Pulling trigger with loading gate open on Old Model Single Six

Hey Folks,

The other day after I was done shooting and was putting the guns away,I got curious about my OM Super Single Six.

I pulled the hammer all the way back and then opened the loading gate.
What I wanted to see was if the trigger could be pulled while the gate was open.

Pulled the trigger as hard as possible and sure 'nuf,the hammer fell.

Did I break it or merely applied too much muscle and forced the hammer to drop?

It was unloaded at the time

Call me Mr. Curious!!

On Old Models there is no connection between the loading gate and the rest of the action. No harm, no foul.

Thank You Ale-8(1)

My dedicated desert snake gun. I keep the first four with shotshells and the last five with whatever solid ammo I happen to have with me.

You shouldn't have had to pull the trigger any harder than normal.

Hondo44 said:

You shouldn't have had to pull the trigger any harder than normal.

Click to expand...

Absolutely. If you had to pull the trigger unusually hard to get the hammer to fall you have an internal problem not related to the loading gate.

Are you sure you had the hammer pulled all the way back? If it was only half-way back I could see the difficulty in getting hammer drop, likely with damage to the trigger spur and/or the related notch on the hammer.

This is unrelated to the loading gate.

Dangerous. Back in the 1960s a fellow in Alaska "claimed" to be unloading his .44 mag, OM. Sitting in his pickup he held the gun between his legs and began unloading, one shell at a time. Hammer was on "half-cock". Gun slipped from his fingers and when he grabbed for it, "accidentally" put his finger on the trigger and since he was grabbing for falling gun pulled too hard on the trigger. Hammer went back and down discharging the gun and shooting a bullet into his foot. Evidence: hole in foot and hole in floorboard of truck. Brought suit against Ruger in Alaska, won $1.5 million in jury trial. This was primary factor in having Ruger re-design SA to two-screws instead of three-screws. Note: force, measured this accident gun, required 29 lbs to pull hammer from half-cock to fall and discharge. Expert wit for Ruger built special rig to calibrate force required and had light bulb go on when 29 lbs pulled on special rig. Nobody in that jury able to light the bulb. Multiple lawsuits involving OM SA pistols. Like any gun, they are safe if you use them properly. Disengage between the ears and any gun can be dangerous.

I see that this is an older thread, but I will comment anyway. If you are in a situation with your revolver that you have to pull the trigger "as hard as you can" to get the hammer to fall, something is wrong. I would have pointed the revolver in a safe direction, pulled the hammer back, held it under control, pull the trigger and eased the hammer forward.