OK to rest hammer on 1860 Army

[willtill]

I had read somewhere earlier in this forum about someone's question regarding some small pins that protrude from the rear of the Pietta's 1860 Army cylinder; between the nipples. It is apparent that they are used/can be used to rest the hammer on while safely maintaining 6, rather than 5 capped nipples.

I scrutinized my 1860 Army last night for this feature. Indeed, if you were to place the hammer at half cock and rotate the cylinder to position the hammer between two nipples, you can lower the hammer onto the protruding pin between the nipples. There is a slot, or groove on the bottom face of the hammer in which the small pin will seat in, when the hammer is returned to a rest position.

It's a safety feature that I think is overlooked with this revolver, due to the size of the pins.

Kindest Regards,

-Will in Maryland

 

[pondoro]

I have experimented with this at the range with the gun pointed downrange. The pins seem to hold the hammer securely. But most advice that I get is "don't trust them." Since I never carry my 1860 in a holster it is only a point of interest to me, not a practical issue.

 

[Charley Hart]

I don't carry my BP revolvers on my hip loaded, not even at the range. I load and then immediately fire.

To each his own.

 

[Toomuch_36]

I had read somewhere earlier in this forum about someone's question regarding some small pins that protrude from the rear of the Pietta's 1860 Army cylinder; between the nipples. It is apparent that they are used/can be used to rest the hammer on while safely maintaining 6, rather than 5 capped nipples.

I scrutinized my 1860 Army last night for this feature. Indeed, if you were to place the hammer at half cock and rotate the cylinder to position the hammer between two nipples, you can lower the hammer onto the protruding pin between the nipples. There is a slot, or groove on the bottom face of the hammer in which the small pin will seat in, when the hammer is returned to a rest position.

It's a safety feature that I think is overlooked with this revolver, due to the size of the pins.

Kindest Regards,

-Will in Maryland

This is the reasoning behind the addition of these pins on reproduction revolvers, and will work quite well if you must carry with all six chambers loaded. It should be noted though that this feature is only on reproduction Colt models and not found on the origionals, unlike the '58 Remmingtons which did have a knotch between the nipples to rest the cock in.

Toomuch
..........
Shoot Flint

 

[mec]

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These are the instructions published by Colt in the 1850s. Of the Colt Revolvers, the Patersons had no safety pins between the chambers, the Pocket Model of 1849-50 and the Walker had one safety pin only. Subsequent Colts had pins between every chamber.

The Whitney revolvers, early Remingtons had no safety notches as appeared on the 1863 versions. Remington made two improvements to the Beals 1858 designs and those notches appeared on one of those.

Putting the hammer down on the safety pins with all six chambers loaded is perfectly fine unless the pins, as sometimes happens, are worn, peened or broken off.

 

[Zonie]

As usual, I can't find the book to quote, but I am sure the cylinder safety pins were used on the original Colt 1860 and I believe they also were a part of at least some of the 1851s.

Somewhere I have information that mentions these pins were required by the Military on the 1860 Colt.

I did find a photo of a Griswold and Gunnison cylinder which clearly has the safety pins. ( CONFEDERATE HANDGUNS William A Albaugh III, Hugh Benet Jr, Edward N. Simmons copyright MCMLXIII George Shumway page 27).
This is interesting in that the Griswold and Gunnison was made to a design contract that stated the guns were to be copies of the 1851 Colt Navy.
The only real departure from the Colt 1851 Navy that I am aware of on the G & G is the brass frame and the round barrels.

Most modern shooters will strongly recommend that the safety pins should not be used as they are not very safe.
It is recommended that if the gun is to be loaded and not immediatly fired, one should load only 5 chambers and leave the hammer resting on the unloaded chambers nipple.

 

[LRB]

These pins are very easy to install yourself, if your gun does not have them. I consider them very safe. How is the cylinder going to rotate while it is holstered? When it is in your hand, you are the safety. I carried one for years in this manner, and see no way for a problem to come about. The pins must be of sufficient length however, and the groove in the hammer must be equal to the task required. If not, that is easily remedied with a dremel ,or file. 5 loaded, and the hammer down on an empty chamber, did not come into common use until the model P, which did not have this arrangement. Ned Roberts opined that this was the safest type of revolver safety system ever devised. In his day, I would have to agree.

 

[mec]

For those interested, Colt had a sheet of instructions labled for the Army, Navy and Pocket Pistols.The picture on the sheet is of a Colt Dragoon. It gives loading instructions and in regard to the pins, " To carry the arms safely when loaded, the hammer must be let down on one of the pins between each tube on the end of the cylinder."

 

[mec]

A well known gun writer named Elmer Keith published the book " Sixguns" in 1955. He is still the source of much information about handguns in general and is well known among gun enthusiasts. On page 211 of the Bonanza Books 1961 edition of Sixguns, in the Chapter "Loading and Management of Cap and Ball Sixguns." Keith had this to say about the safety pins,"Let the hammer down between nipples on the safety pin frovided for the tiny notch in the center of the bottom tip of the hammer or, if this is gone, just let the hammer rest between nipples and your cap and ball sixgun is ready for action."

 

[oldmaster]

This is how I store my pistols but I don't know how much I would trust this if the chambers were loaded and capped. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Lonegun1894]

I have two .44 C&B revolvers. One is a Pietta 1860 with a shortened barrel and the other is a 1858 fullsize marked "made in Italy", some proofmarks, and ASM, not sure who exactly made it though. I carried both as described above--using the pins on the 1860 and the notches on the 1858--for 3 years as my concealed handguns, partly to prove a point, and partly cause at the time they were the handguns i was most accurate with. I never once had a hammer come off a pin/notch unless i cocked the hammer, so i have a lot of faith in the system because i lived with these two revolvers always in reach for 3 years straight, all day, every day. I know there are more modern weapons available, and i have updated, to a Ruger Vaquero .45 Colt, and on occasion something even more modern, but those two still just feel right. Like has been said above, that cylinder cant move when it's in your holster. Just be sure you are setting it on the pin/notch and not on a cap and you shouldn't have any problems. Not recommending that you do what i did, but that gas been my experience with them anyways.

Paul