Yep, the originals didn't have the hammer safety. Mine had one, fell out. Mine has the same method of switching to CR/RF and I ALWAYS have to make myself do that FIRST so I don't forget. It would be way embarrassing to pull down on a 12 point or something and hear "click". Never happened hunting, but has at the range.
My old .45 colt/.410 barrel is compensated and, with shot loads, recoil is mild. With heavy .45's, though, the choke is removed and that renders the compensator pretty worthless. The thing will pound you. Such is the case, too, with hot .44 magnums in a standard .44 mag barrel. I have a Pachmayr grip on mine, still sorta hard on me. My .30-30 is compensated, 12" "hunter" barrel, and is quite mild in recoil, but one needs their hearing protection. It's especially LOUD out of a box blind. I have a 7mm TCU barrel, mild recoil even out of a 10" standard barrel and it gets decent ballistics. I shot it in IHMSA. It still has the IHMSA click adjustable rear sight on it.
I shot one like that nearly 40 years ago at our club range in Bryan, Texas when I was in school. I was there shooting my .22 and my '51 navy. This guy was there with 2 .44s, a contender 10" and a Super Blackhawk. He let me fire both. As it wasn't long after "Dirty Harry" was released, it was a treat. I went back and told my roomies I'd gotten to fire a .44 mag.
Anyway, the Super Blackhawk was nice, just rolled up in my hand. The Contender HURT. It's the grip profile that helps that Super Blackhawk. On that experience, I didn't bother with Contenders for a long time after i'd graduated and gotten a good job. I finally bought the .45/.410 barrel first, then added the .30-30. I've now got the 7TCU and a 10" .22 match barrel. I don't think I'm going to bother with a .45-70, though, ain't quite THAT macho, don't think, and the .30-30 is all I need down here for hunting hogs and deer.