question about 1 empty chamber

sundance44s said:
It just depends who taught you gun safty ...
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You're probably right. In fact, I'm sure you're right in the vast majority of cases. But you shouldn't be.

We should all know how the actions work on all our guns, down to the most intimate detail (like how many sear rest notches there are on the hammer), and what happens at every point in the action cycle. Then we'd all make rational decisions about safety based on the physics and geometry of our guns and what really can and cannot happen. At least, I'd hope we would.

BTW, IMO the reason we've not heard of someone shooting themselves in the foot when carrying hammer down on an empty chamber is probably because it's much less likely to result in an ND than carrying hammer down between loaded chambers, but IT CAN STILL HAPPEN. The hammer has to move further back, and the cylinder has to rotate twice as far, but it's possible.
 
FWIW neither of my SAA's will pop a primer until the hammer is past half cock. I do use CCI primers, Federals might be a different story.
 
Now your talking Murphys Law ....Ole Murphy has been out to get me since the day I was born ...so I only carry 5 ..:(
I read a story in American Rifleman ...There was a fellow carrying a 1911 loaded and locked ..someone saw he hammer back on the pistol and asked isn`t that dangerous to carry that way ...His reply was you bet it is .. And I wouldn`t carry it if it wasn`t dangerous .
 
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Jim Watson Posted,
A real Colt or faithful copy has three hammer notches, four positions.
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I had a student in class (concealed carry) this fall carrying his 1894, "BISLEY MODEL" Colt Single action. This revolver had 2 positions, 1/2 cock/load, and full cock. This Bisley was in .45 LC. He made the timed fire as all empty brass dropped out without using the extractor rod.
This man stated that his Grandfather bought this revolver new.
Could this revolver have a broken hammer notch?
I will contact this man if nessesary.
 
I have a faint recollection about differences in the Bisley hammer but cannot find it in literature at hand.

A Colt without quarter cock "safety notch" would certainly be worth checking to see if it was broken out or if it had, as the target model, been built without it. If he is not up to taking his gun apart and LOOKING at it, a visit to a real gunsmith would be in order. Of course an original Bisley Colt is worth a good bit, so he should be careful not to booger up screw heads etc.
 
I know the spur on a Bisley is lower and wider. Dunno bout the safety notch. Doesn't seem likely it didn't have one tho.
 
My Uberti Bisley has three notches in the hammer. I would feel very safe in assuming the originals did as well.
 
I asked a friend over the chicken and dressing about his. He said his Bisley Colt had a safety notch. As I said the only way to know for sure is to open it up and look. If it were mine, I would not be depending on the safety notch any way and would just be sure there was no rough spot from a broken lip to wear the trigger sear surface.
 
I made contact with the Bisley owner and gave him the contact info to a local gunsmith. He seem very interested in knowing if his revolver is out of order, and he is very careful to keep hammer over empty chamber.
I will post what is determined.
 
If it were mine, I would not be depending on the safety notch any way and would just be sure there was no rough spot from a broken lip to wear the trigger sear surface.
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Precisely! No harm in missing your safety notch, as long as you're not depending on it, which I do not do either. Just need to make sure there's not a nasty burr eating up the trigger.
 
>>>There were some fairly old timers still around and they told me to always lower the hammer between cartridges like with a cap and ball. I've seen a few recovered guns and even found one myself that were all loaded six up.
>>>

What makes you think they knew squat?
Newsflash dude. Some old timers were as dumb as any gangsta rappah supuhstah wannabe today. Wisdom doesn't automatically come with age. Have you watched my grandmother spent four hours trying to balance a checkbook?

In the old days people who KNEW about guns LAUGHED at people who loaded six beans in the wheel.

Wyatt Earp once was fined for having a Colt discharge when it fell out of his holster and the hammer spur struck the floor.
Remember, this was the same Wyatt Earp who claimed to hunt buffalo with a shotgun.

Elmer Keith knew plenty of old timers and in his book Sixguns he has plenty of examples of tricks they did to carry six in a sixgun, including special safety straps on the holster that had a hole bored through for the firing pin.

Ask the folks at Ruger or Freedom arms about accidental discharges. They both got sued for millions when fools with a live round under the hammer of a traditional SAA style wheelgun blew their own legs off.
Which is why we have transfer bars on SOME modern SA revolvers nowadays.
 
I tried using the old "drop the hammer between cylinders" trick.

To much messing around.

I like the load one, skip one, load four, cock hammer, set hammer down=resting on empty chamber.

Cock the hammer again and it's game on.

Best way to do it.

Otherwise, if you don't care to shoot yourself or someone else accidentally and insist on six up carry, get a transfer bar gun. Plenty of companies are making them too. Ruger, Beretta...they are good guns too.

Personally, I prefer the empty cylinder types myself.:)
 
I don't know about YOUR Cimarron or HIS Cimarron, but MY Cimarron does not have a transfer bar. It has a safety notch and is a faithful copy of the Colt except for the long base pin that can be slid back to act as a "safety" in order to meet BATF import requirements.
 
Good friend of mine bought a New Uberti Colt 1873 ...he didn`t know about the long cylinder pin being a safty ...I had no idea ..it wouldn`t fire because the hammer couldn`t reach the primmers ....was glad he wasn`t under attack when he found out about how this pin works..It fired fine the day he bought the gun ....he put the pin in too far after cleaning , and didn`t know it .:o
 
Good friend of mine bought a New Uberti Colt 1873 ...he didn`t know about the long cylinder pin being a safty ...I had no idea ..it wouldn`t fire because the hammer couldn`t reach the primmers ....was glad he wasn`t under attack when he found out about how this pin works..It fired fine the day he bought the gun ....he put the pin in too far after cleaning , and didn`t know it
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I did the same thing with my Cimarron(no tansfer bar). :D A grinder took care of that little problem. :D:D:D
 
What makes you think they knew squat?
Newsflash dude. Some old timers were as dumb as any gangsta rappah supuhstah wannabe today.
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Your opinion dude. The real old timers lived with those guns. I think they knew how to use them and what worked and what didn't. The people I learned from were their sons and grandsons.

In the old days people who KNEW about guns LAUGHED at people who loaded six beans in the wheel.
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Sure they did.:rolleyes:


Wisdom doesn't automatically come with age.
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Some youths aren't too bright either.
 
Years before many of you were born, I talked to some old timers and learned a lot, including the trick of lowering the hammer between rounds (works better with calibers other than .45 Colt), but today if I were dumb enough to carry a SAA type revolver, I would carry with the hammer down on an empty chamber.

That being said, if I hear one more time about "beans in a wheel", I will scream. They ain't gawdamn beans, they are cartridges, and it ain't a gawdamn wheel, it is a cylinder, and you are carrying a gun, a dangerous and deadly weapon, not a vegetable chopper.

Another thing that will bring on a screaming fit is that Colt lawyer made-up story about the $20 bill in the empty chamber for burying money.

Jim
 
Years before many of you were born, I talked to some old timers and learned a lot, including the trick of lowering the hammer between rounds (works better with calibers other than .45 Colt)
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it worked in the old days with .45's too. The case head was smaller then. That and the balloon head cases are why there was never a lever action rifle made in .45 but I'm bettin you already knew that.:D
 
My very first pistol (bought with my allowance), was a Colt Frontier Scout and was always loaded with 6 rounds.

That was almost half-O-century ago, an I've NEVER had an AD in all that time. Course, I've never had an auto accident or a driving ticket either. Ya' hafta use yer horse sense :p

Only during SASS events do I load 5. All other times it's always six.
 
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