The ploughman was in the act of lowering the hammer of the weapon to '
half cock' but pressed the wrong trigger 'with the terrible result that the charge of a barrel was lodged in the hip of Donald, who was about 10 yards from the gun'.
It was notable for being one of the few military revolvers with a safety lever, which could be placed in the Safe position when the hammer was at
half cock.
The rifles are put on
half cock during this procedure for safety.
Up to this point, to load or unload a single-action sixgun meant the loading gate was opened, the hammer placed on
half cock and the cylinder rotated for loading and unloading.
Since the pistol has no manual safety, the action was modified to allow
half cock carry.
Then carefully lower the hammer to the
half cock ("safe") position.
Single-action sixguns with the traditional half-cock notch will often lock up if the hammer is allowed to go forward from the
half cock. This can also cause cylinder "ringing" which is the inscribed line around a cylinder through the bolt notches.
I could have wished for a more organised presentation (taped music which went off at
half cock - odd arrangements on the reading platform, and so on) but David Burke and Jessica Turner coped well enough.
Humour in this kind of book is not always appreciated, especially if it goes off at
half cock. The book tries to be cute and funny while packing the information.
Today's Bearcat is all stainless steel with a transfer bar safety, while still maintaining the
half cock position for loading and unloading.
After making certain that the chamber is empty, all live ammo is elsewhere, and with the barrel pointed in a safe direction, close the action, pull the hammer back to
half cock, and open the lever.