History Main / DramaticGuncock

* A somewhat downplayed example in ''Film/WeWereSoldiers''. A Group of North Vietnamese soldiers sneaking through the woods don't realize they are right on top of the American troops they are trying to find until one of the Americans thumbs his rifle from "Safe" to "[[MoreDakka Burst]] with two barely audible clicks.

* ''GunslingerGirl''. Cyborg girl Petra pointedly cocks her submachine gun when someone makes a snide comment about her handler Sandro, [[MoreThanMindControl whom she is infatuated with]]. Afterwards Sandro warns her against drawing her firearm simply because she is angry.

* Used by Gordie in ''Film/StandByMe'' when defending himself against Ace and his switchblade knife. A justified example because the 1911A1 pistol he's using is single action and would need to manually cocked.

* In ''SuddenImpact'' there's one of these in what seems like every scene/in which DirtyHarry brandishes his gun.

* Used in both ''TheBoondockSaints'' films: the [=McManus=] brothers hold their pistols to the back of their victim's head, and recite their family prayer before firing, such that the prayer ends like this: "''In nomine patris, et filii''..." CLICK "...''et spiritus sancti.''" BLAM.

* The ''Film/{{Terminator}}'' franchise:
** Sarah Connor does this several times in succession in ''{{Terminator}} 2'', blasting the T-1000 with a Remington 870 shotgun and interjecting each shot with a forceful, one-armed pump (her other arm was too injured to do it normally).

** In the first film, Reese does one after [[SawedOffShotGun sawing off the stock and barrel of his shotgun]]. He pumps the shotgun three times: Once when he cuts the barrel off, once when he wakes up from his dream, and once in Tech Noir before he starts blasting. It would seem that he pointlessly ejected two good shells, or he was walking around with it empty and was, ahem, pumping it for fun. Or he had the chamber empty for safety reasons. A good precaution if you have nightmares that make you rack the action of your shotgun.

** Sarah Connor does this several times in succession in ''{{Terminator}} 2'', blasting the T-1000 with a Remington 870 shotgun and interjecting each shot with a forceful, one-armed pump.

* Used by Gordie in ''Film/StandByMe'' when defending himself against Ace and his switchblade knife.

* While not a firearm, ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'''s version of the DramaticGunCock would be the staff weapon's distinctive "Bzzzt" sound when it is armed, as well as showing arcs of energy along the tip of the weapon. The Goa'uld and their Jaffa love doing this to prisoners before executing them.

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', whenever Snake (or any other player) reloads a gun, he uses the technique demonstrated by Ocelot in [=MGS3=], above, when he ejects the unspent round.

* The title screen clip for ''ShadowTheHedgehog''. And then the introductory {{cutscene}} has Shadow [[GunsDoNotWorkThatWay cocking an assault rifle like it's a shotgun]].

** In gameplay, switching to the pistol(s) in [[VideoGame/Left4Dead the first game]] causes the character to pull back the hammer(s). In the sequel, switching to ''any'' non-scoped firearm causes the character to pull back the slide or charging handle on the weapon in question.

* Parodied In [[LEGOAdaptationGame Lego Lord of the Rings]] where gimli cocks his AXE with a shotgun cocking sound effect plays.

-->'''Enireth Comm Tech''': [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-04-17 What is that noise]]?
-->'''Schlock''': Damage, looking to take out a loan against some collateral.

* ''TheSimpsons''
** Parodies: a hunter says something dramatic, and pumps his shotgun, visibly expelling a shell. Cletus the Yokel tries to copy him, and then he and the hunter start bickering about whether his comment added anything, and they ''keep'' expelling shells at the end of each sentence!

** Taken to ridiculous extremes in Marge's story from "Magical History Tour," about the Lewis and Clark expedition. When Sacagawea's party runs across a band of hostile natives, the explorers' weapons all cock their guns dramatically...after which the natives cock their ''bows and arrows'' to the same soundbyte.

* After Bill, the fat neighbor on ''KingOfTheHill'', failed to kill himself, Dale, Hank, and Boomhaur started a suicide watch. Dale's turn involves him sitting on a chair with a shotgun watching Bill all day.
--> Bill: "But I have to tinkle."
--> Dale: "Not on my watch." (cocks shotgun)

* Almost all military units, the world over, keep a round chambered at all times while in the field. The only exception are peace-keeping forces, because the sight and sound of an entire squad cocking their weapons is usually enough to scare any would-be troublemakers back into line without the force having to resort to violence. Double-action handguns give you the best of both worlds. The Beretta 92FS handgun - the weapon of choice for JohnWoo and the US military -- is usually carried with a round chambered but the hammer down, and you can either do a DramaticGunCock with the hammer or just pull the trigger; the gun will work fine either way without wasting a bullet.
** Handguns have three typical variations: Single-Action, Double-Action, and Double-Action Only. Single-action requires the hammer be pulled down with each shot; simply pulling the trigger will not do anything useful as there's no mechanism for the trigger to pull the hammer down.[[note]]If you've ever watched an old Western and wondered what a shooter's off-hand was doing waving around the back of his gun, this is why; he was "fanning the hammer", which is necessary to get rapid fire out of a single-action revolver.[[/note]] Double-Action features a visible hammer, but, while it can be pulled back manually, it doesn't need to be: instead, pulling the trigger will set the hammer into place automatically. Double-action-only works the same as double-action, but doesn't have a visible hammer, so there's no dramatic gun cock option available unless you deliberately leave the chamber empty. Older revolvers may have single-action triggers, but modern automatic handguns are almost invariably double-action or double-action-only.

