transfer or not transfer.... bar that is

C

Canardman

New member
So, I got an OM Single six as a gift. It has not had the transfer bar mod done to it, and I really think I don't want to have it done. I am very aware of the safety issue, but as a safety conscious gun owner, I'm not to worried about leaving an empty chamber under the hammer.
The problem is here... I will end up giving this gun to my son. Although I will do everything I can to drive safety into our shooting time, its a different world now. I grew up on a farm with a gun in my hand since about the age if 10. My dad was a Marine, and lived to teach me to every thing he could about guns. My Son is growing up just outside of town on a couple acres with houses around, not going to be packing a gun everywhere he goes.
Anyway, for those that have had the transfer bar added, is there any difference in the trigger? I have a couple of Blackhawks and I am about to send them both off for trigger jobs. I love my Rugers, but the new triggers are crap in my opinion. ( judging by my new. 45lc/45acp and 50yr. .357). Where the trigger on this SS is awesome! I don't want to change it at all.
Thanks for any input, -C-man-
 
Never!
As long as you know the gun needs to be handled in a proper manner (5 rounds for carry) it’s not a safety issue or design flaw. The transfer bar was added from a lawyer decision, nothing more. The Gettysburg address was added to all Ruger guns around the same time. Lawsuits from stupid people doing stupid things with Rugers gun. Anyone want to try to guess how many single action revolvers including cap and ball have been made without a bar???
This was not a design failure, Ruger tried to match the original design of the single action and in my opinion as far as the Blackhawk is concerned they have a better trigger without the mod.
Since they are getting rare there value is going up.
If you don’t feel safe with the gun then get the mod done.
 
Canardman, read lee n. field's post:

As he said, Ruger will install the new parts at NO CHARGE, with NO MODIFICATIONS TO THE GUN, and will RETURN THE ORIGINAL PARTS TO YOU, meaning (obviously) that you can return the gun to its original condition at any time you want.

I have both, and there is virtually no change in trigger pull.
 
I'd leave it as is if it were mine.
Poster on another forum mentioned Ruger may not be returning original parts with converted guns nowdays, but even if, either way, just don't carry with a round in front of the hammer, teach your son safe handling, and off you go.
Denis
 
I'd leave it as is too if it was mine. In fact, if I could, I'd change all of my NMs back to the OM version.... But alas, I have to live with the 'lawyer bar'. Different strokes for different folks.
 
"No modifications to the gun."??? Of course there are modifications to the gun; whether the value is affected depends on the future buyer.

Some folks refuse to have the mod done because it may affect the collector value at some future time, others because they would rather see a gun company go out of business than modify its product to make it safer. All on general principles, of course.

Jim
 
Whenever I buy a used Ruger I look for one with a transfer bar. It's a very effective safety device that allows me to carry the gun with a full cylinder, and is more convenient. But I'm not a collector.

I also have an SAA, but always have to be careful when loading to be sure the hammer comes down on an empty chamber. It's a fine range toy, but not a working gun for me. My working guns have modern safety features.
 
I would just leave it alone. It will affect the gun value negatively if Ruger does not return the original old model parts or they get misplaced after they are returned to you. They do mark the guns that have had the safety conversion done by stamping an R on the frame. The transfer bar system they install on the old model guns is not the same as current transfer bar new models and the action will not be as smooth when you get it back. The new model guns with the transfer bars are designed to have them hence they are much more smoother than a converted old model. You can research it some more on the ruger forum( www,rugerforum.com) Hope this helps.
 
My experience with the "factory conversion" is that is results in a very poor trigger pull, and an unsightly modification. And all too ofter the original parts get "lost" or "misplaced" at the factory. If the transfer bar is a must, buy a New Model Ruger.

If you do decide to ship the gun back, remove all the original guts and keep them in a safe place.

If the transfer bar were so all fired important, don't you think Colt would modify its Single Action Army and New Frontiers?

And, while Uberti does offer a transfer bar model now, it still offers the original.

Do what you think best.

Bob Wright
 
IMHO, the transfer bar is a great innovation in the history of firearms. It makes handguns much safer and easier to use. I can think of no argument to not have one for 'user' guns.
 
Canardman,

If you're dead set on giving your gun to your kid, I'm throwing in with the safety first shooters. No gun's collector's value is worth a kid's life.

Like everything else in life, a substitute exists for solving your dilemma. How about buying your kid a new gun & putting your transferless bar gun in your safe?
 
Thousands of other kids still learn to shoot .22s in semi-autos & other brand revolvers without killing themselves or anybody around them.
The lack of a transfer bar in that particular gun does not make it into an instant death machine to anybody who shoots it.

If the boy can't be trusted with it as is, possibly he should not be allowed access to any gun at all.

The transfer bar does add a level of safety, but what used to be considered common sense still needs to be applied.

Teach the boy the rules of safe handling, emphasize them, enforce them, decide if & when the boy's old enough to receive it as a gift whether he's competent enough to go through with the idea, and make your assessment then.

If he demonstrates sufficient maturity & sense of responsibility to be given that gun, or any gun, go ahead with the gift.
If not, don't.

It is not required that the gun have a transfer bar to learn shooting safety, and to live a long & happy life with it as it sits.

Do or don't, your choice, just consider the results of sending the gun in & the possibility (unconfirmed at this point) that you may not get your original parts back if you do.

I think the "No gun's collector's value is worth a kid's life" statement to be overly dramatic. :)

If the boy's that unsafe, get him a Nerf gun.
Denis
 
Let me add another two cent's worth:

I am not condemming the transfer per se. It is the conversion that I have come to develop a strong distaste for.

New Model Rugers can be honed to very good trigger pulls. As to other models having transfer bars, I have no experience. All the other revolvers such as the Colt and S&W Da revolvers had very effective hammer block safeties, without resorting to transfer bars.

As to the "Swiss Safe" on some single actions, totally useless. They take too much effort to activate and de-activate.

Bob Wright
 
I have an older Super Blachawk, and got the letter from Ruger a long time ago. I had always carried It while hunting with the hammer down on an empty chamber so the mod was nothing I felt necessary. When deer hunting with a handgun does 5 instead of 6 rounds really make a difference? My Super Blackhawk is exactly as It came from the factory, and will continue to be. The fewer lawyers in my guns, the better!
 
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