Single action revolvers do not just “go off”.
“..Single action revolvers do not just “go off”...”
I wouldn’t leave the hammer down on a live round though, but yeah, it takes human physical action to cock the hammer to fire the revolver. IMHO, he deliberately fired it whether he liked the end result or not.
Actually, the idea came up by one writer that the gun may have been “fanned”, that is the trigger depressed when cocked, and then the hammer wouldn’t lock back.
I thought that was interesting, and saw I could do it on my SAA replica. Still requires the finger on the trigger.