[Jeff Higgins]

You guys are thinking way, way too much in terms of modern firearms, with their decockers, safeties, and such. These guns simply do not work that way. They are very, very simple mechanisms.

The only way to "decock" one of these is to hold the fully cocked hammer, by its spur, with the thumb. Pull the trigger, and carefully lower the hammer while controlling it with that thumb. When that hammer is lowered, to its rest position (fully forward) there is no "stored energy"as there would be in, say, a "decocked" Glock.

If there is an empty chamber aligned with the hammer and the barrel (as there should be), the hammer will be resting on the frame. If there is a live round aligned with the hammer (and the barrel), the hammer mounted firing pin will be resting on that round's primer. There will not be enough energy stored in the system, via spring pressure, to detonate that primer and fire that round, regardless of how the gun gets handled or jostled about. That firing pin, mounted to that hammer, is resting very lightly on that primer. It would take an external force - a sharp blow - to that hammer and firing pin assembly to drive it with enough force into that primer to detonate it. A force equivalent to dropping that gun from some height, or striking the hammer spur deliberately, with some force, with something like a hammer. As Reiver points out, we cannot hit that hammer spur hard enough with our hand to ignite the primer. If we tried, our only reward would be a deep, painful gouge in our hand, and the gun still would not fire.