SAA Not Holding Half Cock Position

[M-Tecs]

Hmm,,,
I always figured it was that if the hammer was down and wasn't on the half cock notch, or the notch was damaged/broken off,
you could hit the back of the hammer and make it discharge. Or,,, if maybe the original ones didn't have the notch.

And maybe that was part of the reason why inertia firing pins came along.

The half cock is primarily for loading and unloading.

https://www.bevfitchett.us/colt-army...positions.html

https://www.rockislandauction.com/ri...le-action-army

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...olver-question

Todays practices are that non-transfer bar 1873's today are not carried with 6 chambers loaded. In the down position the firing pin is resting on the primer. The safe notch does provide some additional safety but a hard blow to the hammer can shear it off or bumping the hammer slightly will disengage the hammer from the safety nock and it's back to resting on the primer.

Back in the day the military manuals instructed to load all 6 chambers but they also used full flap holsters.

[warren5421]

Sam Colts loading instructions from 1835 to his death was to load all chambers. I think the load 5 is an early gun writers idea.

[William Yanda]

Sam Colts loading instructions from 1835 to his death was to load all chambers. I think the load 5 is an early gun writers idea.

OR, perhaps the solution found by users over the years.

[35 Whelen]

Sam Colts loading instructions from 1835 to his death was to load all chambers. I think the load 5 is an early gun writers idea.

Agreed. It's only fairly recently that society, shooters included, have sought to insulate themselves from their own carelessness.

35W

[alfadan]

Ive stated before; I think someone such as a cavalryman may have only loaded five, but going into battle loaded all six as the gun falling on a loaded chamber would be the least of his worries.

[M-Tecs]

Ive stated before; I think someone such as a cavalryman may have only loaded five, but going into battle loaded all six as the gun falling on a loaded chamber would be the least of his worries.

The training manuals of the time stated load all six but they used full flap holsters. In the early to mid-70 Dad was a member of a 7th Calvary re-enactment group. They had original training and drill manuals plus original cookbooks. I've had calvary stew same as it done in 1870's. I load about 50K 45 Colt and 10k to 15K 45/70 for them.

[Jackrabbit1957]

Next time you detail strip the pistol look at the half cock notch with a magnifier, it should show a clean edge and actually be a shallow slot for the trigger nose to fit into. Do the same with the trigger nose, neither one should be burred or have chunks or chips missing. The best thing on the springs would be replace them with music wire torsion type springs. They don't break and the gun will be completely different when it's set up properly. Watch the muzzleloader section as I will be posting a revolvo being tuned shortly.

[alfadan]

The training manuals of the time stated load all six but they used full flap holsters. In the early to mid-70 Dad was a member of a 7th Calvary re-enactment group. They had original training and drill manuals plus original cookbooks. I've had calvary stew same as it done in 1870's. I load about 50K 45 Colt and 10k to 15K 45/70 for them.

Do you happen to have any small arms training manuals of the time or any links to online versions? I'd be very interested to read some.

[M-Tecs]

Do you happen to have any small arms training manuals of the time or any links to online versions? I'd be very interested to read some.

I haven't seen them since the late 70's when the group disbanded. Most of the members have passed.

[Finster101]

Next time you detail strip the pistol look at the half cock notch with a magnifier, it should show a clean edge and actually be a shallow slot for the trigger nose to fit into. Do the same with the trigger nose, neither one should be burred or have chunks or chips missing. The best thing on the springs would be replace them with music wire torsion type springs. They don't break and the gun will be completely different when it's set up properly. Watch the muzzleloader section as I will be posting a revolvo being tuned shortly.

I did order the replacement springs just in case, but got antsy and did not wait for them to arrive before digging into the issue. Once I had it apart and could see the problem, I chose to just reassemble it with the original springs. As little as I shoot this pistol it could be years before it needs detail stripped again. I will watch for post on tuning though. Thanks again to everyone for pointing me in the right direction.

[ubetcha]

You got the special "Alec Baldwin" edition

That was going to my reply also.😊 As an after thought,why is he still out and about and not in the slammer?

[Winger Ed.]

As an after thought, why is he still out and about and not in the slammer?

Jail and prison is only for the little people.
He's able to afford too much justice for that.

[Jackrabbit1957]

I did order the replacement springs just in case, but got antsy and did not wait for them to arrive before digging into the issue. Once I had it apart and could see the problem, I chose to just reassemble it with the original springs. As little as I shoot this pistol it could be years before it needs detail stripped again. I will watch for post on tuning though. Thanks again to everyone for pointing me in the right direction.

I will be posting some more stuff on tuning sigle actions in the near future. Look for it in the muzzleloading section as I only do cap and ball revolvers. If you have a specific question don't hesitate to ask.