American Handgunner March/April 1981

ourThe Empty Chamber.rom the earliest frontier days of the old west,, the mechanical characteristics and limitationsof the single-action revolver have been well understood,as the writings ofthe day amply demonstrate.The safety precaution of loading the "six-shooter"with only five cartridges and resting the hammeronthe empty chamber was universally practiced.According to folklore, some cowboys habituallycarried "burying money" or their last bank noterolled up in the empty chamber. These old-timersunderstood that the notches in the hammer providedonly limited protection, and that an accidentaldischarge could resultifa fully loaded revolver wereto be dropped, or ifthe hammer were to receive asharp blow,Despite the lessons of history, there are stillFREE CATALOGS AND INSTRUCTION MANUALS WHICH CONTAIN APPROPRIATE WARNINGS AND ADVICEFOR THE USE OF All MODELS OF RUGER FIREARMS ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE FACTORY ON REQUESTpeople who get themselves in trouble by ignoringthe following common sense rules ofgun handling:1. The shooter should thoroughly understand themechanical characteristics and rules for handlingthe particular type of firearm he is using.2. The safest way to carry any old style' single~'action revolver is with five chambers loaded and thehammer resting on the empty chamber.'The Ruger "New Moder single-action revolversare notsubject to this limitationandcan becarriedsafely with all six chambers loaded. Some othermanufacturers haveadded various manualsafetydevices to old style single-action revolvers, but nomanual safety can ensure against accidents iftheshooterfails to use itproperly. Remember: There isno such thing as a foolproofgun!STURM~ RUGER & Company~ Inc~2 Lacey PlaceSouthport, Connecticut 06490 U.S.A.ALL RUGER FIREARMS ARE DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED IN RUGER FACTORIES IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA© 1980 by Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.