Anyone carry a Single Action Revolver?

[Majic]

Seeing him point the single actions up all around trying to work the ejection rod just gave me the willies. It's much more comforting seeing him grasp the concept of a swing out cylinder and taking the gun out of battery to reload, than to load one skip one and load more as the man behind the counter was trying to show him "How they did in the real west."

It's all a matter of perception. The Da revolver with the cylinder swung out is out-of-battery, but also if the hammer of the SA revolver is not at full cock then it too is out-of-battery and can not fire. If the SA revolver's hammer is pulled to it's full cock position then the cylinder is locked and wouldn't be able to rotate for loading/unloading.

 

[MrAcheson]

if the hammer of the SA revolver is not at full cock then it too is out-of-battery and can not fire.

Nope. Plenty a folks have unintentially fired single action revolvers that were out-of-battery by your definition. Some of them met their makers because of doing it. They simply dropped them.

 

[Majic]

They simply dropped them.

That would require parts to break and cause the revolver to malfunction. Malfunctions can be dangerous no matter what is being done with the revolver.

 

[Wedge]

That would require parts to break and cause the revolver to malfunction. Malfunctions can be dangerous no matter what is being done with the revolver.

No parts had to break. Old single actions are unsafe to carry with the hammer over a loaded chamber because a drop or blow to the hammer is sufficient to fire the gun. They don't have a transfer bar safety and that is why when shooting CAS you can only load 5 rounds in your 6 shooter.

 

[MrAcheson]

Exactly Wedge. All new model rugers have transfer bars so this shouldn't happen. Many of the modern repros have non-reproduction safeties to make this more difficult. However if you drop a single action revolver of SAA vintage on its hammer with a round in the chamber, it will fire.

 

[Majic]

As the original comment was on loading and unloading I wasn't refering to carrying the revolver with the hammer down on a loaded chamber. I was talking about having the hammer on half-cock to load and unload.

 

[MrAcheson]

I was talking about having the hammer on half-cock to load and unload.

I believe dropping the gun at half cock can still shear the notch and the gun will also fire if a round is in the chamber.

 

[Majic]

And that is the parts breakage and malfunction i was pointing out. Causing the revolver to malfunction because of negligent handling is not the fault of the revolver.

 

[Wedge]

Majic, I understand what you were talking about now.

 

[MrAcheson]

And that is the parts breakage and malfunction i was pointing out. Causing the revolver to malfunction because of negligent handling is not the fault of the revolver.

Yeah but if its your kid and he drops it and it fires (and he might and it might) will it really give you any peace to know it was your kid's fault and not the guns? I would want to use a more fault tolerant weapon as a trainer which was the point. An uncocked (or insufficiently cocked) single action revolver doesn't seem "out of battery" to me unless the cylinder isn't indexed properly. To me something isn't "out of battery" if the firing pin can still hit a primer.

 

[BluesBear]

Put a traditional single action on the half-cock/loading notch and pull the trigger really hard.

Here's a hint, don't try it if it's loaded. If you pull hard it's very possible the hammer WILL fall. The loading notch isn't cut deep like the safety notch.