Details, details.

I have a character who came of age in 1968. He carries a handgun. The particular choice of weapon is one some readers are very interested in. The handguns I remember from that time were the Colt .38 Special with a 4 inch barrel, because that’s what the Air Force trained pilots to shoot with. A guy I knew owned Colt .357 magnum. It looked like this:

It was big and it was heavy and had a hell of a kick, just like the character does.

So now my current project is to listen to the sounds a revolver makes when you pull the hammer back. After consulting with a firearms expert, I learned that there are two sounds – one is the cylinder turning to put the next bullet in line with the barrel, and the other is the hammer locking in position. Tomorrow I am going to meet with a friend and listen closely, very closely, to what those sounds are.

I am hoping the result will be a few words that precisely describe what it feels like when you hear that exact combination of sounds in the dark of night in the middle of nowhere.

Can I do it?