make revolvers with a manual safety these days

[whitneysara]

I want to carry a revolver for many reasons. Reliability is one of those reasons. I am, however, put off by the fact that the revolvers I have seen from the big companies lack a manual safety. Are there any good revolvers made today that come with a manual safety?

[eisenhower]

Welcome to the forum,

Traditionally, revolvers have no safety. In the case of a single-action revolver (such as a pistol you'd see in a western movie), one must first cock the hammer manually before the pistol will fire. This, in and of itself, is a "safety" of sorts.

The other kind of revolver, the double-action, which most police officers carried for many decades (and which you are probably looking at from modern companies) gives one an option - either cock the hammer manually, then fire, or one can simply pull the trigger to fire (without cocking the hammer), but in this case, the trigger pull is quite "heavy," requiring a distinct effort on the part of the firer. This, then, for the double action revolver is the "safety."

It works - revolvers are inherently safe when operated by someone who respects the notion that one NEVER puts their finger on a trigger until they are intending to fire.

Hope this helps, and again, welcome to the forum!
DeWayne

[bradshaw]

whitneysara.... a single action revolver with
MANUAL SAFETY which must be manually disengaged:
* Interarms Virginian Dragoon----with hammer on half cock, depress base pin catch and push base pin into cylinder frame. Lower hammer on empty chamber. Revolver cannot be fired until base pin is retracted.

* Colt Peacemaker and clones, Ruger "old model" single actions----load chambers, leaving one chamber empty. Lower hammer on empty chamber.

* Freedom Arms Model 83----load chambers, leaving one chamber empty. Lower hammer from half cock, release trigger, finger out trigger guard, lower hammer onto safety bar (over empty chamber).

PASSIVE SAFETY:
* Smith & Wesson and Colt Python double action. Hammer rebounds on release of trigger, raising a bar between hammer and cylinder frame.

PASSIVE SAFETY----TRANSFER BAR:
* Ruger double action.

* Ruger New Model single action.

* Freedom Arms Model 97.

Of all revolvers listed above, only the Interarms Virginian must be MANUALLY DISENGAGED to fire----and it requires two hands.

Note: "passive safety" means safety engages as trigger is released.
David Bradshaw

[CraigC]

Revolvers do not need a manual safety and I wouldn't buy one that did. Safety is between the ears.

[bobwright]

Why on Earth would you want a manual safety on a revovler?


Bob Wright

[taffin]

Feb 19, 2013 1:19:10 GMT -5 whitneysara said:

I want to carry a revolver for many reasons. Reliability is one of those reasons. I am, however, put off by the fact that the revolvers I have seen from the big companies lack a manual safety. Are there any good revolvers made today that come with a manual safety?

DOUBLE ACTION REVOLVERS HAVE HAD HAMMER BLOCK SAFETIES WHICH ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENGAGED SINCE WWI ERA; RUGER SINGLE ACTIONS HAVE HAD TRANSFER BAR SAFETIES SINCE 1973. TRADITIONAL SINGLE ACTIONS "SAFETY" IS CARRYING WITH AN EMPTY CHAMBER UNDER THE HAMMER.

THE SO-CALLED CYLINDER PIN SAFETY SHOWN IN ICTURES HERE IS A "SAFETY" THAT COULD GET ONE KILLED IF THE REVOLVER IS NEEDED IN A HURRY. ITS ONLY FUNCTION WAS TO ALLOW IMPORTATION.SAFETIES ON SEMI-AUTOPISTOLS ARE TO ALLOW CARRYING OF A ROUND IN THE CHAMBER; NOT NEEDED ON REVOLVERS'

[taffin]

Feb 19, 2013 9:47:13 GMT -5 bobwright said:

Why on Earth would you want a manual safety on a revovler?

PRETTY "TERSE" ANSWER BOB!


Bob Wright

[kings6]

Hi Whitneysara, welcome to the forum. Legitimate question about revolver safety if a person is not that familiar with the various types of revolvers and their mechanics. Hopefully the explanations given have addressed some of your safety concerns about revolvers. Like mentioned, many modern single action, "cowboy style" revolvers have transfer bars that mean you have to physically pull the trigger to make them fire. Not much concern about dropping them and having them go off. The double action "police style" revolvers for want of a better descriptive term are very safe as well. It is the older "cowboy style" revolvers that you just need to make sure you never carry a live round under the hammer. Once again, the best safety is between the ears and keeping the finger off the trigger until you are ready for the gun to go bang.

Feel free to ask any more specific questions you may have as there is a wealth of handgun knowledge visiting here daily. We will all try to remember to to be polite and thoughtful in answering any questions you may have.

Once again, welcome to the forum,

Robb

[bobwright]

Feb 19, 2013 10:15:22 GMT -5 taffin said:

Feb 19, 2013 9:47:13 GMT -5 bobwright said:

Why on Earth would you want a manual safety on a revovler?

PRETTY "TERSE" ANSWER BOB!


Bob Wright

That was not an answer, that was a question.

