Hickok45 Was WRONG! (Hammer Blocks and Transfer Bars) 

Would any of us be shocked if Hickok said, "Now let's see if I can take out that 2 liter with this hammer" and proceeds to throw it like Thor

Damn I feel stupid for just googling “did George Washington invent the modern claw hammer”. Well played Hickok well played.

Not too hard to understand, but darn hard to explain. You did a good job of it. As always, thank you.

Glad to be subbed to someone who comes clean on their own mistakes! Much Respect 🙏🏽

If only the media could be so responsible.....

Honesty and Integrity is something this world needs more of. Thanks for clearing this up!

As a dealer for many years , I've taken in quite as few S&W revolvers that were missing the hammer block. If the sideplate screws have any buggering from improper screwdriver, remove it and check! They are a bit tricky to replace the sideplate and keep the hammer block in place. A dab of grease works.

Gotta respect an honest man.

Even when your "Wrong" your "Right." The level of integrity it takes to publicly admit a mistake is high and you Hitchcock are a man of high character. Thank you for clearing that up.

Gotta admire a man that will not only own up to his errors, even small ones, but will do it on video standing in the rain. Props.

I think George Washington also invented the axe, so he could chop down that cherry tree. 😝

In S&W double action revolvers, in addition to the hammer block there is a bump on top of the rebound slide that prevents the hammer from falling fully forward and firing the round unless the trigger is to the rear in the fire position. The rebound slide is the square part below the hammer that contains a strong coil spring. So even if the hammer block was accidentally installed incorrectly or even if it wasn't installed, the rebound slide would prevent firing unless the trigger was pulled to the rear. Hickock points to the rebound slide at 7:20 and briefly mentions it at 7:40.

The gun knowledge this man has is great.

Back around 1965/68 my best friend had a wonderful collection of guns including several Ruger revolvers and a pair of original, late 1800's Single Action Army Colts. We shot all of these extensively and I found my favorites to be the Ruger Blackhawks and the Colt SSA. The Colts were by far the most comfortable, best balanced, most natural pointing and most pleasant to shoot of any of his revolvers. I now own a Beretta clone of the SSA with a transfer bar. The feel and performance is the same as the Colt and at any distance over about 4 or 5 feet can easily be mistaken for a Colt. Safer than the colt, can load 6 rounds, will handle any SAAMI standard loads and is extremely accurate. The best made better. I love it.

I appreciate that you took time to clarify, but at the same time, as a new to handguns person, I do watch these, and learn. Your trigger, muzzle and range discipline alone are what keep me coming back, an learning something new each video is a bonus! Thank you for what you do, and thank you for all your videos! Even when you admit you're human, lol.

I knew about transfer bars, but never knew about hammer blocks. Thanks for the education.

Ironic this has been suggested to me straight after the Baldwin insident 😂

Good stuff,thanks.I think Iver Johnson was the first to make revolvers with a hammer block, their slogan was “ Hammer the hammer”. Working on Rugers,Colts,Charters,Smiths,High Standards and Taurus revolvers I really never gave it much thought if they were blocks or transfers. Blocks and transfers accomplish the same goal but the difference is there and thank you for pointing it out.

I believe this is now In the algorithm due to the Alec Baldwin incident.

In addition, many people put down the newer revolvers with the spring loaded frame mounted firing pin Vs the hammer mounted firing pin..... The hammer mounted firing pin was dropped in favor of the new frame mounted design because on the older revolvers sometimes the primer can become "cupped" or deformed upon ignition from the firing pin and cause a restriction against the recoil shield of the revolver, preventing the cylinder from turing & locking up the gun. The frame mounted firing pin with it's spring loaded tension allows for a more consistent strike thus preventing and/or reducing the chances of causing a deformed primer from jamming up the gun. Also, because the firing pin is spring loaded to be held back away from the primer and separate from the hammer, in addition to the hammer block/transfer bar makes a safe pistol even more safer.

I was worried about my Taurus .357 mag and letting the hammer slip off my thumb when I pull it back. and now I know I can go look for a block or transfer. Thank you!

I was reading a case for law school about a poorly designed hammer block and wanted to see how they work. thanks for the info.

We don't care if you mess up from time to time. If you were perfect, you'd be too good for us. Thanks for your many many enjoyable vids.

