Montado hammer ?

[BIgMuddy]

What is the difference between the hammer on the Montado compared to a Super Blackhawk? I think I read that the Montado was checkered, but are they also shaped different?

Thanks

Dan

 

[BlkHawk73]

Aside from the checking pattern, they're the same.

 

[DeletedMember58]

Ah, just wait for Jim March to come along, he will explain the entire history of both hammers and all the preceding designs.

 

[JimMarch1]

Oh for....look, they're the same thing. The SBH has horizontal grooves on the thumbpad, the Montado has diamond-pattern checkering with a border. Otherwise it's the same casting.

I prefer the SBH because as a strong-side thumber I slip my thumb off the side of the hammer at the end of the cocking stroke. But the difference is negligible.

 

[DeletedMember58]

All kidding aside Jim, please explain the height difference to BIgMuddy between the various hammers out there, 'cause you have an excellent treatise on the subject. It IS the best info on the subject that I have seen.

 

[JimMarch1]

Well...Bisley is the lowest, standard NewVaq is tallest, standard Blackhawk slightly shorter, SBH/Montado is a bit under half of the difference between Bisley and NewVaq. In other words the SBH/Montado types are a hair below the halfway point - so they're a bit closer to Bisley than they are the taller types.

Oh...I know what you're talking about. OK...if you take an original pre-WW2 Colt SAA *or* a USFA close clone of same like the Rodeo, the hammer reach will be shorter than a stock New Vaquero. The NewVaq with a standard hammer will have a "thumb reach" distance closer to the post-WW2 Colts (2nd gen and forward). If you put an SBH hammer on a NewVaq or buy a Montado, you'll get a "hammer reach" that's both shorter and closer to a period-correct 19th century Colt.

Which is great if you're a "strong side thumber" - in other words you've either never adopted or you've abandoned the off-hand-cocking method of two-handed shooting that has become a plague in SASS circles. For the longest time SASS banned the SBH hammer, so most of the guns were oversize for strong-side-thumbing - esp. the Old Vaquero that dominated the sport. Hence off-hand-cocking took off - but it leaves you hosed if you have to shoot one-handed.

If you're shooting major loads (high-end 357 or maxed-out 45LC, 44Spl, etc.) you gain no speed from off-hand-cocking. It IS faster if you're shooting mouse phart loads with more or less no recoil...but add recoil to the equation and off-hand-cocking offers no benefit. In fact, crank the power up high enough and it can fail - putting your off-hand thumb across the back of the strong-side hand at the end of the cocking stroke isn't a very good recoil control method.

 

[BIgMuddy]

Thanks for the info guys...I got what I needed to know. I have never seen anything more than pics of a Montado, and it is the only Ruger hammer I don't have an example of.

Thanks again!

Dan

 

[PECKER]

mouse phart :lol:

 

[JimMarch1]

125gr at 600fps FROM A FORTY FIVE is "mouse phart", and these guys are doing stuff like that. Just...you gotta be kidding me.

 

[BIgMuddy]

125gr at 600fps FROM A FORTY FIVE is "mouse phart", and these guys are doing stuff like that. Just...you gotta be kidding me.

Yes they are, and no matter what anyone says...this has nearly ruined what was once a great game to play IMO.

The reason for my question about the hammer...

I am pretty sure we will be seeing a half-cock Montado style hammer from Ron Power pretty soon. He was not sure of the exact shape, and neither was I.

Dan

 

[JimMarch1]

>>I am pretty sure we will be seeing a half-cock Montado style hammer from Ron Power pretty soon.<<

He'll sell a bajillion of 'em, too. They're now legal for SASS. Everybody and his cousin who's even considered SASS is looking for an SBH hammer, the supplied from Ruger via Brownell's, Midway etc. are more or less permanently backordered.

 

[BIgMuddy]

I am sure that is what he is hoping to do!

His standard hammer market is about dried up and he is looking to possibly make the SBH, have it checkered, and only stock that one hammer for the NM Rugers.