I recently acquired a new model Ruger Blackhawk. In carrying it in a holster I carried it with the hammer on an empty cylinder. Just how I’ve always carried revolvers for safety. A buddy told me I didn’t have to with this Blackhawk. Said it had some sort of cross bolt that blocked the hammer. Can someone verify this and explain it to me mechanically?

Or you could simply read a few pages of the manual, and learn about the transfer bar. If you don't own a physical copy, they are accessible on Ruger.com. Long story short: no there is no "cross bolt" on a Blackhawk, but yes, you are perfectly safe to carry with a full cylinder, with a loaded chamber under the hammer.

This. The transfer bar is the main difference between the Old Model and the New Model.


Okie John

Wish I could find a gif or animation worth 1000 words, but absent that...

The hammer face has a protrusion at the top which will hit the frame, there is no part of the hammer itself that can hit the firing pin. To allow it to strike the firing pin there is a bar, the transfer bar, which rises up between the hammer and firing pin as the hammer is pulled back and as the name implies transfers the blow of the hammer to the pin. If the trigger is not held back as the hammer falls that transfer bar is lowered so the hammer only hits the frame. If and only if the trigger is held back the transfer bar stays in place.

So all New Model Ruger single actions are safe to carry with all chambers loaded since an accidental drop or any accidental hit on the hammer - lowered or cocked - cannot set off a round.

That's a good description, Jim. Seems like the manual has a picture, but I don't exactly recall. I had a Security Six long before any Blackhawks, and understood the transfer bar system from shooting, cleaning, and taking that one apart.

If you just look at the mechanism, you'll see exactly how it works, and why there is basically no way to make the gun fire with the usual handling (including dropping the thing) unless the transfer bar is in position through the actuation of the trigger. But that's just me, I suppose. I have to KNOW how things work, so I take them apart and find out.

Thanks all for the explanation. Makes sense now. Yes I was about to start taking it apart to learn too.