I'll take 6 Thank You!

D

deerslayer303

New member
I was watching some vids on the tube. And I swear I don't understand some people's reasoning behind loading 5 in a 6 shot or 4 in a 5 shot. Lets face it we are not riding around on horseback, we are at a shooting bench AT the range. And with the ROA and the 1858 with the safety notches in the cylinder its a no brainer to load six. I'm not complaining, to each his own but I simply don't understand the logic. If you are at the bench, and load the things and handle them in a safe manner then you can get one more shot per loading. 9 times out of 10 these things get loaded and discharged right away. Just my .02
 
Well its mosty that people have no clue on what has a hammer block and what dont. Old style best load 5 and live but most guns now will take 6 and they dont get it is all. Even saw a post today on loading 5 in a schofeild dispite them having a hammer block now. But then a lot wont carry a 1911 with the hammer back and safe on as its screy. As for any of the old cap guns anyting that will make it move of the safe pins will do the same off a empty cylinder. Just a lot of fear mongering is all.
 
Do I understand correctly.....

....That some CAS organizations stipulate leaving a safe chamber?

I load all six every time but I don't ever shoot CAS. Don't ever shoot at an organized range.
 
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If you are at the bench, and load the things and handle them in a safe manner
Click to expand...

If wishes were fishes...

Unfortunately, LOTS of people don't do that 'handle them safely' part.
 
I've been shooting single actions with hammer mounted firing pins since I was 10. Always loaded six, cartridge or C&B. Not gonna stop now. The loading five thing got started after some buttwipe shot himself in the 50's and sued Ruger. It didn't become widespread til gun rags starting touting it in the 60's.
 
At the range I always load 6 and shoot six whether cap and ball or cartridge. With an R&D cylinder in an 1858 NMA, I do the same unless I'm actually carrying it in the woods with me. Then I load 5 since the R&D cylinder doesn't have the safety stops that the cap and ball cylinder has.
 
The old timers when I was young told me to let the hammer down between cartridges like the C&B's. I never had a problem doing that. If you use an old style holster nothing is going to snag the hammer.
 
Even if a cylinder (like R&D) does not have notches between the cylinders, you can still rest the hammer in between cylinders for range shooting. No biggie... just use common sense.

Interestingly, my (new) Uberti Walker copy has a TINY dimple drilled in the hammer and a TINY pin placed between only two of the cylinders to act as a safety rest. The pin is on the gap between the cylinders right where the Rangers (on the left) meet the Comanches (on the right) of the cylinder scene. It's not very obvious, but it's there, and does the job.


Willie

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When I was walkin fence on the farm, I always carried 6 in my Walker, and just put the hammer on the little peg on the cylinder between caps. I felt confident about it, and wasn't endangering anybody else, and at the best, I had all 6 if I needed them, because sometimes it took all 6 for me to hit a fast rattler.
 
I wish Walt Kirst would make a six shot converter as opposed to his current 5 shot.

On the old R&D ones, they said that the chambers are a bit offset but accuracy is not affected at all. So I don't see any problem with making the Kirsts six-shot too.

For some reason I do not know, I just feel kind of icky carrying only 5 rounds in a gun that is meant to hold 6.
 
On my Pietta 1858 w/ Taylor's 6-shot conversion cylinder that I leave in the gun box by the bed, I have five in the cylinder with one snap cap in the chamber that the hammer is resting on. I know it's a one-in-a-million chance that a mistake would result in hitting the hammer hard enough to drive the firing pin into the primer with the force required to discharge a round. At the range, though? Why not 6 if you are standing on the firing line?

BTW I'd load it up with six but unlike the BP cylinder there aren't any "safety notches" in between the cylinders... why don't they put those safety notches on the conversion cylinders?

It's probably only old Army instincts that lead me to be over-safe; I've seen that one-in-a-million mishap happen more than a few times. Hell, I was once working on my tank's suspension on a calibration range and a tank five down the line was zeroing his M2 and... no sh*t... one of his .50 cal rounds bounced off of a rock 500 yds downrange and pinged off my open #1 ballistic skirt a couple of feet from me. What are the odds of that? Point being, anything can happen so 'safety third' as they say.
 
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If the reason for loading One less is to prevent Accidental Discharge from dropping. Even at the range you can drop a gun.

Also loading one less does look pretty damn cool (IMHO) If done right.

I guess if I was at Rorke's Drift in South Africa with the Zulus coming over the hill, I would load up all 6, At the range that target will wait for me. And if I do not get the rascal with the 1st 5 I can get him with the next.
 
Ok so maybe at the range time is not of the essence. But man when I shoot mine I don't want the fun to end, so only having 5 the fun is over sooner :D. And I assure you when the ROA goes in the woods with me this year, she will have 6 loaded up, with the hammer in the notch. With the smoke pole only having one shot I'll feel much better with 7 shots total than 6.
 
BTW I'd load it up with six but unlike the BP cylinder there aren't any "safety notches" in between the cylinders... why don't they put those safety notches on the conversion cylinders?
Click to expand...

I've wondered this too. Perhaps it would weaken the cap to cut grooves in it. I have a Howell's conversion for my 1858 carbine and they cut extra cylinder stops on the cylinder surface between the regular stops (they are cut a bit shallower). When cycling the cylinder the bolt will be retracted and pass over the extra stops, but you can put the gun in safety mode by allowing the bolt to drop in a safety stop when you want to. The hammer will rest between loaded chambers and the bolt locks the cylinder, so you can load them all. Problem is, the cylinder is 5 shot.
 
Hey DS I do understand how the fun stops when you hit that last round :D

That is what makes Belt Fed weapons so much fun.. But that should discussed another board :)
 
If you drop a gun as apposed to having it knocked from your hand you deserve what you get. If the chamber is empty the gun cannot go off, if the hammer is snagged and goes back far enough the cylinder turns and the gun will go off anyway. So there is no chance a (single action colt) will go off in a holster with a hammer loop installed if the chamber under the hammer is empty. If six are loaded the gun will go of if the hammer is hit hard enough to break the safety notch I don't know how hard that is to do. With the hammer loop in place and the hammer let down between the chambers. 1. The cylinder can't move 2. The safety notch not engaged can't be broken. 3. The hammer can't move forward or back. For me this means the gun is completely safe. There is still a risk THE MAN WITH THE GUN MAY FORGET OR BE DISTRACTED AND NOT PUT THE HAMMER LOOP IN PLACE. Part of my job before retirement was safety risk assesment.
I have a book on Colts it has a picture of a 1940 sales brochure which states in black and white the colt can be safely carried with the hammer on the safety notch. Sorry but America seems to have a I'll sue you culture which has invaded Britain. I also believe it would be safe to carry any fully loaded six shooter in a flap holster The hammer being protected from snagging or heavy contacts with foreign objects. Perhaps thats why the military around the world like them.
 
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