Historical Accuracy of the “Cowboy Load.”

[9245]

We all know the "cowboy load" it's used in competitions "load one, skip one, load 4."  And it's become so well known that I've actually heard the lines (or ones like them) "the old timers all carried five," or "only stupid people carried all six," or "everyone knows that you only carried five."  It has even spread to legend "gun slingers used to keep money in the empty chamber to pay the undertaker if they died."  We know today that the design of the safety notch is far from drop safe (at least by modern standards) and thus unless you have a transfer bar, retractible firing pin, or some other kind of mechanical safety that you should never carry six and keep the hammer on an empty chamber, but what was the practice in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when these weapons were actual daily carries?  Were they really so safety conscious as to only carry five, or is that strictly a modern thing and we are simply projecting that "common knowledge" back to the past when in reality they carried six?

First, let's look at it from the perspective of someone in the period.  They were far less safety conscious generally than we are today, a look in an average workplace alone would have sent a modern OSHA inspector in to such a fit that they would be speaking in tongues, foaming at the mouth, and giving birth to litter of puppies while simultaneously dropping a load of bricks off at the pool inside five minutes of going in the door, and less litigious too, accidents happened and a man was just expected to know what he was doing and act in a sane and rational way.  These weapons were also not carried to play a game, LARP, or as a range toy, they were critical life saving tools carried as such, just as our daily carries are today, and they were painfully cumbersome to reload, so much so that practically speaking it would not be done in a fight, so the rounds you had loaded were practically speaking all that you would get.  So would a person willingly give up a round just so they would not risk accidentally shooting themselves in the foot in the very unlikely event that they dropped their own revolver through carelessness?  Probably not.  Also consider that they were coming out of the cap and ball era when it was perfectly safe to carry six and there was really not much of an advantage to switching to a gate loader from a cap and ball anyway, so asking them to switch from a six shot revolver to a five just because of poor design would have been a stretch.

Now consider what was actually said during the period:

From the 1887 edition of "Description and Rules for the Management of the Springfield Rifle, Carbine, and Army Revolvers.  Caliber 45." Page 57:

"To load the revolver.  Hold the revolver in the left hand, muzzle downward.  Half-cock it with the right hand and open the gate.  Insert the cartridges with the right hand.  Close the gate and bring the hammer to the safety-notch.  Keep it there until the revolver is to be fired."

Another reference is in "The Modern American Pistol and Revolver" by A.C. Gould in 1888, which states, on page 50:

"To LOAD THE ARM.—1st motion: holding the revolver in the left hand, muzzle downwards, half-cock it with the right hand and open the gate. 2d motion: insert the cartridges in succession with the right hand, close the gate, cock and fire it (taking it in the right hand), or bring the hammer to the safety-notch, as may be desired."

So it seems clear to me that the practice was to load all six and carry it with the hammer in the safety notch.  Does that make it right today?  No, not necessarily, and I'm not advocating for it, but I felt like the record had to be set straight.  Because I've also seen those same people who say "the old timers all did it this way" take it to ridiculous extremes and thus demonstrate their complete ignorance of firearms and how they actually work.  I have literally seen some, including on boards like this even insist on carrying their cap and balls that way, despite having very obvious and very safe hammer notches (or pins) right on the cylinder, this making them perfectly safe to carry fully loaded, even by modern standards.  I've even seen them insist that even modern double action revolvers "have to be carried on an empty chamber, they figured that out a long time ago."

Anyway, the stupid I mentioned at the end of that last paragraph was hurting my brain so here you go.

[Galloway]

I bet load five skip one was more popular than youtube would have us believe too. What you dont like is rhetoric im the same way.

[Cap'n Redneck]

I'm thinking that loading 5 or 6 also depended on time and place back in the days...?
Travelling through Apache-territory during one of Geronimo's raids I know I would fill my cylinders to the brim.  (and I wouldn't load my shotgun with US#7,5 birdshot either..!)
Working as a cowpuncher in some peaceful place, where dispatching the occasional rattlesnake would be the most prevalent hazard, I would probably only load 5.

If carrying a cartridge-revolver loaded with 6 rounds I would feel safer easing the hammer all the way down and resting the firing-pin between the rims of two of the cartridges than putting my trust in a (brittle) safety- or half-cock notch...   

[Coffinmaker]

   Well, Ya know What??

Itsa perfectly good question.  I even like 9245's dissertation.  There is only one problem.  Finding someone who was there and actually knew what was common.  Historically speaking, most "Cowboys" didn't wear a Belt Gun while working.  The written histories tell us that.  The belt gun was usually packed away in the saddle bag or stored in the Chuck Wagon.  Townies were not necessarily armed with Belt Guns either.  More likely small pocket pistols.  Also told in the actual histories.  There were a goodly number of folks who were regularly armed with Belt Guns.  Mostly weren't really nice people.

There isn't much in the histories that tell us how they loaded them for carry.  So now we get into speculation and myth.  If you're ignorant of the facts, tell the myths.  If you happen to be an individual who is going in harms way, no way are your guns going to be loaded "short."  Bad people, Outlaws and Lawmen would not even think of loading less than six in ANYTHING.  WHERE they would rest the hammer is open to speculation. Percussion revolvers were designed to be safely carried Six-Up.  So were the Colt SAAs.  We know the safety notch isn't fool proof but it does work to and extent.  There are also accounts of folks who managed to dislodge their six shooter while mounting their horse and shooting themselves or even the horse.  Stupid??  Not necessarily.  Unfortunate accident??  Absolutely.

