Can someone give me a technical explanation of the difference between a single-action and double-action pistol? As I understand it, a double-action is when you pull the trigger which cocks the hammer and fires the round, and for single-action is a manual cock of the hammer.
The single-action pistol requires manual cock for the first cock, then cocks itself while ejecting and loading the next round. Many pistols will fire as double-action for the first round, then single-action for every round thereafter.
Double-action Only (DAO) means you have that long trigger squeeze to pull back the hammer every single time you want to fire.