Power Custom's "half cock" hammer kit.... does it basically nake the Ruger action function like the old Remington's ?
Not quite sure what you mean by 'the old Remingtons'
If you are talking about a Remington Model 1875 or 1890, no. They have '4 click' hammers.
Working from memory right now, I don't have one of my 1858 Remingtons in hand. I seem to recall, like most Cap & Ball revolvers, they have no 'safety cock notch' in them. Meaning that the hammer only goes all the way forward, halfway back to load, and all the way back for full cock.
If I am recalling that part correctly, yes, the Power Custom Half Cock hammer does make a New Model Ruger function that way. There is no 'safety cock' notch on the hammer.
You get 'half cock, the loading position, and full cock. And of course, all the way down.
Why would one opt for this on a revolver that functions just fine without it? I put Power Custom half cock hammers in three 'original model' Vaqueros. I did not do it to hear the extra clicks, you can't hear the clicks when you are shooting with hearing protection on. The Ruger New Model (the ones with transfer bars) action has one small problem that bothered me no end. Normally, you free the cylinder to rotate by opening the loading gate. Then you can load or unload. With the 'original models' they had the annoying habit of if you rotated the cylinder just a tad too far, the hand would pop into the next ratchet tooth on the cylinder, and the chamber would not quite line up with the loading gate. Probably not a problem with 38s or 357s, but with a 45, the chamber had rotated just a teeny bit too far and you could not get a round into the chamber. It was out of line just a teeny bit. In order to load that chamber you would have to go 'all the way around' to that chamber again. That was the only way you could get a round into that chamber, and you had to be careful again not to rotate a tad too far, or you would have to do it again. After getting frustrated with this a bazillion times I ordered the Half Cock hammers for my two Stainless Vaqueros and a blued one.
With the Half Cock hammer installed, you load just like a Colt. Put the hammer on half cock, then open the loading gate and load. Even though Rugers are safe to load with six, I always only load them with five, because that is what I am used to doing with a Colt. Besides, that's what we have to do in CAS anyway. With the half cock hammer, you rotate the cylinder until a chamber lines up with the loading gate. The hand will then pop into the next ratchet tooth on the cylinder, forming a stop. If you rotate a teeny bit too far, you can back up to the stop without a problem. After I installed the Half Cock hammers I stopped cursing at my Vaqueros. But I stress, I did it for ease of loading, not to listen to clicks.
The kit is easy to install, the hardest part is taking the Ruger apart and getting it back together again. If you can do that, you can install the kit yourself. I don't shoot my Rugers much these days, but they were my Main Match revolvers for CAS for a few years, and I was always glad I had installed the kits. The New Vaqueros can have a free spin pawl in them, so the need for the Half Cock hammer has gone away. If you miss a chamber you can just back up to it.
Unless you really like hearing clicks.
By the way, if you are going to put the kits in, do yourself a favor and buy the trigger too. You can modify the original trigger to work with the Half Cock hammer, but I simply spent the extra bucks on their trigger.
One other thing. Notice the stains on the side of this hammer? Power Custom does not offer an actual Stainless hammer. (at least they did not when I bought mine a whole bunch of years ago) For their 'stainless' hammer they simply polished away the blue on the back of the hammer. It is a carbon steel hammer. That is why my Black Powder loads have stained the sides slightly.
One more thing. The Power Custom hammers are made by Wire EDM (Electrical Discharge Machine). They are actually more precisely made than the OEM Ruger Investment Cast hemmers.