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Old August 27, 2010, 08:15 AM   #6
mec
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Join Date: December 6, 2001
Posts: 1,536
the single action lockwork is almost exactly the same as the pre-cartridge colts. The pre cartridge colts had little pegs between the cylinders and a notch on the hammer that allowed carrying the gun fully loaded but with the hammer out of alignment with a percussion cap.
The cartridge revolvers had no room between the chambers for the pegs so, they came up with the safety notch on the hammer. Single Action ritual and dogma notwithstanding, the original intent and prevalent historic practice has been to regard the safety position as a safety position (even though it is not completely "safe.")
The owners manuals put out by ruger in the early 1960s clearly said that the hammer should be placed on the safety notch and that " In most cases, this makes the gun safe to carry fully loaded (sic)" Subsequently, a number of accidents happended related to having a loaded chamber under the hammer. Whether the hammer was in the notch or fully down on a cartridge is not known but the events did prompt ruger to abandon the traditional single action.
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