Owners of Winchester Model 94 30 WCF?

When I placed the hammer in the one-half position I thought it was a kind of "safety", but when loaded it fired from that position. When unloaded the hammer does not move when I put it in the same place. I am telling this story from memory (circa 1998) so I may have gotten the details wrong. I was wondering what the purpose putting the hammer back half-way (letting it down to half-cocked) serves? Thank you.

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