** This is also the reason for which the [[GreatWhiteHunter Great White Hunters]] used the expensive and heavy double rifles: they could be reloaded with a flick of the wrist [[OhCrap when the lion or buffalo charged them]], while operating a bolt-action would take precious time.

** Or with the hammer down ''between'' chambers. This was actually better, particularly for cap-and-ball revolvers, as the hammer being down on an empty chamber can still be hard on the part of the gun where the hammer resting, though for some reason it never really caught on[[note]]apparently, this trick ''doesn't work'' unless the hammer is flat, as with the aforementioned cap-and-ball revolvers[[/note]].

** Sarah Connor does this several times in succession in ''{{Terminator}} 2'', blasting the T-1000 with a SWAT-issue shotgun and interjecting each shot with a forceful, one-armed pump, but this is because the shotgun used is a Remington Model 870 pump-action shotgun and it has to be pumped for each shot. (The one-armed pump is also [[JustifiedTrope justified]] because Sarah got stabbed in her other arm by the T-1000 moments before.)
** The T-800 itself in the same film dramatically cocking his shotgun, a Winchester Model 1887, which is a lever action weapon, one-handed by swirling the gun 360 degrees around on his finger, by the lever. Doing so with a factory production gun would result in broken fingers, as the handguard is too narrow--the shotgun in question was custom-altered for the movie. He does this because it's [[RuleOfCool cool]], and to fire one-handed on the bike. In-universe it's justified in that the T-800's fingers are metal, just like the rest of its skeleton.
** In the first film, Reese does one after [[SawedOffShotGun sawing off the stock & barrel of his shotgun]]. He pumps the shotgun three times: Once when he cuts the barrel off, once when he wakes up from his dream, and once in Tech Noir before he starts blasting. It would seem that he pointlessly ejected two good shells, or he was walking around with it empty and was, ahem, pumping it for fun. Or he had the chamber empty for safety reasons. A good precaution if you have nightmares that make you rack the action of your shotgun.

* ''PulpFiction'' features a dramatic shotgun cock once [[spoiler: Butch breaks Marsellus out of the Mason-Dixon pawn shop]], immediately before [[spoiler:the latter unloads on his rapist with the ultimate GroinAttack]].

* In ''BlackHawkDown'', one of the Rangers is shot and killed while manning the [[{{BFG}} Ma Deuce]] on the Humvee's roof. A Delta operator takes his place and racks the machine gun's charging handle before he opens fire.[[note]]A [[ShownTheirWork standard procedure on that weapon]], to ensure that the weapon is not jammed before he tries to use it.[[/note]]

* A somewhat downplayed example in ''WeWereSoldiers''. A Group of North Vietnamese soldiers sneaking through the woods don't realize they are right on top of the American troops they are trying to find until one of the Americans thumbs his rifle from "Safe" to "[[MoreDakka Burst]] with two barely audible clicks.

** Handguns have three typical variations: Single-Action, Double-Action, and Double-Action Only. Single-action requires the hammer be pulled down with each shot; simply pulling the trigger will not do anything useful as there's no mechanism for the trigger to pull the hammer down.[[hottip:*:If you've ever watched an old Western and wondered what a shooter's off-hand was doing waving around the back of his gun, this is why; he was "fanning the hammer", which is necessary to get rapid fire out of a single-action revolver.]] Double-Action features a visible hammer, but, while it can be pulled back manually, it doesn't need to be: instead, pulling the trigger will set the hammer into place automatically. Double-action-only works the same as double-action, but doesn't have a visible hammer, so there's no dramatic gun cock option available unless you deliberately leave the chamber empty. Older revolvers may have single-action triggers, but modern automatic handguns are almost invariably double-action or double-action-only.

* ''PulpFiction'' features a dramatic shotgun cock once [[spoiler: Butch breaks Marcellus out of the Mason-Dixon pawn shop.]]
--> '''Marcellus''': ''CHACK-CHACK'' "Step aside, Butch."

* In TheRoad by [[NoNameGiven The father]] invokes this when [[spoiler: a bandit/bloocult holds his son hostage.]] It's specifically stated he knows he doesn't need to, as his revolver is double action, but he tries to use it for intimidation.

* You can cock your gun in battle in ''MassEffect2'' whenever you want (to elaborate, the character actually smacks a button on the side or bottom of the gun to eject a heat sink). This also happens frequently in cutscenes.

* On ''{{CSI NY}}'' , Mac was on the recieving end. A rich guy tazed him,kidnapped him,blindfolded him and drove him to a bad part of town before doing it. He then drovr off and left Mac. Naturally,Mac doesn't intimidate that easily.

* Mocked in Creator/KevinSmith's ''Film/TheGreenHornet'':