After all these years he still uploads

04:51 - As long as we're being accurate, that 'pointer' he retrieved from his pocket is a _cartridge._ The _bullet_ is merely the projectile.

I read the title, gasped, and said "IMPOSSIBLE!"

There are some mechanical similarities, but hammer blocks and transfer bars do exactly the opposite things. A hammer block stays up until the trigger is almost completely actuated. A transfer bar is retracted until just before the hammer is released. A hammer block prevents transfer of momentum to the firing pin. A transfer bar enables transfer of momentum to the firing pin.

But I Thought the hammer was invented by M.C. Hammer in the 1980s!

This is why i watch you Hickok. You, unlike a lot of other gun channels, will admit when your wrong. Not only that you'll come back and explain why. That is so important for the gun community. People need a trust worthy teacher for this stuff, and i believe you are one of the best. Keep doing what you do!!!

I confess that when I saw the title, my first thought was "What idiot would claim Hickock is wrong....oh, wait..." Good video and clarification. :-)

The reason why I love your videos is because there's no clickbait and no stupid capital block letters on thumbnail with red arrows

I thought I was wrong once but I discovered I was mistaken. Very informative Hickoc. So my take-away is that a revolver such as the Ruger, has the hammer block on the hammer while a Smith and Wesson has it on a separate internal mechanism.

The important point of safeties is beyond transfer bar or hammer block. Can you squeeze the trigger at all with the safety on? Can you squeeze the trigger and have the hammer fall but not fire? Can you do whatever to the hammer and have the gun not fire? Mechanisms vary but if you can squeeze the trigger and it goes bang, it effectively has no safety engaged despite being drop safe.

Hickok45: “Nothing like a bullet pointer” Me: “I can’t believe you didn’t call it a “bullet point”.”

Transfer bars and hammer blocks are also essential to prevent accidental firings from worn out or overly polished trigger sears which fail to retain the hammer when fully cocked which could result in a firing without the trigger being depressed fully in the rearward position. Most modern revolvers have this safety feature. There are exceptions. For example Sturm Ruger introduced the Single Six revolver in 1953 (now known as the Old Model) without a transfer bar. It wasn't until 1973 that Ruger added the transfer bar (New Midel) and began offering customers with the Old Model a modification to include a transfer bar.

Thank you for taking the time to educate us. I really appreciated this video and that despite admitting you made a mistake you used it as an opportunity to teach us.

Thank you for this video. My dad bought an ancient single-action revolver. Early 1900’s. I’m sharing this with him to make sure he’s safe with it. 👏👏👏

You can be as wrong as you wanna be, and I’ll still be a loyal subscriber. Thanks for all the great videos!

You have to love modern revolvers for their simple, yet ingenius, mechanical engineering.

A transfer bar is the opposite of a hammer block! I am glad you read my previous comments. On a revolver with a transfer bar, the hammer will hit the frame if the transfer bar is not engaged. It is much safer than a hammer block.

Love his HONESTY AND RESPECT FOR ADMITTING HE MAY HAVE MISS SPOKEN ABOUT SOMETHING! I HAVE TOTAL RESPECT FOR ANYONE THAT CAN ADMIT THAT THEY MADE ANY TYPE OF MISTAKE!

Very good explanation! I’m not a gun guy, but I totally get the difference. Hammer block, pulls away. Transfer bar, slides up. Both great ideas. Thanks.

Also, on the Ruger, I noticed a recess in the hammer. I guess it's a fail-safe, to further prevent the hammer from making contact with the firing pin. Interesting.

I bought a cheap Taurus to keep in the car, I can confirm it has some sort of safety. The pin won’t protrude if the trigger is not pulled

Yes.. Ruger has transfer bar that only transfers the energy from the falling hammer, to the transfer bar, and then to the firing pin, when the trigger is pulled back. Smith and Wesson transfers the energy from the falling hammer directly to the firing pin unless the hammer block is up in position. It is always in up in the block position except when the trigger is pulled back. These 2 safety designs both are effective. Both systems are designed so the revolvers will only fire when their triggers are pulled back when their hammers fall. Thus, both revolvers are designed not to fire if the firearms are dropped or something impacts their hammers without their triggers being pulled back.

