Revolver Cylinder Rotation

“How can I tell which direction the cylinder will rotate when I pull back on the hammer?”  I have students ask me this question all too frequently.  There are two very simple answers to this.  The first one is something everyone should do whenever they purchase a new firearm.  They should read the owner’s manual before anything else.  The second, which is not as common knowledge as it should be, is to simply observe the stop notches (also referred to as locking notches) on the cylinder.  They are machined grooves found at the rear edge of the cylinder and resemble arrows or arrowheads.  The tip of the arrow or arrowhead points in the direction in which the cylinder will rotate.


This is an important safety step for owners to understand.  Sure, you can see the rotation of the cylinder when you are at the range firing.  However, that is not “knowing your firearm” prior to shooting it!  The user must load a cartridge into the chamber and locate it to one side of the chamber that is directly in line with the barrel.    When the hammer is cocked or the trigger is pulled, the loaded chamber rotates to align with the barrel and is fired when the trigger is pulled.

In the state of Utah, you can open carry a firearm.  You are limited to how you can carry and where you can carry without a Utah Concealed Firearm Permit.  If you do not have a Utah CFP and wish to open carry, you must carry in the unloaded configuration.  The unloaded configuration for a revolver is the hammer must rest on an empty chamber of the cylinder, the next rotation of the cylinder must be empty as well and the next rotation of the cylinder can have a live cartridge.  An easy way to remember this is to think of the song “Click, Click, Boom” by Saliva.  What if a police officer stops an open carry individual (who does not have a CFP) to check the configuration of the cartridges and the owner was ignorant of the cylinder rotation?  Not a good time to hope you guessed correctly.  Know all functions of your firearm before use!!