Passive Hammer Block on Uberti Cattleman SAA

[COSteve]

I've been playing with my Uberti SAA and have a question for this august group of experts. According to the manual, the passive hammer block below the firing pin rotates into position to block the forward travel of the hammer when one cocks the hammer only to the first click (before the loading position). I can easily look at the back of the hammer, under the spur, and see if this mechanical block has been activated as it rocks forward and up when engaged.

So now to my question for the group. As this hammer block physically interferes with the hammer going far enough forward for the firing pin to contact the primer (much like a transfer bar), what does the group think of carrying this pistol in the first cock position with 6 rounds in the cylinder instead of the hammer down on an empty chamber? The manual recommends carrying with the hammer block engaged but also with a empty cylinder, however, it seems to me to be a belt and suspenders kind of answer.

It seems to me that carry with 6 rounds with this arrangement would be safe as is the case with Rugers, etc with a transfer bar type assy, but I could be overlooking something the group knows about this arrangement. Do the CASS types load up 5 or 6 rds? Is there something about the hammer block that makes it unreliable? Or is it perfectly fine to carry in a holster with the hammer at the first cock and with 6rds?

What say you all?

[Leverluver]

I wouldn't bet on it passing a "drop" test too many times. The tiny tip of the trigger pushing on a little plunger is all that is holding the spring loaded block down and in contact with the frame, to block the hammer from the primer.

[Leverluver]

BTW, you got insomnia or working graveyards like me?

[Hobie]

No. Why? Because you can't carry hammer DOWN on a loaded round.

[Pisgah]

Here's the thing -- if a transfer bar breaks, the hammer CANNOT contact the firing pin. It hits the frame, and none of the blow can reach the pin. If the Uberti safety somehow breaks or malfunctions, BANG. It is safer than no safety at all, true, but IMO a transfer bar system is safer than just about any type of hammer block safety, and certainly safer than the tiny Uberti job. I load 5 in my Uberti Flat Top Target, and have considered replacing the "with-safety" hammer with a non-safety one, just for looks.

[J Miller]

I load5 in mine with the hammer over the empty chamber.

The little safety widget on the Uberti hammer is sort of a last ditch mechanical block if your thumb slips off the hammer. As Leverluver said the only thing that makes it work is the thin flimsy top of the trigger. I wouldn't bet on it lasting much more than once.

As a safety to carry six I'm not sure enough to do it. Granted when you lower the hammer carefully to the first notch there is no stress, but that firing pin is oh so close ..... I just can't trust it.

Joe

[COSteve]

BTW, you got insomnia or working graveyards like me?

Neither. I was up because we got a late call from our college age daughter. No problems; she just met most of the Colorado Avalanche Hockey Team during an outing with her friends in Denver to celebrate her last ever class in college. She graduates on May 8th after 5 years.

She wanted us to look at her Facebook to see all the pictures she took with them so we could verify that they really were Avalanche players. She's not a fan of Hockey at all (likes the Nuggets) so at first didn't believe them when they told her who they were. She knows that my wife is a big fan as am I, so she knew we could identify them. Sure enough she has pictures with a fair number of the team members.

Also, thanks to you all for the info on my Uberti. I suspected something like that would be the case. I'll keep it in mind going forward.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I am in complete agreement here.

First off, us CAS types only load five and keep the hammer down on an empty chamber, even with a Ruger. That is standard CAS rules and applies at all official matches. Yes, a Ruger is completely safe to carry with a live round under the hammer, but since the Colt and clone guys are not allowed to load six, neither are the Ruger guys.

The Uberti safety is little better than the 'safety cock' notch on a real Colt. Both rely on the slender tip of the trigger, the sear, to keep the hammer back with the firing pin away from the primer. The internal parts of these guns, particularly the sear and the 'safety cock' notch on the hammer are not very robust. A good blow to the hammer will snap something off inside and the gun WILL fire. This has been proved over and over again and anybody familiar with a colt type single action revolver knows never to leave a live round under the hammer. The Uberti safety is actually just a method to satisfy US import rules. All pistols imported into the US must have some sort of safety device to be imported. Currently Uberti is using a cylinder base pin with two notches on it, when pushed all the way in the pin protrudes toward the rear and prevents the hammer from riding far enough forward for the firing pin to strike a primer. But the old 'D' type hammer was not much safer than no safety at all. A good blow to the hammer spur will still break something off inside and the gun will fire.

Rugers on the other hand, employ a system which is the exact opposite. Instead of a hammer block preventing forward motion of the hammer, the transfer bar must be in place between the frame mounted firing pin and the hammer for the hammer blow to be transferred to the firing pin. If the trigger is not all the way back, the transfer bar is in the lowered position, and the hammer cannot physically reach the firing pin. There is a cutout on the underside of the hammer where the hammer strikes the transfer bar. If the transfer bar is not in place, the hammer bottoms out against the frame and the cutout stops short of striking the firing pin.

P.S. Ruger developed this system after they got tired of getting sued, and loosing, to gun owners who did not understand keeping an empty under the hammer. The old three screw Rugers had a lockwork very similar to a Colt, and with a round under the hammer, they would fire too if the hammer was struck a heavy enough blow. So Bill Ruger got tired of being sued and in the 1970s Ruger completely redesigned their single action line, incorporating the transfer bar. It is actually a very clever solution, although purists don't like it much.