I’m getting that old timey itch again… for a Cowboy Gun. I’d love a Colt Single Action Army, and for me that means a Ruger Vaquero. The Transfer Bar Safety is the business and that’s a requirement. Because if I am only going to have 6 rounds in the gun, I want to keep all six chambers loaded. A Six Shooter is best with Six. Not the standard Colt load five and carry it with the firing pin down on an empty cylinder.

I know of three cases in the last decade where a person with a single action revolver dropped the gun and it hit hammer first, discharging the firearm and the bullet impacted the person in the lower abdomen. One case was fatal, one wasn’t quite but should have been, and the other the person was luckly and only lost a testicle and has to use a pump to have an erection… Okay, so two of them should have been fatal. But never mind all that… my point is the Transfer Bar Safety is a Must Have item for me.

Ruger makes a fine revolver and their Single Action Revolvers are, in my opinion, the best value for the money. I was also a fan of the Beretta Stampede, which also had a transfer bar safety. Unfortunately, they discontinued those… They were great looking pistols to be sure. I know other makers are putting out fine Colt Clones… and there is nothing wrong with them at all. They are probably better guns than the original Colts were. They are made with the original pattern and some slight upgrades… and they have the firing pins on the hammers as the Colts did. So those are non-starters for me.

I think I am most fond of the 5102 model at this moment. Not sure why, maybe I’m itching for that big fat .45 Colt round. Because that cartridge proves that these guns are just not Outdated by any means. That cartridge is still getting work done, and in a Ruger… it can do even more. I also like the 4.6 inch barrel. Just a little shorter, I think it feels just as good, points just as good, and looks just right to me.