Young Writers Society

I've run into a bit of a struggle when trying to describe a pistol. I know nothing about firearms, apart from what I've found on the internet trying to research this. My search results weren't helpful because the information I found was either too technical, or too vague.

All I'm trying to do is describe the form of a very basic pistol. Nothing too modern; the type you might hear about in russian roulette, where you can click out the cylinder and see the six or so bullets inside it, spin it around, and click it back into place? (You can see where I'm having trouble )

I'd like to know the basic terminology for the anatomy of a small, hand-held pistol. I want to understand terms like barrel or butt (if they're even applicable to pistols) and any other words like these. Again, nothing too technical, just the words that could help a reader as clueless as me understand the weapon, while also not being so entirely silly that anyone who knows about firearms is put off.

In the scene I'm struggling with, a man picks up the pistol that is to be his weapon and examines it. I'd specifically like for him to open the barrel(?) and look at the bullets. It's worth noting that the character does not know about firearms any more than a layman would.