and on, say, an 1851 Colt Navy Revolver your hands don't need to be huge) can cock the gun easily enough with their thumb, but that wouldn't be a rapid fire thing, that would be a "getting ready to fire in a measured fashion thing." I seem to recall that the whole High Noon quickdraw thing is mostly a Hollywood creation anyway, as you'd be a fool not to ambush somebody with a shotgun or shoot them under the table Han Solo style... Firing from the hip is also a bad idea, at least if you want to hit much of anything. There's a firearms sport called "Cowboy Action Shooting" that might give you some tips, here's the first result I found on Youtube:
I seem to remember reading somewhere that on the dragoon 'colt' (not in fact a colt at all but a copy ,made in the south during the civil war) you had to cock it with your thumb as too much force in cocking could distort the lever (since the dragoon was made from brass from melting down bells, because the south was sort of iron ore thanks to the blockade) That caution would tend to suggest that with steel frame revolvers it was usual to cock them with your other hand
True Grit (Orig and repop) will show you what you need to know. Average height for females was around five feet, weight, in the case of the movie, was 110 soaking wet (as they said), and size of hands was small. Pistols were made for soldiers and close quarter maritime combat, so the size was to be effective as a bludgeon when shot-out. Thus very few firearms were mass-produced for females, though many, many were customized afterward for small shooters. French made firearms were manufactured for females and gamblers, but the caliber was small.
also your average dainty handed girl wouldn't have the wrist muscles to be able to handle the recoil from a large calibre revolver (revolver recoil is far more than an automatic), or to be able to hold that much weight stable in the first place. She'd definitely want both hands on the gun in a sort of weaver stance (although that wasn't invented/named at the time)
I used to have a H&K single action .22 for plinking, I couldn’t draw the hammer back on that with one thumb; the sping was too heavy. More than once I thought about having a lighter spring installed. The same option would have been available in the 1880s. Gunsmiths customized guns then, as they do now. The only gun I have been able to draw the hammer back with a single thumb, as if I had the thumb strength to do it like in the movies, was an old worn out Isreali made 1911 style 9mm pistol, and that was probably more related to location than anything else.
although on a revolver you've also got a certain weight imposed by the force needed to turn the cylinder , it's not as adjustable as a semi automatic
The colt company did manufacture a number of small framed single action revolvers that may be suitable for your character an example is the Colt 1849 cap and ball revolver. it was made between 1849-1873 and it would be available on the used gun market. its called a cap and ball revolver because it requires a percussion cap to fire the gun and the bullet is a round lead ball.
I know little of guns but would it be a problem to use a rifle? I can't imagine it harder to control the recoil of a rifle (which is more accurate and maybe easier to handle with know-how) then an awkwardly big pistol. Plus, if she's American, then she was born with one in the womb so I'm sure she can just ask Dad or Mom or someone if she really needs to know how to use it. I mean, at least presently, Americans own 3 guns on average. I'm sure an American woman--even a very girly one--has a significantly greater understanding, practice, and efficiency with firearms than perhaps any other man or woman on average. I mean "on average" because I'd assume most soldiers would know their guns better than most civilians (but Americans love their guns like Shadiversity loves his swords so they might actually be equally knowledgable on average).
Actually not quite. The reality is that most Americans have only a basic knowledge of guns --ie; hold it like this, pull on that, this thing falls, it makes a really loud noise and whoever is standing in front of it is about to have a really bad day. Where those numbers can get to be misleading is in that most of those guns are in the hands of few people. In quantity, there may well be enough guns in America for everyone to have three, but that doesn't take into account the multitudes who have never even touched one, let alone owned one. There are also people who own guns numbering in the metric shittonne range. I have two, my wife has two; I know people whose collections rank in the triple digits. That's where a lot of those 'on average' guns are.
American woman in her late 40's here, verifying that I have never touched a gun in my life and wouldn't have the first idea of how to use one. My parents were not gun owners, nor were my husband's, and we don't have any guns in our home either.
I was doing a bit of investigation through the tons of stuff I've got here, but need to ask this. Are you looking for a gun that a 'ladylike' character might carry for her own use? Or are you wondering if a ladylike character would be able to fire somebody else's more ordinary gun?
Yeah, a ladylike character being able to fire someone else's gun. It's a fish-out-of-water scenario and I want to know if the fish's fins are strong enough!
American woman here. I’ve never touched a gun, and in all my life I’ve only known one friend that I knew owned a gun. (He was an enthusiast and owned several. Other friends might have quietly had guns in the house, but not to my knowledge.) Some of my father’s relatives (rural Tennessee) did own guns for hunting, but I had only the vaguest knowledge that there was a gun cabinet in the house.
Funny, I don't really know anyone that doesn't own a gun. Though it is quite different here than it is most places, except maybe Texas.
I was stationed in AZ for a few months long ago. Left the state with three more guns than I entered it with.
