Rudy Kohn
Member
Hi,
I was reading a post on another forum about the SAA and clones, and someone said their gun would lock up if the hammer wasn't lowered all the way down before putting it in the safety notch.
This made me think a bit-- I have a USFA Rodeo, and the "Safe Loading Instructions" in the manual say I should lower the hammer all the way on an empty chamber, then pull back to the safety notch.
However, I've been lowering directly to the safety notch over an empty chamber, which seems to differ in no way from what happens if I lower it all the way, then pull it back.
I tried emailing USFA about it, and all I got was a quote from the manual (which was what I asked the question about), and I couldn't find good schematics online. Nor could I find an answer to this specific question.
So, long story short, is there any negative effect from lowering directly to the safety notch when decocking? Does anybody with a good knowledge of the internal workings of these guns have a reason? Are there exceptions for other guns? Why is lowering all the way recommended over lowering directly to the safety notch?
If the mechanism works the way I think it works, I can't see how lowering to the safety notch would cause mechanical problems.
It seems like, assuming no slip, lowering to the safety notch is safer--consider the case in which you make a mistake while loading such that a live round is under the hammer when you draw the hammer back. The cylinder is locked, and remains so until the hammer is lowered to the safety notch. Lowering the hammer onto the chamber would obviously be a really bad idea in that case. If the cylinder remains locked until the hammer goes all the way down, that would be bad, too.
Does anyone have any insights?
I was reading a post on another forum about the SAA and clones, and someone said their gun would lock up if the hammer wasn't lowered all the way down before putting it in the safety notch.
This made me think a bit-- I have a USFA Rodeo, and the "Safe Loading Instructions" in the manual say I should lower the hammer all the way on an empty chamber, then pull back to the safety notch.
However, I've been lowering directly to the safety notch over an empty chamber, which seems to differ in no way from what happens if I lower it all the way, then pull it back.
I tried emailing USFA about it, and all I got was a quote from the manual (which was what I asked the question about), and I couldn't find good schematics online. Nor could I find an answer to this specific question.
So, long story short, is there any negative effect from lowering directly to the safety notch when decocking? Does anybody with a good knowledge of the internal workings of these guns have a reason? Are there exceptions for other guns? Why is lowering all the way recommended over lowering directly to the safety notch?
If the mechanism works the way I think it works, I can't see how lowering to the safety notch would cause mechanical problems.
It seems like, assuming no slip, lowering to the safety notch is safer--consider the case in which you make a mistake while loading such that a live round is under the hammer when you draw the hammer back. The cylinder is locked, and remains so until the hammer is lowered to the safety notch. Lowering the hammer onto the chamber would obviously be a really bad idea in that case. If the cylinder remains locked until the hammer goes all the way down, that would be bad, too.
Does anyone have any insights?