5 Shot Carry with SA?

I'd play it safe and say if the manufacturer saw fit to include that in the instructions, then I'd probably heed that warning.

Ditto

I always figure it's a good idea to imagine the worst case scenario:

Prosecuting attorney: "So despite the written warning in the owner's manual, you carried the gun fully loaded, and when you dropped it, it discharged and fatally wounded my client."

Dubious: "Well, some stranger on the internet told me I could ignore the manufacturer's recommendations..."

If a gun was designed with a safety that the manufacturer does not believe will work, I don't think I'd own that gun.

If this is a Heritage with that funky "switch" to the left of the hammer, hmmmm...I've not shot a Heritage but I've handled them and that switch seemed damned unlikely to trip by accident. With the switch "up" (engaged) that hammer is totally blocked. So six-up would work.

Thing is though, if you left that safety off and treated the gun as a five-shooter, do the whole "load one, skip one, load four", first off it's a cross-trainer for a real Colt-type action and second, getting off the first shot is faster. Not that you're likely to have to treat a Heritage 22 as a defensive piece but...weirder things have happened. Any number of people in the field with a "plinker gun" have been confronted and have had to rely on same for defense without planning it out that way...

My pistolero has no safety, if I'm going to range I load six when I'm ready to shoot, if I'm in the woods, I load five, no biggie...

If failure to follow the manufacturer's safety instructions leads to an injury, you will lose in a negligence suit. It cannot get any simpler. Take that into consideration when you decide what to do.

The Heritage has a hammer block safety, loading 6 is fine.Old Colts and clones do not, I've never had any of mine fire from the half cock notch, but I wouldn't put any of my body parts or those of friends or strangers at risk.

If failure to follow the manufacturer's safety instructions leads to an injury, you will lose in a negligence suit. It cannot get any simpler. Take that into consideration when you decide what to do.

Click to expand...

And then there's this:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=278104&highlight=freedom+arms+lawsuit

The Heritage hammer-block safety is very reliable, but it's manually operated and hence somewhat quirky.

I don't believe the Heritage manual safety, if applied properly, will come off of safe by accident. So technically the gun is safe six-up. But a LOT of care is necessary...you have to be real careful about what you're doing. Five up is likely safer and faster to bring to bear.

If a gun was designed with a safety that the manufacturer does not believe will work, I don't think I'd own that gun.

Click to expand...

ditto that.

Heritage safety

Hi,
I own a Heritage Rough Rider. I load it as is recommended in the instruction manual. The reason they recommend it is because the safety is manually operated and therefore the company has no control over forgetfulness, carelessness, or stupidity and realizes the RR could be "accidentally" (read negligently) left in the off position by the shooter, or another previous loader. Another reason I load the traditional 5 is I own other SAA revo's and it is safer for my feeble mind to load them all the same way. I thoroughly enjoy my RR. I have made it a habit of following the instructions, especially regarding safety, in the manual for the firearm over that of the convoluted opinions on the Internet of those who do not own one.
TaKe CaRe
Ted

Its a liablity issue pure and simple. although you technically can carry it safely with 6 in the cylinder, its best to carry with an empty chamber under the hammer. For some reason, all the examples i have handled in the rough rider line have had slippery hammers. That coupled with say a sore/stiff/arthritic hand/thumb could easily end in an accidental discharge while trying to lower the hammer onto block with a loaded cylinder in the mix.