sleepysquirrel2
Member
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2020
- Messages
- 42
It's time to put to rest the myth of the "Cowboy Carry" of "load 5 and leave the hammer on an unloaded chamber."
I'm here to discuss What was done historically, back in the old west period of 1865-1890.
And no, history doesn't care about:
In short, the "Cowboy Carry" is a historically inaccurate myth invented by 20th century hollywood, pulp fiction, and gunwriters. In other words, there is no recorded primary source documentation of this "cowboy carry" during the old west period of 1865-1890. The first written documentation of cowboy carry only emerges after after the Western Frontier was closed by the census bureau in in 1890.
On the other hand, there is plenty of recorded documentation that both Colt and Smith & Wesson recommended carrying their revolvers fully loaded and on the safety notch.
First, an advertisement from Colt in 1876. If you can't read the whole document, right-click the image and press "open in a new tab". But I have included zoomed in screenshots as well.
"There are three notches in the hammer of this pistol. The first is the safety notch, the second is the half-cock notch, and the third is the cock notch. The pistol cannot be fired when the hammer rests in the safety notch, or half -cock notch, and can be fired by pulling the trigger when the hammer rests in the cock notch. The pistol should be carried habitually with the hammer resting in the safety notch"
- Colt Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company, 1876.
Next, we have a Colt advertisement from 1898, long after the Old West has ended and smokeless powder has already been introduced.
"These Revolvers should be carried with the hammer resting in the Safety Notch"
-Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, 1898.
Mind you, Colt also recommended this for their double action revolvers too:
"These Revolvers should be carried with the hammer resting in the Safety Notch"
-Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, 1898.
But you might say -- Wait! Surely Colt must have learned by the time the WW1 turned around?
Nope, even up until 1936, possibly up until 1940 (i.e., the very last 1st generation single action army revolvers until they had decided to permanently discontinue the line) they were still recommending carrying the single action army in the safety catch
"For more than half a century, this model Single Action Revolver has been a favorite of the Old and New West where accuracy and extreme durability are required and gun-smiths are fewest [...] This is the model that blazed the trail west of the Mississippi. May be carried cocked and with the hammer in the safety notch."
-Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, 1936
Finally, Colt wasn't alone in doing this: Smith & Wesson also saw the safety catch as more than sufficient, even after releasing their Double Action 44's (not released until 1881, a whole decade after they had released their single action Model 3's).
In fact, we can see in the very packaging of the revolver, they recommended loading all 6 chambers and carrying in the safety catch:
"While Carrying the Pistol Fully Charged, allow the hammer to rest in the safety catch. After the first discharge, allow the hammer to rest on the exploded cartridge until the next discharge, and so on until all are fired" - Smith & Wesson, Circa 1881-1913
Now you might say, "what about the Smith & Wesson topbreaks with the rebounding hammer? That wasn't a real safety, was it?" Don't worry, S&W recommended carrying those fully loaded as well. In fact, the rebounding hammer was marketed as a convenient way to skip having to manually place the hammer in the safety notch:
"Raise the barrel catch to its full hight [sic], and tip the barrel forward as far as it will go. Place the charges in the chambers, and return the barrel to its place, being sure to have the barrel catch down to its place, when the arm is ready for use [...] This pistol has the patent Automatic Rebounding Lock"
- Smith and Wesson, Circa 1880's-1890s
Overall, the preponderance of evidence shows that the load-five-skip-one-and-carry-on-an-empty-chamber "Cowboy Carry" was never recommended by firearms manufacturers - neither Colt nor Smith & Wesson - in the Old West period.
Instead, all the primary source documentation indicates that they all recommended carrying on the safety notch.
Now you can moan and complain about how carrying 5 makes you personally "feel safer," but your feelings don't change what Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company published in their advertisements and instruction manuals for the whole 70 years of manufacturing the 1st generation single action army revolvers.
After all, you are a rational group of folks who believe in documented facts and truth, and aren't some kind of historical revisionists, right?
I'm here to discuss What was done historically, back in the old west period of 1865-1890.
And no, history doesn't care about:
- what your favorite 1930's/1950's/1970's western or spaghetti western movies show
- or what modern CAS/SASS rules state
- or what modern liability lawyer paperwork shipped with modern revolvers say
- or how your italian knockoff revolver made on italian tooling doesn't have a proper safety notch
- or how 3rd gen colt's don't have the safety notch cut the the same way because the original tooling was thrown away by Colt
- or what fiction writers in the 1930's made up with the rest of their outlandish claims (No, Stuart Lake is not a trustworthy source; let alone a primary source)
- or what your grandpa's grandpa told his cousin's friend who knew wyatt earp's niece's butler
- or what you in 2022 consider "common sense"
- or whether or not carrying 5 makes you feel safer and helps you sleep at night
In short, the "Cowboy Carry" is a historically inaccurate myth invented by 20th century hollywood, pulp fiction, and gunwriters. In other words, there is no recorded primary source documentation of this "cowboy carry" during the old west period of 1865-1890. The first written documentation of cowboy carry only emerges after after the Western Frontier was closed by the census bureau in in 1890.
On the other hand, there is plenty of recorded documentation that both Colt and Smith & Wesson recommended carrying their revolvers fully loaded and on the safety notch.
First, an advertisement from Colt in 1876. If you can't read the whole document, right-click the image and press "open in a new tab". But I have included zoomed in screenshots as well.
"There are three notches in the hammer of this pistol. The first is the safety notch, the second is the half-cock notch, and the third is the cock notch. The pistol cannot be fired when the hammer rests in the safety notch, or half -cock notch, and can be fired by pulling the trigger when the hammer rests in the cock notch. The pistol should be carried habitually with the hammer resting in the safety notch"
- Colt Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company, 1876.
Next, we have a Colt advertisement from 1898, long after the Old West has ended and smokeless powder has already been introduced.
"These Revolvers should be carried with the hammer resting in the Safety Notch"
-Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, 1898.
Mind you, Colt also recommended this for their double action revolvers too:
"These Revolvers should be carried with the hammer resting in the Safety Notch"
-Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, 1898.
But you might say -- Wait! Surely Colt must have learned by the time the WW1 turned around?
Nope, even up until 1936, possibly up until 1940 (i.e., the very last 1st generation single action army revolvers until they had decided to permanently discontinue the line) they were still recommending carrying the single action army in the safety catch
"For more than half a century, this model Single Action Revolver has been a favorite of the Old and New West where accuracy and extreme durability are required and gun-smiths are fewest [...] This is the model that blazed the trail west of the Mississippi. May be carried cocked and with the hammer in the safety notch."
-Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, 1936
Finally, Colt wasn't alone in doing this: Smith & Wesson also saw the safety catch as more than sufficient, even after releasing their Double Action 44's (not released until 1881, a whole decade after they had released their single action Model 3's).
In fact, we can see in the very packaging of the revolver, they recommended loading all 6 chambers and carrying in the safety catch:
"While Carrying the Pistol Fully Charged, allow the hammer to rest in the safety catch. After the first discharge, allow the hammer to rest on the exploded cartridge until the next discharge, and so on until all are fired" - Smith & Wesson, Circa 1881-1913
Now you might say, "what about the Smith & Wesson topbreaks with the rebounding hammer? That wasn't a real safety, was it?" Don't worry, S&W recommended carrying those fully loaded as well. In fact, the rebounding hammer was marketed as a convenient way to skip having to manually place the hammer in the safety notch:
"Raise the barrel catch to its full hight [sic], and tip the barrel forward as far as it will go. Place the charges in the chambers, and return the barrel to its place, being sure to have the barrel catch down to its place, when the arm is ready for use [...] This pistol has the patent Automatic Rebounding Lock"
- Smith and Wesson, Circa 1880's-1890s
Overall, the preponderance of evidence shows that the load-five-skip-one-and-carry-on-an-empty-chamber "Cowboy Carry" was never recommended by firearms manufacturers - neither Colt nor Smith & Wesson - in the Old West period.
Instead, all the primary source documentation indicates that they all recommended carrying on the safety notch.
Now you can moan and complain about how carrying 5 makes you personally "feel safer," but your feelings don't change what Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company published in their advertisements and instruction manuals for the whole 70 years of manufacturing the 1st generation single action army revolvers.
After all, you are a rational group of folks who believe in documented facts and truth, and aren't some kind of historical revisionists, right?
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