Is "Load one, Skip One, Load Four" the holy grail of Six Guns??  Today??, Certainly.  In those halcyon days of yesteryear??, Not so much Compadres.  There was a time when the Single Action Revolver was a tool of Survival.  Today, with rare exceptions, the Single Action Revolver, whether Percussion or Cartridge is more a Toy.  A dangerous toy, but a toy none the less.  Burma Shave

PS:  After all, aren't "WE" the bunch of stalwarts, who figured out how to take the safest Single Action six guns (Ruger) designed to be carried Six-UP and turn'd them into "Load one Skip One" guns for no really good reason.

PSS:  And > > > let us also remember, when Colt designed and built the SAA, Nobody was dropping 'em from 12 Feet up, onna Concrete Floor, On The Hammer.  In normal, SANE usage, the Safety Notch in SAA and Replicants is just Fine.   

[Reverend P. Babcock Chase]

Howdy Sixgunners,

A couple of points: First, I believe that it has been documented that none other than Wyatt Earp had a sixgun drop out or his holster while sitting and had it discharge. Loaded with 6? Or  just loaded with 5 but not indexed correctly. Either way, it shows that such discharges were not unknown in the era.
Second, percussion revolvers were outfitted with either pins (Colt) or notches (Remington) between the nipples for the purposes of loading and safely carrying the guns with fully loaded cylinders. In addition, I have heard tell (and confirmed for myself for reference) that one can load 6 shells in a Colt '73 and lower the hammer to rest the firing pin between the rims of the rounds in the cylinder. This method takes care during the process and I would never use this system or recommend it. In addition to safety concerns, it has you lowering the hammer from half cock which might contribute to generating a cylinder "ring" in the long run (if you don't shoot yourself while attempting).
I await responsible opposing viewpoints.
Rev. Chase

[Niederlander]

For what it's worth, a friend of mine collected rusty dug-ups for years.  He said in the case of revolvers, just about all of them he had were fully loaded.  My guess is, if you were really out in the weeds, you probably figured that sixth round's potential danger was trumped by the possible need for it.  Personally, I load five in mine, but I'm not facing the dangers they did.  (At least I don't think I am........)

[Coffinmaker]

We can almost always find "documented" instances which may or may not support a particular position.  Often though, that position is of personal preference.  Also, one or three "Documented" happenstances does not create a "Detroit Recall."

Let us also not forget, those circumstances that create behaviors are subject to change without notice.  For the most part, we, in this century, don't have need of a Six Gun carried with Six-Up.  In fact, in most circles, in this century, carrying a Single Action Six-Gun for personal defense is seen as foolish.  I don't personally see a SAA as my choice for daily carry, but who am I to tell others what their preference should be.  I am however, of the Opine, if you can't get it done with Six, you should have been running away to start with.

After all, we do have "Documented" instances (lots of 'em) of Law Enforcement Officers emptying a double stack 9mm without hitting anything of importance.  My personal preference for carry is a 1911 with an 8 round mag in the gun with one "cocked and locked."  If I can't get it done with 9 > > > >

[Coal Creek Griff]

Here's a portion of an interview of Wyatt Earp.  It can be found online under the title of "Wyatt Earp on Gunfighting". I've often wondered if he had his own accident (mentioned above) in mind.

"On the second point, I have often been asked why five shots without reloading were all a top-notch gunfighter fired, when his guns were chambered for six cartridges. The answer is, merely, safety. To ensure against accidental discharge of the gun while in the holster, due to hair-trigger adjustment, the hammer rested upon an empty chamber. As widely as this was known and practiced, the number of cartridges a man carried in his six-gun may be taken as an indication of a man's rank with the gunfighters of the old school. Practiced gun-wielders had too much respect for their weapons to take unnecessary chances with them; it was only with tyros and would-bes that you heard of accidental discharges or didn't-know-it-was-loaded injuries in the country where carrying a Colt was a man's prerogative."

[Trailrider]

In point of fact, there were instances of AD's recorded. Correspondent John Finnerty, "the fightin' Irish pencil-pusher" had a stirrup fall on the hammer of his sixgun, as he was mounting his horse, while with Crook's column on the Big Horn & Yellowstone Expedition of 1876. Fortunately, the bullet hit the pommel of his saddle. Another soldier on that campaign wasn't so lucky. While chopping wood, his gun discharged, killing him! Granting the fact the expedition was after the hostile Sioux, I wonder if any company commanders had their troopers remove the sixth round or placing the firing pin between two rounds.

[Tascosa Joe]

FWIW, I have been taught all my life to carry only 5.  I was taught in the 1950's as a 7 or 8 yr old by my Dad & Grandad.  Neither were gun guys.  My Grandad was born in the 1890's and as a young man, had cattle and farmed around Cisco and Eastland Texas.  He jointed the Texas Cavalry for WWI. I don't think he started carrying a Colt until after the Ranger Oil Boom started and he started trucking supplies to the oil fields and I think the old colt bouncing around in the cab of a 1920's Mack truck is why he carried only 5.