Driftwood Johnson
New member
Sorry, I should have explained that better.
Modern Rugers with transfer bars only have one cocking notch, the full cock notch. The badly colored arrow in this photo is pointing to the full cock notch on a New Vaquero hammer. With any transfer bar Ruger, there are only two positions for the hammer. Fully cocked, or all the way down.
Normally, one loads a Ruger by opening the loading gate, which drops the bolt and allows the cylinder to spin freely. One can then do the load one, skip one, and load four more no different than a Colt or clone.
When a Ruger hammer is welded up to eliminate the transfer bar, two new cocking notches will be cut into the hammer. A so called 'safety cock' notch, and a half cock notch. The half cock notch is positioned just like on a Colt. Pulling the hammer back to the half cock notch lowers the bolt into the frame. This makes loading the revolver no different than loading a Colt.
This is the hammer from an old Three Screw Ruger. This is how Ruger hammers were made before transfer bars. The lowest notch is the full cock notch, the next up is the half cock notch for loading, and the top notch is the 'safety cock' notch. With this type of hammer, the old Three Screws were loaded no differently than a Colt. The hammer was placed at half cock, which lowered the bolt into the frame. This allowed the cylinder to spin freely in one direction. Then the rounds were loaded in the Colt manner, load one, skip one, load four more than bring the hammer all the way back to full cock and lower it on an empty chamber.
Just like a Colt, the 'safety cock' notch was not to be trusted. A strong blow to the hammer spur could snap something off and cause the gun to discharge. So shooters familiar with single action revolvers knew to only load 5 and leave an empty chamber under the hammer.
After losing a couple of expensive law suits Ruger completely redesigned their single action revolvers in the 1970s to include a transfer bar, making them safe to carry fully loaded.
Yes, you are correct. A Ruger with the transfer bar removed and the hammer welded up is no longer safe to carry fully loaded with 6 rounds.
This is not an issue in Cowboy Action Shooting. One of the cardinal rules is revolvers are only loaded with five rounds, hammer down on an empty chamber. NEVER loaded with six rounds. This is a safety rule that is strictly observed.
This is true for shooters with modern Rugers with transfer bars too. Just to keep the playing field level modern Rugers are only loaded with five rounds, hammer down on an empty chamber. Never loaded with six rounds.
Modern Rugers with transfer bars only have one cocking notch, the full cock notch. The badly colored arrow in this photo is pointing to the full cock notch on a New Vaquero hammer. With any transfer bar Ruger, there are only two positions for the hammer. Fully cocked, or all the way down.
Normally, one loads a Ruger by opening the loading gate, which drops the bolt and allows the cylinder to spin freely. One can then do the load one, skip one, and load four more no different than a Colt or clone.
When a Ruger hammer is welded up to eliminate the transfer bar, two new cocking notches will be cut into the hammer. A so called 'safety cock' notch, and a half cock notch. The half cock notch is positioned just like on a Colt. Pulling the hammer back to the half cock notch lowers the bolt into the frame. This makes loading the revolver no different than loading a Colt.
This is the hammer from an old Three Screw Ruger. This is how Ruger hammers were made before transfer bars. The lowest notch is the full cock notch, the next up is the half cock notch for loading, and the top notch is the 'safety cock' notch. With this type of hammer, the old Three Screws were loaded no differently than a Colt. The hammer was placed at half cock, which lowered the bolt into the frame. This allowed the cylinder to spin freely in one direction. Then the rounds were loaded in the Colt manner, load one, skip one, load four more than bring the hammer all the way back to full cock and lower it on an empty chamber.
Just like a Colt, the 'safety cock' notch was not to be trusted. A strong blow to the hammer spur could snap something off and cause the gun to discharge. So shooters familiar with single action revolvers knew to only load 5 and leave an empty chamber under the hammer.
After losing a couple of expensive law suits Ruger completely redesigned their single action revolvers in the 1970s to include a transfer bar, making them safe to carry fully loaded.
Yes, you are correct. A Ruger with the transfer bar removed and the hammer welded up is no longer safe to carry fully loaded with 6 rounds.
This is not an issue in Cowboy Action Shooting. One of the cardinal rules is revolvers are only loaded with five rounds, hammer down on an empty chamber. NEVER loaded with six rounds. This is a safety rule that is strictly observed.
This is true for shooters with modern Rugers with transfer bars too. Just to keep the playing field level modern Rugers are only loaded with five rounds, hammer down on an empty chamber. Never loaded with six rounds.
Last edited: