R&D .45 Colt cylinder (Old Army) evolution question please

[Tallbald]

I now have two R&D .45 Colt cylinders for my RUger Old Army's, both cylinders of which are the nickeled versions. Advertisements I see for R&D cylinders now show cylinder plates without notches for the hammer nose between chambers. The plates on my two cylinders appear maybe cast and machine finished(?) while the ads look (and I could be wrong) to have a different style cylinder plate. Perhaps the ad photos are of cylinders for other brand revolvers? Has there been some evolution in the style of the R&D cylinders over the years? All are great to me. I just am interested in dating my cylinders (purely platonic of course, before anyone gets a grin ). thanks. Don

 

[unspellable]

My first one has hammer notches. My later one had no hammer notches and instead had little cutouts at the chamber base allowing one to see the base of the cartridge indicating if it was loaded or not.

 

[Tallbald]

Hmm. So my (I believe) 1999 version with notches has been dropped I guess. maybe they changed it when they went to stainless instead of nickeled. Just curious and thanks for responding. Don.

 

[Ephraim Kibbey]

From what Unspellable said about his newer one, the notches may have been sacrificed so that the judges could see the loads before shooting competitions without the shooter having to remove the whole cylinder. Safety compromised for convenience???

 

[Tallbald]

Now that's an interesting point and one well taken. If anyone is interested in seeing the plate of my two with the hammer notches, I'll post a photograph. Thanks. Don

 

[whughett]

I have a Howell from the early 90's no notches. Would like to see what you are referring to. Been trying to research the history of the Howells. I think they developed by Howell but the design was sold to Taylors and Company, or where Taylors the distributors ?, but then he started producing them again. His web site photos show no notches. On mine there appears to be enough room between the firing pins to put a safety notch although that would change the profile. The cut outs in the cylinders to view the cartridge rims are there.

What ever the case I have a Ruger devoted to just the conversion cylinder. Set up with a Belt Mountain base pin and latch it is a hoot to shoot. I use several different loadings in it.

 

[Tallbald]

Will try to photograph my two cylinders this evening and post them. As I said earlier, the cylinder plates appear to be cast (from the texture) and milled and turned to specifications. Don

 

[Ephraim Kibbey]

I just spoke to a very nice lady at R&D (608-676-2518.)

She said that the notches were removed from the design years ago to discourage people from disregarding the "Load Only Five and Carry on an Empty" rule that has become the norm for safe carry.

She said that the windows came in before the notches were taken out so it was not a trade off.

 

[Tallbald]

Case solved. Thanks! Don.

 

[Patocazador]

I just spoke to a very nice lady at R&D (608-676-2518.)

She said that the notches were removed from the design years ago to discourage people from disregarding the "Load Only Five and Carry on an Empty" rule that has become the norm for safe carry.

Absolute bunk! If 6 are loaded and the safety notches are there, it is perfectly safe as long as the hammer is engaged properly in the notch. Just look at the NAA mini-revolvers.
I have carried one loaded up in my pocket for decades with the hammer in the safety notch .. haven't blown anything off yet.

 

[Tallbald]

Here's a functional-but-not-so-good photo of one of my two R&D .45 Colt cylinders for my Ruger Old Army's, that shows the big notches in question. The backplate locator pin is seen in the notch at the top. Don

 

[whughett]

Ditto on post 10:

 

[grter]

Thats too bad although I am not in the market for one (I would buy a super strong Blackhawk if I wanted to use smokeless cartridges.)

If I could not easily mill my own notches or they refuse to make them I would not not buy it. Dealbreaker for me.

 

[whughett]

I just load black powder for mine. The modern stuff I use in the Model 25.