Fanning/Rapid-fire shooting?
- Thread starter ElGuapo
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SixShootinSam
member
I tried it with my 1860 army, but it wasn't very successful. I won't try it again, (yep also after the Good the Bad the Ugly) I just wanted to do it once. It misfired 3 times, and it's really bad for the internal parts of the gun especially.
Tommygunn
Member
While I am not sure this is a legitimate concern or not, I would not "fan" these types of revolvers. I would be concerned about the possibility of it going off out of battery and the resulting ... er, um, really inconvenient and possibly irritating results. Even if this is not likely, the cylinder could over-travel and the bolt would score the cylinder. OK, I have nicks and some mild scored cylinders -- but no reason to add more.
Guns are not toys and shouldn't be treated disrespectfully. TV shows and old movies may have "cowboys" employing these fancy shmancy actions, but remember -- they are using blanks.
I just think when using real firearms we should just keep in mind that the primary thing is safety. First. Middle. And Last.
Guns are not toys and shouldn't be treated disrespectfully. TV shows and old movies may have "cowboys" employing these fancy shmancy actions, but remember -- they are using blanks.
I just think when using real firearms we should just keep in mind that the primary thing is safety. First. Middle. And Last.
Duncaninfrance
Member
This is probably one of the most sensible answers that I have seen posted - well said. Everyone should take note.
Tearlachblair
Member
Personally, I liked Russel Crowe's character in The Quick and the Dead (although the movie kind of sucked), because, though he knows tricks with guns, he keeps it simple when in the real world (his usual "one shot, one kill" technique was quite good too). Or at least he keeps it real to till the last part of the movie, but hey, this is hollywood we're talking about here. 
English Bob
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It's possibly best avoided, it can easily go wrong very quickly and the cylinder can easily end up mis-timing. Looks great in movies, but that's possibly the best place for it. It was rarely practiced in the old west, gunfighters tended to want to hit what they were shooting at and avoid spray and pray tactics.
First of all, the mainsprings in most cap & ball revolvers are too heavy for effective fanning - which has no historical basis. Second, you will batter and peen out the cylinder stop notches in quick order. Third, you'll batter the end of the hand and cylinder ratchet and chew them up. Forth, you're likely to break smaller lockwork parts and springs. Last but not least, cap fragments are likely to drop into the action and jam it up.
Fanning may look neat in a movie, but if the revolver messes up (not to mention the actor) the gun cn be replaced, and the scene shot over.
That may not work for you....
Fanning may look neat in a movie, but if the revolver messes up (not to mention the actor) the gun cn be replaced, and the scene shot over.
That may not work for you....
Steve499
Member
When I get mine too hot, I just stop shooting them and lay them in the shade! I'm not about to stand there and FAN them, for Pete's sake!!!
Steve
Steve
Cincinnati Slim
Member
Fanning six-guns...
Howdy All,
The problem with fanning is what happens once the hammer reaches the rear end of the travel. Most sixguns have some overtravel; that is, the hammer travels further past the full cock notch until it bottoms-out on either the top of the backstrap or, much worse, shoves the hand up against the "star" on the back of the now stationary cylinder.
If the bolt /cylinder stop has popped up into the notch like it's suposed to the hand is either gonna get buggered up or the star on the back of the cylinder will get mangled. So while fanning you have the trigger held back and the hammer batters these parts 4-5-6 times in a row. You'll have screwed up some parts pretty quick if y'all do this very often.
Now Rugers have a coil mainspring with a strut which can be easily fitted with a overtravel stop. Brownell's sells 'em. You can fan away and nothing will get screwed-up. Fast draw specialists like Bill Munden offer very expensive "fast-draw" action jobs which I assume include some sort of overtravel stop.
I really would love to see one of his action jobs to see what his overtravel stops consist of. I'm willing to bet he just installs a Ruger style coil conversion.
Now I have installed low-rent overtravel stops in a few of my six-shooters.
Nothing more than a #8 set screw behind the trigger guard running vertically to contact the mainspring as the hammer pushes it downward. It works fine and prevents the hand/star from damage but in NO WAY could it withstand regular fanning.
Now I just got a Pietta 1851 "Ols Silver" which is unique in having NO HAMMER OVERTRAVEL ! the back of the hammer hits the backstrap right as the trigger pops into the full-cock notch. Even so, I'm not gonna start fanning away like the "Man With NO Name"...
The metal at the top of the backstrap ain't all that thick, don't really want to find out what happens when it's pounded on repeatedly.
Happy Trails,
Slim
Howdy All,
The problem with fanning is what happens once the hammer reaches the rear end of the travel. Most sixguns have some overtravel; that is, the hammer travels further past the full cock notch until it bottoms-out on either the top of the backstrap or, much worse, shoves the hand up against the "star" on the back of the now stationary cylinder.
