When cocking the hammer back you will see a separate piece of metal on the left hand side which is the hammer head. There is a cam that moves the hammer head up and down each time the hammer is cocked.

When you cock the hammer back if the hammer head stays up this means that the top barrel will fire next. If the hammer head drops this means the bottom barrel will fire next.

The bottom barrel is lined up with the sights and the top barrel may tend to shoot slightly high. To compensate for the top barrel shooting high, aim slightly lower until you find the right position.

You can pre-select the chamber you wish to fire by doing the following:

1. Swing the barrel away from the frame to the unload position.

2. Unload the pistol.

3. Push the safety to the “on fire” position.

4. Depress the trigger and push the hammer forward onto the firing pins.

5. Look at the breech face where the firing pin protrudes and see which firing pin is visible. If you see the top firing pin, you will know that the next time the hammer is cocked the bottom chamber will fire.

Most of the competitive shooters that use The Bond derringer set the pistol to shoot the bottom chamber first. By selecting the bottom chamber first, the pistol recoils straight back with practically no muzzle flip allowing a faster recovery time for the second shot.