Learning

I'm continuing to learn the Uberti, and I have to admit that I like it a little more all the time.  Today, I happened to notice a little slot in the back of the hammer, and started wondering what that is?  Turns out, it's a safety.  Two pictures tell the tale.

That's he bottom of the Uberti hammer, and Colt aficionados will recognize it immediately.  The three notches on the bottom of the hammer are familiar to Colt smiths, and (from left to right), they're the full cock, half-cock and safety notch.  If you look in the safety notch, you'll find a little pin.  That pin engages a hammer block safety when the trigger engages that notch.  The hammer block is higher on the hammer, so another picture is in order.

That's a drawing from the manual.  When the trigger engages that pin in the safety notch, it rotates the hammer block (colored black in the drawing) down into contact between the frame and the hammer, keeping that hammer away from the frame, and the firing pin away from the primer of a cartridge.

I'm sure that Uberti put that little hammer block in as a passive safety, probably for import reasons, and the fact that you can't really see it when the gun is in use, and it doesn't get in the way unless you want it in the way, is a good thing.

Colt guys tell me that the safety notch is notoriously ineffective, it breaks easily, and shouldn't be trusted speaks volumes to the design. The standard way of carrying a Colt revolver is to load one, skip one, and load four.  Then index the cylinder so that the hammer is down on the empty chamber.

That's been my practice for years with Rugers, whether Blackhawk or Vaquero and I see no reason to load six.  However, that hammer block is a fairly intriguing safety feature, and I/m glad I figured it out.