If the bolt /cylinder stop has popped up into the notch like it's suposed to the hand is either gonna get buggered up or the star on the back of the cylinder will get mangled. So while fanning you have the trigger held back and the hammer batters these parts 4-5-6 times in a row. You'll have screwed up some parts pretty quick if y'all do this very often.
Now Rugers have a coil mainspring with a strut which can be easily fitted with a overtravel stop. Brownell's sells 'em. You can fan away and nothing will get screwed-up. Fast draw specialists like Bill Munden offer very expensive "fast-draw" action jobs which I assume include some sort of overtravel stop.
I really would love to see one of his action jobs to see what his overtravel stops consist of. I'm willing to bet he just installs a Ruger style coil conversion.
Now I have installed low-rent overtravel stops in a few of my six-shooters.
Nothing more than a #8 set screw behind the trigger guard running vertically to contact the mainspring as the hammer pushes it downward. It works fine and prevents the hand/star from damage but in NO WAY could it withstand regular fanning.
Now I just got a Pietta 1851 "Ols Silver" which is unique in having NO HAMMER OVERTRAVEL ! the back of the hammer hits the backstrap right as the trigger pops into the full-cock notch. Even so, I'm not gonna start fanning away like the "Man With NO Name"...
The metal at the top of the backstrap ain't all that thick, don't really want to find out what happens when it's pounded on repeatedly.
Happy Trails,
Slim
Plastic Cowboy
Member
......and you will probably get percussion cap fragments imbedded in your hand when you fire......ouch!!!!
ferg48
Member
fanning bp revolvers
I tried fanning an 1851 Army Colt .44 replica long time ago and it hurt my hand and hit the dirtpile, but with no accuracy whatsoever.
Recently, while showing my son in law and friend pair of 1858 Remington replicas, (unloaded) they tried fanning them. As a result i had to replace internal parts, which required shaping, filing, buffing, stoning, etc to get back into proper timing. I would recommend NEVER doing this. Especially with the pistol loaded, risking life and limb and a lengthy and expensive repair unless you do your own BP gunsmithing. Then it is merely "tear your hair out" frustrating.
When these friends come over I hide my guns now heh heh.
They did it so fast i couldn't stop it the first time.
Again, enjoy your BP weapons and never fan them, ever.
"I'm afraid the strain was more than he could bear..."
Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) in Tombstone
after shooting John Ringo
I tried fanning an 1851 Army Colt .44 replica long time ago and it hurt my hand and hit the dirtpile, but with no accuracy whatsoever.
Recently, while showing my son in law and friend pair of 1858 Remington replicas, (unloaded) they tried fanning them. As a result i had to replace internal parts, which required shaping, filing, buffing, stoning, etc to get back into proper timing. I would recommend NEVER doing this. Especially with the pistol loaded, risking life and limb and a lengthy and expensive repair unless you do your own BP gunsmithing. Then it is merely "tear your hair out" frustrating.
When these friends come over I hide my guns now heh heh.
They did it so fast i couldn't stop it the first time.
Again, enjoy your BP weapons and never fan them, ever.
"I'm afraid the strain was more than he could bear..."
Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) in Tombstone
after shooting John Ringo
sjohns
Member
I've done it with my 51 and 60 and I kept shots on target, but not in some magical group like hollyweed produces.
Wyatt Earp said he never saw a fanner or hip shooter that lived very long.
Wyatt Earp said he never saw a fanner or hip shooter that lived very long.
LubeckTech
Member
One of the reasons fanners may not live long is broken guns - if you draw your trusty six shooter on a three bad guys and the cylinder spins freely you would be an instant liberal chanting the montra "Can't we all just get along?". I'm sure they'd be sympathetic NOT! As for hip shooting in the old west I would think a major problem ignored by hollywood would be smoke. Until the turn of the century all of the shooting was done with black powder - no pyrodex. If you didn't dust your opponents by the 2nd round especially in a bar or building you would have a hard time seeing each other. Even outside it could be a problem. Wild Bill Hickok fatally shot his own deputy was it because he was so fast or just that he could not identify his target thru the smoke? I'd like to see hollywood add some authenticy to it's films.
Steve499
Member
Maybe a little off topic but about that smoke factor, I shot a deer this year on a really cold, damp morning with almost no breeze. This was in a creek bottom between two timbered hills in a small narrow meadow. I field dressed the deer and turned back the other way to begin dragging and, about 50 yards down the meadow that smoke cloud was still holding together with enough consistency to partially obscure the trees beyond it. It was from 80 grains of powder and it hadn't dispersed even after several minutes. It made me realise what a volley or two from massed infantry would do to visibility under similar conditions.
Steve
Steve
Plastic Cowboy
Member
....thats why immediatly after you shoot you should take a deep breath to inhale all of the smoke, that way your vision is not obscured!!
Work for me every time!!
Work for me every time!!
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