Five shooter... three-screw Ruger Super Blackhawk

D

Danny Creasy

New member
Carrying loaded safely with these aged single action revolvers is old hat to savy shooters, but I've come across many at the ranges I work at who are unfamiliar with the accidental discharge problem and its solution.

https://youtu.be/s191Dhu5RCA
 
Last edited:
Good review of Ruger 3-screw or Colt SAA's (and their clones), loading, carrying and firing procedures. Rod
 
No, I have never shot at Swan Creek, but I know several that did over the years. I was president of the old Sheffield Shooting Club for 15 years. We incorporated during that time and became the North Alabama Shooting Association. About six or seven years ago, Sheffield asked us to leave the long inactive landfill built range within their city limits due to noise. We almost disbanded but finally found and bought some land in deep, rural Colbert County. We built a nice albeit remote range with 185, 100, and 50 yard rifle ranges and 35 and 30 yard pistol bays. The subject video was filmed in one of the pistol bays. Unfortunately, I traded a twelve minute drive to the range for a 42 minute one. That said, it's our property, and we don't have to deal with the whims of a municipality anymore. I stepped down from the presidency, and even the board of the club, after we got set up and running at the new location; I felt it was time for younger blood.

Seems like I recall a great deal full auto fire taking place at Swan Creek back in the day. One shooting buddy raved about how much fun a machine gun shoot over there was.

I NASA member recently sent me this aerial shot of the NASA range he took with his drone. Cool!
SD6XboG.jpg
 
Last edited:
Good video. In cowboy action shooting the rules require that we load the revolvers with five rounds, hammer down on an empty chamber, even those of us who use New Model Rugers.

Over the years I've seen several new shooters struggle to load Colt style revolvers properly. So I agree there are many shooters who don't I know this technique.
 
Skeeter Skelton wrote a column with the phrase "five beans in the wheel." I recall hearing in my youth-the 1950s- about the hammer down on an empty chamber. But we can never overemphasize safety.
 
Loading five is the way to go.

But I also remember seeing a Colt ad from
around 1885 which told a shooter that after
loading six to use the "safety notch." It's the
first notch or quarter cock position.

Trouble is, that notch was easily broken and
despite the harder primers of the day, the
guns went boom.

Charlie Askins Jr. told of an old timer around
1915 or 1920 who had always carried six in
his "six-shooter." One day while mounting
his horse, the hammer hit the cantle of his
saddle. The horse took off and the old timer,
luckily, was not wounded by the bullet.

The Wall Street Journal had a lengthy article
detailing the ADs by owners of the Ruger
three screws. A number of owners were
seriously injured. Ruger paid out a lot of damages
and finally created the transfer bar hammer
system without the quarter or half notches.
 
When shooting CAS, I was often instructed in Skeeter's method of Load one, skip one, load four. I was well acquainted with the method, what my instructors did not take into account was that I was loading a dirty gun with reloaded ammo. I wanted to roll the cylinder to catch a high primer or foul chamber dragging on rotation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top