ELi5: In a wild west movie or game, when a gunslinger puts their revolver into their holster it often makes a “click”. (for example in Red Dead Redemption 2). Would this happen in real life, and if so, what is it caused by?
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Old style single action pistols had a “Safety” setting where you’d pull the hammer back to a locking notch. This clicked. Pulling the trigger (single action) would not move the hammer or fire, so it was an early style of safety. You’d have to fully retract the hammer (another click) then pull the trigger to fire.
Lots of single action pistols had a tang on the hammer so you could thumb cock and fire. Some designs allowed you to “fan” the hammer tang for rapid fire. Old TV westerns made this famous in gunfights. You could fire all six in under two seconds. Aim, however, was a different issue.
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