Believe whatever you like RH. I've got a friend who tied up a 29 Smith when he used it as a club. Happend to catch the bad guy with the edge of the clylinder. Gun could not be fired after the fight.
Sorry, Eremicus, but if you've reached the point you're using your sidearms as a nightstick, you're past the point of worrying about how well it will function as a firearm. If you need to buy a new gun after beating an attacker into submission with your empty revolver, so be it. It's not designed to survive being used like that.
That said, held by the barrel and trigger guard, using the butt as the striking point, I don't see a lot of damage occurring to a quality double action revolver.
