| Revolver Components :
Frame:
Is the part to which all other parts are
attached.
The grip panels are attached to the lower portion of the
frame. The grip panels are usually wood, rubber, molded
plastic or animal bone and attached with screws.
The trigger guard is located on the underside of the
frame and is designed to protect the trigger from accidental
discharging the revolver.
Barrel:
The
barrel
is nothing more than a metal tube
through which the bullet passes on its way to the target.
Originally barrels were "smooth bore" where all modern
handguns have rifling or spiral grooves cut into the inside of
the barrels. The ridges between the groves are called "lands".
The combination of the lands and groves make up the term known
as "rifling". The advantage of rifling makes the bullet or
projectile to be much more accurate by stabilizing the flight
of the bullet. The front end of the barrel where the bullet
exits is called the muzzle. The front sight is located on the
end of the barrel.
Action:
The action is a group of internal and
external parts attached to the frame that allows the revolver
function.
The
trigger is
located on the underside of the frame and the
hammer is
on the rear of the frame. When the trigger is pulled it
activates the hammer, the hammer strikes the firing pin which
strikes the cartridge and fires the handgun. There are
two basic actions: Single and double. In
single action
only one action occurs when the trigger is pulled, the hammer
falls to strike the firing pin. Therefore you must pull back
the hammer each time you wish to shoot the handgun ( common in
old style cowboy handguns). In
double action
two actions occur when the trigger is pulled. The hammer draws
back and falls to cause the firing pin to strike the cartridge
( in a later section we will discuss
the advantages ad disadvantages of each action).
The
cylinder is
the round junk of metal with holes in it (chambers) which
holds the cartridges in a circular pattern.
(Cylinders generally hold 5 to 8
cartridges) Each time the hammer is cocked back the
cylinder rotates the next cartridge into position to be fired.
The
cylinder release latch
found on the side of the revolvers frame
releases the cylinder, allowing the cylinder to swing out for
loading and unloading. The
ejector rod
can be found on most modern revolvers.
It is used to aid in removing spent cartridges from the
cylinder. Revolvers do not have external safeties, they do
have internal safeties which reduce the possibility of
accidental discharge should the handgun fall to the ground.
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