This is a guest post by my author friend, William R. Bartlett. It continues his discussion of all things firearms. Part 1, Introduction, was published in late October. Today, Bill explains how single action revolvers work and describes some common writing blunders. Enjoy and bookmark! 

A Writer’s Guide to Firearms by William R. Bartlett

Part 3: Single Action Revolvers

Definition

A revolver is a handgun wherein multiple chambers are contained within a cylinder that revolves around the central axis of the cylinder and may be fired multiple times without reloading. Revolver ammunition must be rimmed or, if rimless like most semi-automatics use, placed in a special retaining clip. Since most ammunition for revolvers is rimmed, I’ll concentrate on those.

Components

Image: Pinterest

All revolvers have a barrel, a cylinder, a hammer, and a frame, which includes the trigger and a mechanical device that turns the cylinder when the…