Poor Private said:
Ok lets think this through logically then:
Your pistol has 6 chambers then you only load 5 ROA, 1960, 1851, 1858 all for example, for safety sake..
LeMat 9 shot so only load 8, whoops there is a shotgun barrel underneath so don't load that either.
Then also following this same rule we load the following Patterson, Pocket Pistols, 5 chambers- load 4.
Which leads to the Howdah 2 chambers load 1, but still unsafe since hammer is on the second barrel. So no loading at all.
Single shot percussion don't load them at all either since hammer rest on the nipple examples- LePage, Kentucky, underhammers.
So com'on guys lets get real. Anything you have or carry-pocket knife, pencil,handgun, ink pen, fingernail clipper be dangerous, and accidents do happen.
And those of you who are citing "accidents" with the load 6 got shot with one is all word of mouth. None of you have provided any type of provenance wether-books, magazines, newpapers, or modern media(TV, radio), for those of us to look up as reference. It's all my buddy said, my cousin said, my dad told me, my neighbor told me.
Now lets go futher yet. Those of you who hunt with exposed hammers on your double barreled shot guns I bet don't have empty chambers under the hammers, or even those of you who carry single shot shot guns.
How about those revolving modern guns such as the Judge, and the Circut Judge, or even a bit futher back the revolving Colt, and Remington Rifles?
First modern designs, some going back to the 19th century, are safe with 6 having hammer blocks or transfer bars that prevent firing pin contact with the primer unless the trigger is actually pulled.
The difference in a revolver and a percussion pistol is that there is a valid option to not have the hammer on a cap.
Older firearms are not as safe as modern ones. It is possible to make a percussion or flint pistol/longarm safe but making a leather cover for the frizzen. Or a metal nipple cover for percussion guns. Many English flint, percussion and cartridge hammer guns have safeties that do an excellent job of locking the tumbler/hammer. I have a flint rifle with a safety build from Rifle Shoppe castings.
Also long guns are less prone to falling accidents than pistols and revolvers.
I was in a cafe years ago a retired FBI agent and his son-in-law (a friend and gunsmith) were seated backs to me about 15 ft away they were seated along a wall 90 degrees to one I was seated next to me.
In groping in his pocket the retired FBI agent dislodged his .38 double derringer. Holster and all when it struck the floor hammer first it fired. The bullet passed up between the two and out the ceiling. A piece of the holster was directly inline with me and the gun so I discreetly felt for blood but found none.
The cafe got REALLY quiet for 20-30 seconds.
This firearm has ALL the dangers of an old school revolver.
So while you may choose to disparage the idea of firearms falling and firing if you like. The "carry five" is a very old rule it came down to me, long after I started abiding by it, from a story told to my father by my G-Grandfather who was a real cowboy in the old west. He told of riding the cattle trains to KC to party then riding the empty cars back. He told of a guy who could put five rounds in a telephone pole as the train passed it. Five rounds. Dad is not gun guy, they were just tools to him and SFAIK he has never owned a SA revolver and its not something he would have added.
Then there was the Browning shotgun that Grandpa told of falling over around a campfire and emptying the magazine as it flailed around due to recoil. Nobody could figure out why none of the them were hit.
Both storys are amusing anecdotes. Nobody got shot. Had the derringer killed my friend or his FIL or a passing waitress or me, its not funny anymore. The patched hole remained in the ceiling tile for 10 years or more till it was replaced during a remodel.
There are old school revolvers that can carry 6, the Manhatten percussion Colt copies with 12 lock bolt cuts would require considerable movement of the hammer to unlock the cylinder.
Its an old rule and a good one.
With old school revolvers you ignore it at your peril.
Dan
