(I am not a competitior so what I have to say may have little bearing on what is accepted in competition circles.)
First, if you are in competition, what do the clubs you shoot at require you to do?
The military asked for and got those pins for the purpose of carrying the revolver with all six chambers charged. The hammer on the empty came about when the Colts Model P was in common use. I have used the pins on my revovlers for quite a few years and have not noticed any disappearing. If the slot in the hammer is cut properly, it will lock onto the pin and you are good to go. On my older revolvers, the hammer and pins meld well together. On my newer ones, I have had to widen the slot on a couple to allow for a proper fit. ANd on one revolver, an 1851 with the GU stamp, there is no slot and no pins.
As I have said, for me the pins work. Oh, I carry in an open top holster, not a flap holster.
Hey Straw Hat,
Bear with me a minute as we go through your post.
SASS clubs require that you put them on an empty chamber, or in the event you have a 5 shot cylinder 'a la some of the conversion cylinders or a Paterson you must do as it says in the SASS Shooter's Handbook "Five shooters may load five rounds, but the hammer must rest on a dummy chamber, safety slot
or pin in the cylinder so the hammer does not rest on a live round/cap." The "pin" was just added in the 2010 handbook, so now there is no question with Patersons as there was before.
First of all the military didn't ask for the pins it was an early feature, I need to find the citation but i read (again this is all from memory) that Colt added one pin to a few Paterson revolver (like the early 1848 Baby Dragoons) even before he sat down with Walker. And when he and Walker collaborated there wasn't a military RFQ or any specification of features. Colt and Samuel Walker were both aware of the issue with the Paterson revolvers, it seems adding 6 pins was Colt's answer because they appeared on the next model which was the 1847 Walker.
Second the hammer on an empty chamber wasn't common when SAA were in use. Army records and ammunition issues were based around the pistols being fully loaded. The 5 shot loading appears to be a contrivance of 20th century writers. Even the author of Wyatt Earps biography has been discredited when it comes to a story he related about Earp and a pistol that supposedly had an AD when it fell from his holster. His story was that Wyatt asked him not to print it. Since then it appears he embellished many of his accounts and Earp was no longer around to call him a liar. That story is one that as been added to the list of unsubstantiated.
Now for modern shooters, you may do whatever you wish, but I believe the phrase is "six shooter" for a reason."
Be careful if you widen the slot, the slot creates it's own set of problems which is why a lot of us fill them. The pins would work for me too if I was carrying one as a sidearm. I might even pull the pins, redrill the pinholes and add a hardened pin such as a drill blank.
In the end does it really matter if you are safety minded how you choose to carry your pistols? Be aware though, as some of us have indicated the pins on the Italian revolvers are fragile and soft. They seem to get mushroomed or "wiped" off of the cylinders.
Regards,
Mako