Single Action Question

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PhillipP

New member
I have been trying to learn a little about the single action revolvers,
but one thing that i think is going to need to be explained to me is why people say that you need to have the hammer rest on an empty chamer??

I also hear that a way to fix this is to have a gun with a "transfer bar mechanism"??? Can someone explain to me what the mechanism does and also the companies that make these kind of revolvers with this mechanism.

Thank you
 
Have you ever looked at any of the Ruger revolvers...newer Taurus' too. They have a thin piece of steel that comes up when you cock the hammer. Thats the transfer bar thing.

I'm pretty sure that most of the new single action guns have this now. As to how it actually works or why it's in there, I'll let somebody else with more experience fill you in... :o
 
Old style single action revolvers had the firing pin on the hammer. With the hammer at rest over a loaded chamber the firing pin nose rested on the primer. A sharp blow to the hammer would cause the firing pin to strike the primer causing the round to fire.
Newer designs like the new model Rugers have a transfer bar and the firing pin is located in the frame. The hammer in this design never touches the firing pin. To fire the revolver the transfer bar rises when the hammer is cocked. This bar is hit by the hammer and in turn transfers the striking energy to the firing pin and the round fires.
So remember, no transfer bar and you keep an empty round under the hammer. Models equiped with transfer bars can be kept with all the chambers loaded.
 
The older Rugers have a frame mounted pin ,but the hammer still rests on it.I only belive Ruger will update their "3 screw" models with a transfer bar.Of course if you ever shoot or buy a ruger "3 screw" you will see that the action is worth just keeping 5 in the cylinder.Once it is updated it just isnt the same.
 
The old rule of thumb was and still is, load one, skip one, load four. This guaranteed that when you were done loading your wheelgun the hammer rested on an empty chamber and was safe for daily carry. If it was known that a fight was coming up the empty cylinder was loaded as well and the hammer gently lowered onto it.

The transer bar safety of New Model Rugers did away with this as well as the four Colt like clicks of the Old Model three screw Rugers.

A good place for you to start learning more about S.A. handguns are the books of John Taffin and Mike Venturino these are widely available.

tipoc
 
Companies I know for a fact who use a transfer bar are Ruger, Beretta (the Stampede) and Taurus (the Gaucho). I'm sure there are more, but that's just what comes to mind off the top of my head. Uberti definitely does not use a transfer bar in their own guns (they actually build the Stampede for Beretta). Colt can go either way, with the Cowboy having one and the SAA lacking one. I'm 100% sure about USFA, but I'm pretty sure they don't have one.

Depending on what you're doing with the gun the transfer bar may or may not make a difference. For CAS shooting, for instance, rules only allow to load 5 beans in the wheel, so there's no benefit to the transfer bar.
 
The transfer bar will not stay in the up position unless the trigger is in the rear most position, so if the hammer falls and the trigger is not all the way back the firearm cannot fire.
 
I am no expert on revolver mechanicals for sure, but if I recall, the S&W double actions have a transfer bar too - so this doesn't seem to be a single action only feature.
 
Transfer bars are not confined to single-actions, but S&Ws don't have them.
Were you thinking of Rugers?
Denis
 
I have two 3-screw, pre-tranfer bar Rugers, .357 magnum & .41 magnum Blackhawks. They have three hammer positions.

1. Half cock. The trigger will not release hammer but the cylinder is unlocked and will spin. This position is used for unloading and loading.
2. Full cock. The cylinder is indexed and locked. The trigger will release the hammer. BANG!
2. 'Safety.' The hammer can be retracted about 1/8"-1/4" away from contact with the firing pin. The trigger locks and not release the hammer, and the cylinder is indexed and locked.

To set the gun in thsi 'safety' position, the hammer must be gently lowered all the way down and then retracted until it clicks into 'safety.' As a clue that the hammer is in this position, the trigger moves forward from the 'fire' position and locks.

It is not a 'fool proof' design by any means. It is easy to retract too far, to the half-cock position instead. With practice, it gets easier... It's best to practice this unloaded. :D

When the hammer is in 'safety' it would take a very heavy blow on the hammer, enough to break the tab or bend the hammer, to fire a cartridge in this position. Without bending or breaking the hammer, though, the hammer will not contact the firing pin.

Thus, the gun was designed to be carried with 6 cartridges in the cylinder and the hammer in this 'safe' position with little to no chance of an accidental discharge. It might not pass the drop-it-onto-concrete-so-it hits-the-hammer test, though.

Ruger's transfer bar system requires no operator skill or knowledge to use, and is a simple, effective and elegant design that improves safety without changing the guns' appearance.
 
S&W double-actions don't have transfer bars, but their design does not require one to be drop safe. This is essetially a singe-action issue.
 
The 3 screw Ruger followed the design of the older Colts. They too had a safety notch on the hammer (the first click), but it was learned long ago not to trust it. There is very little metal for the notch and it can break. Thus the load one, skip, load 4 is the only safe way to carry a single action revolver without a transfer bar be it Colt, one of Colt's clones or the old 3 screw Ruger.
 
Most Uberti SAA clones have a hammer safety block that engages when the hammer is lowered into the safety notch. In additon they have an elongated cylinder base pin that can also be used as a safety device since it prevents the hammer from falling when pushed all the way in. Granted these features might be ommitted on some their cheapo guns they make.
 
Oops... ok, correction

DPris:
Transfer bars are not confined to single-actions, but S&Ws don't have them.
Were you thinking of Rugers?
Click to expand...

Nope, but I was trying to work from memory and the old memory failed me :o Thanks. I looked that up now, and found (as you probably know) that the S&W double actions use something called a "Hammer Block Safety", which is mechanically different than the transfer bar, but accomplishes the same thing: the gun will only fire when there is pressure on the trigger, thereby preventing a discharge if it is dropped. For folks like me who are new to this mechanism, they have a nice description with some images about 3/4 way down the page at:
http://www.firearmsid.com/A_FirearmFunction.htm
 
I think the Smith bar idea is much better,it pretty much blocks the hammer and you dont have that silly in the frame firing pin deal. But that only counts on older Smiths.
 
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