Found the video I was referring to. The new hammer and trigger can be added to the older guns so I am guessing the new guns can be refitted with the older hammer and trigger and get rid of the goofy safety.
I certainly would not make that assumption. Like it or not, safety mechanisms like that are to keep the manufacturer from getting sued in case someone gets injured with the gun. Why would a company offer parts that would increase their legal liability? Ruger will not sell you any parts for their earlier Three Screw revolvers for the same reason.
That video has been around for about two years now. I have not had a chance to personally examine one of the new Cattlemen with the retractable firing pin. But I can tell from the video that the trigger pushes an actuator which in turns shoves the firing pin forward. Even though I have not examined one yet, it seems to me that is going to affect the trigger pull, just as raising the transfer bar in a Ruger affects the trigger pull, which it does.
If you want an Uberti without the new retractable firing pin, look now, before all the older style ones disappear.
The New Vaquero is a good gun but took a lot of gunsmith expense to get there.
Really? I have three New Vaqueros, as well as three of the older 'original model' Vaqueros. They all worked just fine out of the box. I did a little bit of tweaking on the three older ones, but it was not necessary for them to function properly. I simply smoothed things up a bit. And added half cock hammers.
But talking about SA hammers and whether to carry six or five, my EMF .44 special has a 1/4 cock position that keeps the hammer mounted firing pin from contacting the chambered round. Is this safe to carry six?
And my Hawes "western Marshall" SA has the 1/4 cock position as well that allows the inertia firing pin to spring off the chambered round. Carry six or five?
Absolutely not safe. Take a close look at this photo of some Colt parts. The parts in your EMF or Hawes are very similar. The lower arrow is pointing to the sear (tip of the trigger). The upper arrow is pointing to the so called 'safety cock' notch. When the sear is positioned in the 'safety cock' notch, it would not take much of a blow to the hammer to shear off the sear, allowing the hammer to fall all the way and the firing pin to strike a primer. It has been shown over and over that a Colt style single action revolver dropped onto its hammer spur has a very good likelihood of firing when it strikes the ground, because something may break inside. Over and over again. That's why Ruger did away with their old Three Screw design and added the transfer bar to all their revolvers back in the 1970s. Too many lost lawsuits.
Thats exactly why I asked the question. For Uberti to put a safety on the hammer like they did to me is a tacit way of saying I am too stupid to handle a gun in a safe manner. I feel the same way about the cross bolt safety on a Marlin, the internal lock on S&W revolvers, the lock Remington used to put on their bolt action rifles and other such devices. I am not alone.
Believe it or not, firearm manufacturers have been putting safety devices on their firearms for a long, long time. Did you know that the original Winchester Model 1873 incorporated a trigger interlock to prevent the rifle from being accidentally discharged before it was fully in battery?
This is a photo of the mechanism of a Model 1873 Winchester made in 1887. The front arrow points to a hammer block which prevents the trigger from being pulled if the lever has not yet been closed completely. The rear arrow points to the rear of the interlock.
When the lever is completely closed, it pushes up the rear of the interlock, which in turn raises the hammer block so the rifle can be fired.
This had nothing to do with lawyers, the engineers at Winchester realized that the new 44-40 cartridge was more powerful than the earlier 44 Henry Rimfire cartridge. If the shooter's finger accidentally grazed the trigger before the lever was completely closed, the toggle links were not lined up correctly yet. A discharge could send the bolt flying back towards the shooter's eye. So the trigger interlock was developed. Modern replicas include this feature, and in CAS we are always telling new guys not to dismantle it. It is there for their protection.
Anyway, Ruger or Uberti, they are both fine guns. I own both. You want to load six without worrying about it, buy a Ruger. You want the authenticity of the older design, buy the Uberti. If you don't want the retractable firing pin, act soon before the older design is all gone.