Bob Wright

[jimmarch]

You can make a good case that an SA revolver with a transfer bar ignition (all Rugers from 1973 forward, the Freedom Arms "97" series, the Beretta Stampede and a few others) are the safest type of handguns made.

They can't go boom until you first cock it, and THEN fully and deliberately hold the trigger back. No amount of slamming/dropping will set them off even if the slamming/dropping happens with the hammer cocked.

And then after each shot, they go back "on safe" with the hammer down, hammer needs to be cocked back to fire.

It's not possible to accidentally crank off a second round out of any kind of "startle reflex". This is why a lot of horsemen like SA revolvers. It's not because (or at least not completely because!) they want to "play cowboy". If they have to fire a shot from horseback at, say, a bear, it's pretty much a dead certainty that the horse is going to startle and buck...either from the shot itself or from whatever needed shooting in the first place. The guy riding is going to try to cling to the horse with his off-hand. When he does, the act of squeezing with one hand will cause a sympathetic squeeze with the other - the one holding the gun. With any other type of handgun, it's going to crank a second round off in a random direction but with an SA revolver, nope. Not until the guy lines up the sights and cocks it for another shot when ready.

Now, there IS an SA revolver out there made with a manual safety - the Heritage small-frame series which are mostly .22LR and .22Magnum but with a few 32Mag as well. The reason for the manual safety is that it doesn't have an automatic safety such as a transfer bar system like a Ruger.

The transfer bar system is better. It works because the hammer cannot physically hit the firing pin - there's an air gap between them. To make it fire, the trigger has to be pulled which raises a piece of metal up between the firing pin and hammer. That piece of metal is called a "transfer bar" because it transfers the hammer's strike to the firing pin. Without a finger on the trigger, gun no go boom. You can anchor it in a bench vice fully loaded and wail on the hammer (cocked or otherwise) with a 10lb mallet and the gun will break past all possible repair (read: never go boom again, then or after) before it goes boom. A transfer bar setup is the gold safety standard in automatically engaged safeties.

Glocks, Ruger and S&W DA revolvers and other modern guns won't go boom if dropped either. Their automatic disconnectors between firing pin and hammers (or strikers) are at least as good as a transfer bar, although nothing is safer. However, there is nothing you need to do to enable a second shot - you just pull the trigger again. Their shot-to-shot string speeds are higher than an SA revolver, except in cases where the recoil is so extreme that bringing the barrel back down is the most time-consuming aspect of cranking the next shot off...in other words, once the ammo's horsepower is high enough (up past 44Magnum territory) the SA wheelguns are at little or no disadvantage in shot-to-shot speed.

[cadillo]

Feb 19, 2013 1:19:10 GMT -5 whitneysara said:

I want to carry a revolver for many reasons. Reliability is one of those reasons. I am, however, put off by the fact that the revolvers I have seen from the big companies lack a manual safety. Are there any good revolvers made today that come with a manual safety?

I believe that you would be better served by asking where you can get some training in the proper use of various revolvers and other handgun types, both to boost your skill and self confidence in their proper handling, and to thus understand that a manual safety on a revolver is not only unneeded, but in fact a detriment to its use. I wish you well in that endeavor.

[Aggie01]

IMO, best carry practice involves a good holster. Covering or immobilizing the hammer or trigger will add another layer of safety.

[jayhawker]

Note that the last .22 cal Colt SA revolvers had a cross bolt safety.

[robl]

Sara, Read some books get some training it won't seem so unsafe, once you gain a better understanding of the mechanics involved.



web.archive.org/web/20030625023516/http://www.sixguns.com/tests/tt44mag.htm

[jamesjames]

Revolvers have several safety features as an inherent part of their design.

For single action revolvers, the safety feature is that the gun is un-cocked when carried in the holster. With the Colt-style Single Action Armys, you"load one, skip one, and load four" pulling the hammer to full cock and them lowering it on an empty chamber. That way, a blow to the back of the hammer won't drive the firing pin into a round under the hammer. You have to draw the weapon from the holster and manually cock it with a thumb before it is ready to fire.

For double action revolvers, the trigger is also un-cocked when carried in the holster. The trigger has a pull weight of around nine pounds in double action mode. That has been considered a safety feature. A heavy trigger pull and long trigger travel in double action helps to make the firing of the weapon a more deliberate act and not subject to a "hair trigger" that could go off by mistake. When the double action revolver hammer is thumb cocked, the trigger weight to fire it in "single action" mode is reduced to around 3 pounds. It is assumed that if you cock the hammer, you intend to fire the weapon and are taking a more carefully aimed shot. Point shooting is a fast draw from the holster and firing the revolver in double action mode at a target 7 yards or closer. Slow firing of the weapon in double action is possible for the beginner with shots every 2 to 3 seconds. Learning how to manage the steadying and aiming of a shot in double action during the long, heavy trigger pull is part of the art of learning the double action revolver and it takes a lot of practice.

Revolvers tend to be more safe than semi-autos. That's why revolvers don't have safeties and semi-autos do. The only semi-autos without safeties are those with a "Double-action-only" trigger.These replicate the double-action revolver trigger that has a long trigger travel and heavier trigger pull weight.