FSCJedi said:
If you aren't suppose to rotate the cylinder at half cock, how else are you suppose to load it?
Sorry I wasn't more clear. I did not mean to say that rotation of the cylinder AT half cock was a problem. The problem is when people attempt to release the hammer from half cock and go directly to uncocked, or fully down on the cylinder.
At half cock the bolt is retracted; at both full cock and uncocked it is not. If you pull the hammer back from half cock into full cock, the hand rotates the cylinder to line up a cylinder notch with the bolt, and the action is timed to drop the bolt into the notch when the hammer reaches the full cock sear. You can then release the trigger and gently allow the hammer to return to the uncocked position; the bolt will be in a cylinder notch and no 'damage' will occur.
If, however, one pulls the hammer back just a short distance out of half cock, releasing it from the half cock sear, and then allows it to fall forward into the uncocked position, the hand does not move the cylinder. The bolt is free to move, in fact, it's forced to move, from the retracted position back to it's "up" position, where it would normally find a cylinder notch. Since the cylinder has not been rotated by the hand into a position where a notch lies above the bolt, the bolt contacts the cylinder surface, producing the scratch known as a cylinder ring.
This condition is not a safety issue; it's more a cosmetic one.
In the case cited in this thread the nick in the side of the notch is indicative of a timing problem rather than a handling one. The problem is corrected by modifying either the cam on the side of the hammer (least desirable solution) or the leg on the bolt that rides on the cam (more desirable solution). It's a delicate modification requiring removal of small amounts of metal at specific locations and is best accomplished by a gunsmith familiar with the Colt Single Action Army action.
However, it can be done by anyone who is reasonably handy with files/stones. I'd recommend buying a couple of extra bolt assemblies (about $3 each) so you can make mistakes and have something to start over with. The modification is described in several gunsmithing texts and involves removing metal on the inside of the curve of the bolt finger that contacts the hammer cam.
I don't believe there is a safety issue in this case. The cylinder is in battery despite the slight misalignment of the bolt with the notch. Even if there was a slight misalignment of the chamber with the barrel forcing cone the effect would be a slight shaving of lead off the ball. This would be apparent by the collection of lead deposits on one side of the forcing cone. Accuracy would naturally be affected, and cleaning would be a problem, but little else.