 CONT: When Lt. Underhill is in the car, he loads a cartridge into  the pistol he is holding by pulling back the slide and releasing it.  The pistol is a Model 1911, which not only loads a cartridge when  you pull back the slide, it also cocks the hammer. Lt. Underhill  immediately sets the pistol down in the center console, but the  hammer is now down, no longer cocked.