im lost i thought it was 3 clicks. yesterday i read a colt report on the english colt and the adsvertisement of that day said 3 clicks. did colt get it wrong?
What do you mean when you say 'english colt'?
From 1853 until 1857 Colt had a factory in London producing the 1851 Navy and 1849 Pocket Model percussion revolvers. These are usually referred to as the London Colts. This was the only time Colt was manufacturing revolvers anywhere outside of the US.
The 1851 Navy Colt was introduced at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. It drew so much attention in England that Colt established a factory in London to produce the 1851 Navy and 1849 Pocket model in addition to his Hartford Connecticut factory.
To get back to your question, ALL percussion (Cap & Ball) Colts (including the London Colts) only have three clicks. There is no 'safety cock' notch on the hammer. The first click is the half cock loading position, the second click is as the bolt pops up against the cylinder, and the third click happens as the hammer goes to full cock and the bolt pops into the locking slot on the cylinder.
The reason is the Cap & Ball Colts had pins between nipples at the rear of the cylinder. There was a recess on the hammer that fit over the pins so the hammer could be lowered between the nipples to 'safely' lower the hammer on a fully loaded cylinder. I put safely in quotes because over time the pins often wore down and could no longer be depended on to prevent the cylinder from accidentally rotating so a cap would be under the hammer. In addition, some percussion Colts had an extra six locking slots on the cylinder, so the hammer could be lowered between nipples and the bolt would rise into one of the locking slots between chambers, again, making it safe to lower the hammer on a fully loaded cylinder.
When the Single Action Army came out in 1873 is when the 'safety cock' notch was added to the hammer, creating the legendary four clicks. With cartridge rims taking up almost all the space between chambers, there was no place for pins.
As with all Colts and Colt replicas, if you put your thumb on the cylinder while cocking the hammer to restrict its motion, you will often hear separate clicks as the hammer goes to full cock and then the bolt pops into the cylinder locking slot. If the revolver is timed perfectly, these two actions will happen simultaneously and only one click will be heard. But it is quite common for the hammer to go to full cock ever so slightly before the bolt pops into the locking slot. This is usually not a problem because there is usually enough over travel in the hammer to allow it to rotate a little bit further back so the hand can rotate the cylinder a tiny bit more for the bolt to pop into the locking slot. In this case, if a 'four click' SAA is cocked slowly enough, and you prevent the cylinder from gathering enough momentum to rotate to the locking position, five clicks will actually be heard. The same with a percussion Colt or replica. Cock it slowly enough and restrict the rotation of the cylinder and you will probably hear four clicks.
However, in most cases, if the revolver is not timed perfectly, the cylinder builds up enough momentum as the hammer is being cocked that those last two clicks cannot be heard separately.
I'm playing around with this Richard's Conversion as I write this, and yup, only three clicks unless I cock the hammer very slowly and slow down the cylinder with my thumb. Then I hear four clicks.
The only other Cap & Ball 'colts' I have these days are a pair of these Pietta 1860 Army Colt replicas. They very loudly click four times if I restrain the cylinder because the timing is not all that great.
P.S. I forgot I have an original cap & ball Colt 1849 Pocket Model. Sorry, no photo. The action is pretty worn, but the same thing. Three clicks unless I slow down the cylinder, then it is four clicks.