Cap and ball half-cock?

[You'll shoot your eye out]

My grandson has dragged out my old cap and ball pistol and we are getting it fired up again. The "gun" in question is a ridiculous little derringer, the Classic Arms "Terrible Twister" .36 caliber. This dubious little pistol has three hammer positions, down, half cock and full cock. The thing is this; both half cock and full cock positions drop the hammer down with a trigger pull! as a matter of fact the half cock trigger pull is very nice and crisp....... Not at all like the full cock trigger pull that creeps like a rusty kitchen drawer and pulls out at probably a hundred pounds!

The Dixie gun works who markets this pistol kit tells me that this is all quite normal and true to the mid 1800s pistol that their Twister replicates. The half cock hammer drop is quite a snap and could easily fire a cap, so what the heck is it there for? I wouldn't be afraid to carry this pistol fully cock and primed, you can barely set it off on purpose let alone by accident. When half cocked however i am a bit wary to even pick it up! Trigger discipline is a serious factor!

So suppose I was an old west gambler, a riverboat card shark or even a saloon/dance hall belle. How the heck were these pistols carried without shooting yourself? I am very familiar with the phrase "going off half cocked" but this is the first pistol I have encountered that can actually do that! If half cock is not a safe position then why is it there?

 

[Cameramonkey]

My understanding was the half cock was a safety feature. You dont want it cocked when carried, and you dont want the hammer resting on a live cap. So the half cock is there for that reason. (In my limited understanding)

If its normal for that gun, I dont think it is a proper design feature IMHO. The one brass frame Navy Colt 1851 revolver reproduction I owned in the 90s had the half cock and it worked per my description above. (CVA?)

Wiki seems to concur my understanding of the feature. (though not entirely on the safety aspect due to a potential failure)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-cock

 

[K_W]

My understanding was the half cock was a safety feature. You dont want it cocked when carried, and you dont want the hammer resting on a live cap. So the half cock is there for that reason. (In my limited understanding)

If its normal for that gun, I dont think it is a proper design feature IMHO. The one brass frame Navy Colt 1851 revolver reproduction I owned in the 90s had the half cock and it worked per my description above. (CVA?)

Wiki seems to concur my understanding of the feature. (though not entirely on the safety aspect due to a potential failure)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-cock

I have an 1851 Navy and a Walther P22 that both have a half cock. The hammer neither moves forward or touches the cap/pin and can be carried that way... although the proper way for the 1851 is on a little pin between the caps.

The 1851 has four positions: hammer down, half back to first click (cylinder rotates free), second click "half cock", third click is full cock.

Your's does not have a cylinder, so omit the first click.

Are you sure the derringer is operating properly?

 

[You'll shoot your eye out]

Are you sure the derringer is operating properly?

According to Dixie gun works, it is operating as designed. Operating PROPERLY? I have to wonder. They say it's a faithful reproduction of a rare and obscure but actual commercially produced pistol from around 1865.

 

[Cameramonkey]

According to Dixie gun works, it is operating as designed. Operating PROPERLY? I have to wonder. They say it's a faithful reproduction of a rare and obscure but actual commercially produced pistol from around 1865.

Smells like bull to me. (to cover a design flaw) But I'll defer to an antiquities expert on this. I'd recommend a 2nd opinion from somebody who is an expert on the original pistols.

This isnt their spokesperson, is it?

 

[Leadeye]

Half cock notches have been used as safeties for years, when hammer notches get chipped or rounded off, it's usually trouble.

 

[Cerberus]

I have an 1851 Navy and a Walther P22 that both have a half cock. The hammer neither moves forward or touches the cap/pin and can be carried that way... although the proper way for the 1851 is on a little pin between the caps.

The 1851 has four positions: hammer down, half back to first click (cylinder rotates free), second click "half cock", third click is full cock.

Your's does not have a cylinder, so omit the first click.

Are you sure the derringer is operating properly?

That is actually only three positions but 4 clicks. One of those clicks in the cylinder stop springing back into position. On some, both of mine in fact, that operation is silent.