Ten-Finger Al Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 Quite often Western fiction mentions that people would only load 5/6 chambers and let the hammer rest on the empty chamber to prevent a discharge if the pistol was dropped. How many actual instances of such an occurrence are recorded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 I don't remember if it was Sixguns or Hell I Was There, but Elmer tells about it. Saddling the horse, and the stirrup fell off the saddle horn while the cowboy was pulling the cinch tight, and the heavy stirrup landed on the hammerspur and put a hole in the cowboy's right foot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 A buddy of mine laid a loaded Single Six on my car dash then got out to get his rifle and slammed the door. Yep, fell in floor and popped a hole through the windshield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428 Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 You dont want to have to change your name to Nine-Toe Al.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 Don't think it was something anyone wanted "recorded." We all know it happened. How many times is anybodies guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 38 minutes ago, Alpo said: I don't remember if it was Sixguns or Hell I Was There, but Elmer tells about it. Saddling the horse, and the stirrup fell off the saddle horn while the cowboy was pulling the cinch tight, and the heavy stirrup landed on the hammerspur and put a hole in the cowboy's right foot. But isn’t that fiction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 No. Sixguns was a nonfiction book telling of his experience and knowledge with pistols of all sorts. Hell I Was There is his autobiography. But then, there are people that believe that most everything he wrote was fiction. I'm not one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 I seem to recall, but cannot find, a story about a famous lawman that dropped his gun in a saloon and the gun went off shooting someone in the leg. I cannot remember the details or who was involved. I do recall it was a Colt SA revolver. When I was a kid I was at my friend’s uncle’s house. His uncle dropped a SA revolver and it went off in the house. I didn’t witness it, but heard it. I also heard lots of yelling by my friend’s aunt who was not happy. It seems the bullet hit the leg of their brand new dining room table then hit a chair. I left soon after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 That is why Ruger, then others (I think I have that right), went to the transfer bar system. Someone dropped one of their revolvers and put a big hole in his leg. Sued because "No one told me it wasn't safe to carry with the hammer down on a live round." https://law.justia.com/cases/kentucky/supreme-court/1979/586-s-w-2d-19-1.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 8 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said: Someone dropped one of their revolvers and put a big hole in his leg. The way I heard it, Alaska, passenger in a pickup truck, corduroy road. Loaded six, and as he was trying to let the hammer down as they went bumpity bumpity bumpity down the road and it slipped out from under his thumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 13 minutes ago, Alpo said: The way I heard it, Alaska, passenger in a pickup truck, corduroy road. Loaded six, and as he was trying to let the hammer down as they went bumpity bumpity bumpity down the road and it slipped out from under his thumb. Might could be. I found several cases spanning a couple of decades. By pure chance my wife sent me this from something she is reading online, I think it fits loading 5 in an old style 6 shooter: I'm reading "Beyond (The Founding of Valdemar Book 1)" by Mercedes Lackey and wanted to share this quote with you."It was not just asking for trouble, it was sending trouble a hand-made, gilded, and highly decorated invitation." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 The electrical company that I worked for did an extensive electrical upgrade and code corrections for a guy named Jeff Wynans and his wife Brandy in St. Pete, Florida. Mr. Wynans had played pro football with the Tampa Bay Bucs and had won a Super Bowl ring with the Oakland Raiders. You want to talk about a BIG guy, this man was a BIG guy. When I met him, he only had one leg, the other had been amputated above the knee. He told me that while in the process of moving, they dropped a metal case containing a .357 SA revolver containing 6 rounds. I think that the pistol was a Ruger but I can't say that for a fact as I don't remember now. Anyway, the pistol hit just right and sent the round that was under the hammer through the box and through his knee. The damage was so extensive that the knee and leg under it could not be saved. He seemed to get along well and played golf with some of his football buddies. After the remodel was done, I only spoke with him one more time. He was a real nice person and seeing a Super Bowl ring up close was pretty cool. As I understand it, he suffered from depression due to the lost leg and too many concussions and committed suicide. He remains the only negligent discharge victim that I ever met or at least the only one to admit it. Edit; While trying to find what the make of firearm was, I ran across a article/book written by his wife and have some corrections to make. Brandy's name is spelled Brandi and their last name is Winans not Wynans. The pistol was a derringer and not a SA revolver. The pistol evidently slipped out of a pair of pants that he was carrying and fired when it hit the floor. Sorry for the misinformation but that's the story that Jeff told me himself and I don't know why he changed it around somewhat but he did. I just told it the way he told it. Up until this thread, I hadn't thought about him for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Alpo said: No. Sixguns was a nonfiction book telling of his experience and knowledge with pistols of all sorts. Hell I Was There is his autobiography. But then, there are people that believe that most everything he wrote was fiction. I'm not one of them. Yeah. Don’t confuse him with Texas Man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocWard Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Alpo said: No. Sixguns was a nonfiction book telling of his experience and knowledge with pistols of all sorts. Hell I Was There is his autobiography. But then, there are people that believe that most everything he wrote was fiction. I'm not one of them. I always thought "embellished" was the right word, but not fiction, not tall tales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Utah Bob #35998 said: Yeah. Don’t confuse him with Texas Man. And here I thought I was the only one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 Deleted nine-toes-19.webp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smuteye John SASS#24774 Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 In the case of Colts, the whole idea of not lowering the hammer on a loaded chamber started with the cap and ball guns. Them little pins between the nipples- the ones on the back of the cylinder- are there to hold the hammer when it is lowered between chambers. Mechanically, lowering the hammer of a Colt SAA style gun onto a live round is a ND waiting for a chance to happen. There's nothing that's stopping the firing pin from going forward- and it's already in contact with the primer- if the hammer is lowered. The hammer isn't at full rest- since it has to go a little past the point of mere contact with the surface of the primer to fire the round- and there can't be anything that arrests the forward movement of the hammer at that point since it would stop the gun from ever firing in the first place. I'm sure there are plenty of complex answers to the question but the simple load 1, skip one, load 4, fully cock the hammer and lower it onto the empty chamber seems to me to be the most straightforward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 Even if you can't verify any of these incidents why risk it. Being shot is NOT fun. And for the record I don't trust any single action gun with a round under the hammer, regardless of their hype about safety features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cholla Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 It has been documented in various accounts. And it has been covered in biographies and books from the period. Thomas Rynning in Gun Notches told of only loading five and how the belief that everyone followed that rule caused an Arizona Ranger to get wounded. This passage came from Modern American Pistols and Revolvers, originally published in 1888. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 OH yeah. Nineteen seventy four, as I recall. My old buddy Hank did exactly that - dropped a Colt. Two hundred fifty grain hand-loaded .45 bullet exploded his right tibia and took a chomp out if the fibula. I was so impressed I went right out and bought myself a Ruger Blackhawk. Forty-five years later I wrote a short story about it - even Hank laughed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perro Del Diablo Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 Wyatt Earp had it happen to him, Johnny Ringo's father accidently killed himself with shotgun getting off wagon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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