I just purchased a 38 special revolver as I was firing it I realize the cylinder was going counterclockwise while firing.
I had a 357 revolver 15 years ago and I believe that the cylinder went clockwise during firing.
Now my question is did they always shoot counterclockwise from clockwise or did they change it for some reason Right now I’m just racking my brain???
I thought it’s counter-clockwise.
How would right-handed actors do the “Hollywood slap?”
This will be based on the manufacturer design for the revolver.
Was it a COLT???
Taurus 856 38 spl. 6 shot
On days gone by they changed the rotation to get around patents.
the counter-clockwise rotating* cylinder Field Report: Taurus 856 .38 Special – RevolverGuy.Com .
I learned something new today. I never knew depending on the manufacturer determined the cylinder rotation. See, you can teach old dog new tricks.
If my memory fails me, COLT SA’s were clockwise, too - they just carried it on to their DA’s - it was SMITH revolvers that were counter-clockwise.
Oh yes Sir. I noticed that as well.
I find it differs per maker/manufacturer. On the cylinders themselves, on the outside, I notice there is a carved out piece in the shape of a pointy bullet, that’s supposed to point and show you the direction of the rotation as well as by when dry firing with snap caps.
If one owns two different versions, clockwise and another counter, I can see how it’s easy to forget which one, but I imagine it’s not crucial, in a SD situation, if it’s fully loaded, you’re g2g.
However, if in a bind, running out of ammo, and not able to completely load the entire cylinder, or you drop a round on the ground from adrenaline, you best know if that first hammer strike gonna land on an empty chamber by knowing which chamber is up next to be struck, by the direction and placement of the round.
Hence, we hope we got a option to pull again, but odds are it’ll never come to that, and speed loaders can help, if our hands are not shaking so bad.
IDK. Food for thought. Luv the “wheelers”.
Now, you made me look. In the “drunk” scene, James Woods made sure his EDC, in his right hand, is good to go by opening the cylinder and spinning it with his left hand—counter-clockwise. Not that it matters if you could spin it clockwise and not do any damage to the gun.
In another scene, he loaded dummy rounds and did the same thing. Then, he played Russian roulette with a dummy, gun in his left hand. When he cocked the hammer, it went in clockwise 
direction.
Fancy fast shooting, then split second quick reloading is the fraction of that time that an opponent with a 17 round semi auto pistol can get the drop on the six-shooter with the revolver while looking down, reloading with eyes OFF the target. 
“No Bueno” Just saying.
Depends on who manufactured the revolver. Sone cycle clockwise, others counter clockwise .
Some revolvers rotate clockwise and others counterclockwise depending on the manufacturer’s design, so what you are seeing is normal and not a sign of any problem.
Yes, as far as I am aware, always counter-clockwise. Even my cap guns as a kid went counter-clockwise. 
[edit] I just read the remainder of the posts.
No, the notches are what are used to rotate the cylinder - I don’t recall the term and I don’t feel like researching it right now - but the cylinder and the notches are similar to a gear, the “notches” are what would be the bottom land of a gear.
I researched this some years ago and instead of trying to explain what I found just read through this whole link and it will give you the best answers that I found then or since.
Sorry everybody! I’ve tried about ten times, and every time I try to copy the link and paste it here, it switches from the actual link address to the “cylinder rotation” link, which is a general link to The High Road and not the link from 08/20/14 titled “cylinder rotation”. I even tried to type in the address manually and it switches to the hyper link “cylinder rotation.” Maybe you can find it, because I’m done with these computer mysteries.
