Skunky:
Original 1873 Colt SAAs (which these are a close clone of) didn't have any safety whatsoever. If you lowered the hammer on a live round and were stupid enough to carry it that way, any bump to the hammer would go right down to the primer and K-boom.
It also made 'em tricky to load and unload - these guns are where we get the term "going off half cocked". These guns are ALSO where we get the term "on the money", because it was traditional to cram a rolled-up $20 bill in one cylinder and lower the hammer down on THAT rather than a live round. When you cocked it, it would roll to the next cylinder bore which of course would hold a real bullet.
So a classic SAA or close clone may be a "six shooter", but it's only safe to carry "five up".
Now, so far there have been three different SA guns styled after the SAA but possessing a "transfer bar" safety, a feature commonly found on DA revolvers. On a transfer bar gun, the hammer cannot lower down into contact with the firing pin at all; in order to go boom, not only must the hammer go forward, but the trigger has to be positively pulled to jam a piece of metal up between the hammer and firing pin, "transferring" energy to the pin. This piece of metal is the "transfer bar".
The previous "transfer bar SAs":
Ruger Blackhawk/Vaquero: super strong, much stronger than an original SA, but oversize and doesn't balance as well. Available as a 44Mag, or if you order it in 45LC it can use some crazy hot-loads that are in some cases out past normal 44Mag horsepower levels.
Ruger "Single Six": balanced and sized more like an SAA but only available in 22LR, 22Magnum and 32H&R Magnum; the frame size is too small for anything bigger although at least one gunsmith has done some 5-shot 38Spl conversions. In factory calibers it's a six-shot unless you send it off to one of a couple of loony gunsmiths converting 'em to 8-shot 22
.
European American Arms "Bounty Hunter": sort of a "Rugeresque clone", also stronger than an SAA and bigger. Available as a 44Mag. Generally considered a bit crude compared to a Ruger, but not much worse.
Freedom Arms "Model 97": this is a super-high-quality SAA type; in order to increase the strength they sell it as a six-shot 357Mag or a five-shot in the bigger bores like 44Special and 45LC. Not quite as strong as a Ruger but with accuracy and mechanical precision that must be seen to be believed. Prices start at $1300 or so and go up from there. They simply reek of quality. Actual shipping specimens have been independently proven to exhibit MOA accuracy.
There's also been at least one SA type set up with a "hammer block", which is the OTHER method of doing a wheelgun safety and also borrowed from DA revolvers. Hammer blocks prevent the hammer from going forward unless the trigger is also being firmly pulled:
Freedom Arms "Large Frame": BIG gun, handles the 454Casull and 475Linebaugh "handcannon class" calibers, double or more the power of a 44Mag. Also capable of ridiculously fine accuracy (most can shoot sub-4" groups at 100 yards, some even better).
(There's also that horrible "Heritage Rough Rider" POS that has a *manual* safety switch to the left of the hammer that blocks the hammer.)
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OK, back to the Stampede. It will apparantly be another transfer bar gun, safe to load and carry six-up, can't go off if dropped, BUT for the first time with exactly the same size, handling, weight, grip compatibility and caliber class as a genuine Colt SAA. Many "near clones" of the SAA have hit the market, but none had a transfer bar or hammer block safety.
That's why we're so jazzed with this thing
.
If you built a time machine and went back to about 1880 wearing a couple of these and showed one to a period gunsmith, he'd look at it and go "oh, a Colt SAA, no biggie" - until he cocked it, looked down into the area between hammer and frame and would then go "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?"
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