Bart Slade Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 From the May 8th 1858 issue of Harper's Weekly: S.B. should have had an empty under the hammer! Assuming this was a revolver of course, could have been any kind of gun that's short enough to shoot yourself in the leg with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 Yeah. Half cock is completely safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Rich Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 Hence the term "goin off half-cocked". kR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 My dad shot himself in the leg with a Freedom Arms .22 lr mini-revolver he carried in his pocket. I don't recall if these had a notch between chambers or not, but regardless, the hammer ended up all the way down on a live round, he bumped into a bathroom door in a local business, and BANG. The bullet entered his thigh at the bottom of his pocket, blowing out a little crater of meat in the process, traveled all the way down to his knee and ended up under his kneecap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Kit Cool Gun Garth Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 14 hours ago, Bart Slade said: S.B. should have had an empty under the hammer! Assuming this was a revolver of course, could have been any kind of gun that's short enough to shoot yourself in the leg with. I believe Three Foot Johnson shouldn't have that problem, especially with his new firearms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Rereading the article, and thinking about the postings. If it was a revolver, and it was on half-cock, the cylinder would be unlocked and free to spin willy-nilly. An empty chamber, if there was one, could have been anywhere. Since the gentleman was on a deer hunt, I suspect the gun in question was a long arm, not a pistol. Many Many MANY MANY people consider half-cock on a rifle as a safety - both back then, and current time frame. I have quite often seen, on this very board, people talk about carrying their lever gun while hunting, and they have it on "half-cock safety". Since it was Mississippi, and a deer drive, I further suspect it was a short barrel shotgun loaded with buckshot. The use of the phrase "the contents", instead of "the ball" or "the bullet", lends credence to my suspicion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Slade Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 23 minutes ago, Alpo said: Rereading the article, and thinking about the postings. If it was a revolver, and it was on half-cock, the cylinder would be unlocked and free to spin willy-nilly. An empty chamber, if there was one, could have been anywhere. Since the gentleman was on a deer hunt, I suspect the gun in question was a long arm, not a pistol. Many Many MANY MANY people consider half-cock on a rifle as a safety - both back then, and current time frame. I have quite often seen, on this very board, people talk about carrying their lever gun while hunting, and they have it on "half-cock safety". Since it was Mississippi, and a deer drive, I further suspect it was a short barrel shotgun loaded with buckshot. The use of the phrase "the contents", instead of "the ball" or "the bullet", lends credence to my suspicion. I have to confess to a lot of ignorance on long arms of the era - so please correct any inaccurate statements I make... I was thinking that this taking place in 1858, if it was a long arm we're going to be talking about a muzzle loader. So I suppose that while hunting, you'd pretty well have to have the gun loaded and capped - so the safest position at that point would be to have it on half-cock (whether it was a rifle, musket, or shotgun). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joke 'um Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 1858. In spite of what Hollywood would have you think, there were no 1892 Winchesters. Long guns were single shot or doubles and muzzle loaders. So, a gun with an empty chamber under the hammer is just a heavy stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 2 hours ago, Bart Slade said: - so the safest position at that point would be to have it on half-cock (whether it was a rifle, musket, or shotgun). This is one of those "difference of opinion" things. As I said in my other post, many many many many many many many many many people think that half-cock is a safety, and that you are supposed to carry the gun around on half-cock. I feel that a half-cock is a AD preventer. If the gun is on full cock, but I am not yet ready to fire, and for some reason (overzealous gunsmith perhaps) the hammer falls off the sear, the half-cock catches it, and I don't shoot my horse. Or if I were cocking the gun, and have the hammer pulled back 7/8 of the way, and the hammer spur slipped out from under my sweaty thumb, the half-cock would catch it, and I wouldn't shoot my hunting partner. So when I was hunting with a cap and ball rifle, the barrel was charged, the cap was on the nipple, and the hammer was all the way down. This, by the way, also helps prevent the cap getting knocked off the nipple when you're going through the brush. And when I hunt with my 94 Winchester, I have a round in the chamber, and the hammer is all the way down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabez Cowboy,SASS # 50129 Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 One of them new-fangled Remington 1858, wheel guns .... Jabez Cowboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Bullweed Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Possible guns: Colt Models Patterson, Walker, Dragoons, 1849, 1851 and Root. Remington 1858 Pepperbox Any muzzleloader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabez Cowboy,SASS # 50129 Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 It's Called the Breech of a Muzzleloader.... Jabez Cowboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Slade Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 13 hours ago, Tom Bullweed said: Possible guns: Colt Models Patterson, Walker, Dragoons, 1849, 1851 and Root. Remington 1858 Pepperbox Any muzzleloader The possibility of a Smith and Wesson model 1 also crossed my mind. Being rural Mississippi, and having happened April (or earlier) in 1858, I doubt he would have had the Remington. When I read the blurb, my mind initially went "revolver"...but after looking it over more carefully, I agree with Alpo - we're most likely talking about a shotgun. either S.B. Pierce dropped it, or it slid out of a scabbard, hit the ground, broke the fragile spring that held it in half cock, and fired into his leg. Speaking of the S&W #1 and the Pepperbox...any of you read "Roughing It" by Mark Twain? Describes his adventures in Nevada in the early 1860's. He carries a S&W #1 (which of course he just calls a "Smith and Wesson" because there was no need to further classify it), and one of his companions carries a Thurber & Allen Pepperbox (which he just calls an Allen Pepperbox). It seems to me there was a third guy with a pistol, but I forget what it was. Anyway, Twain's descriptions of the value (or lack thereof) of these guns is hillarious (as usual). As I remember, he goes into detail on the Pepperbox's propensity to chain fire, and the S&W being severely underpowered. Now I have to go back and re-read it, it's a really good book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Rich Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 On 7/30/2019 at 6:24 AM, Father Kit Cool Gun Garth said: I believe Three Foot Johnson shouldn't have that problem, especially with his new firearms. Probably not but he could very easily become closely associated with 9 Toe Joe. kR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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