Hickok’s sarcasm is on such a high level that people might actually think he’s dumb 😆

As always this video was excellent with much teaching going on. Thank you for the opening few lines, that really set the tone which I am sure you were having a huge laugh knowing that out of your 4.71M followers about 4.70 madly hit google up to see who invented the hammer, myself included in that. I actually was reaching fro the keys to correct your GW timeline. ROFL!!! That was OUTSTANDING! Thank you

I like the way Smith and Wesson does it. Where you have a hammer block and thus your hammer makes direct contact with the firing pin. Whereas with a transfer bar, the transfer bar is what is making direct contact with the firing pin. It just seems like you'll likely get less wear on the Smith and Wesson with the hammer making direct contact with the firing pin, vs. a transfer bar making contact with the hammer and firing pin.

I'm glad to see this video correcting your earlier explanation describing the hammer block and transfer bar. Well done sir!

Thank's for clearing things up Hickock45, although i understood what you meant the first time just fine. Now to be very accurate about the Ruger GP 100, since i carried one and trained fellow officers for many years whit it, when i was still active in L.E.. Not only does the trigger have to be pulled back for the transfer wall to raise and do it's energy transfer job, but Ruger also went as far as to mill a groove on the hammer face. This prevented any contact with the firing pin if the said wall was ever broken off for some reason. I have fond memories of this service revolver which we trained with using cheaper 38 +p+ wad cutter ammo. Although the trigger pull was so hard it made it harder for many female officers to train with for extended periods of time. This 357 gun always made an impact whenever an officer drew it, mostly because of it's stainless construction but also because of the sheer size of it's heavy barrel (we had 38 specials before that). But they became obsolete because of it's limited 6 round capacity and longer time to reload them with "Speed Loaders". We then moved to Walther P99 QA pistols which i also liked a lot, but after 12 years in service with virtually no maintenance on them, some units started to have rust or wearing parts issues. That's when we moved to Glock 19s. It was (and still is) a great reliable pistol that i trusted my life with, but i never found it as fun to shoot with. I'm really old school i guess and prefer all metal handguns. This said for a daily holster carry it really made a difference while patrolling because of it's shorter grip which didn't put as much pressure against the seat of the squad cars. With everything on the market these days handgun wise, it's going to be difficult for me to get a personal handgun now that i'm retired. Here in Canada we don't buy guns for self defense per say (at least it's not the primary concern of most shooters) so i might just spoil myself and get a CZ Shadow 2 which i've tried and loved. Thank's by the way for your own review on it. Keep up the great work you and John both.

I bought my son a new england arms Handy rifle when he was just little and it had this type action .I guess it was the same deal you had to have the trigger pressed or the hammer would not strike the fireing pin .I liked that ,for a kids first rifle ,that way if his thumb slipped off the hammer his rifle would not fire .I think New england quit selling those neat little guns I bought the youth model then ordered him the 243 barrel and the 50 cal. barrel in a muzzle loader I think when Marlin bought New England Arms they stopped making the little Handi Rifle .I liked it because with all the extra barrels if you had the handi rifle frame any of the New England shotgun barrels would fit on it.simple as pie you could go from 410 too 10 gauge if you wanted too. and the barrels was dirt cheap I think when I ordered the 243 barrel it was 69 dollars and the shot gun barrels was about half that price..it was a solid little gun and it came with a 223 barrel ready to go . and it suprised me by how well it held its zero when you swapped barrels once you had a scope and barrel sighted in .at first he did not like it much until I had him pop a gallon milk jug at 50 yards with a 223 50 grain Federal Hollow point when he saw that milk jug explode he loved it. so I hand loaded him several of the hollow point Barns X solid Copper I think they was 53 grain and they would stop a Deer really fast .

4:29 ... Hickok schooling Alec Baldwin and his lawyers before time. They missed class, should've hit the bell icon.

I have a revolver with a hammer-mounted firing pin and I've always worried that it wasn't as safe as my Ruger. Seeing how the hammer block works really clears that up. Thanks!

Don't know about the claw hammer, but Ruger was recalling BlackHawks well into the 80, replacing hammer blocks. Good video

Nothing like humility and integrity nice going Hickok!

Very humble to admit your wrong on a point. Humility is a good virtue. It's why I love this channel.

Very informative. I'd never actually seen how they worked before this. Hammer blocks and transfer bars are off my list lol

Nice explanation of the two safety systems. Some people "blanch" when they see my Model 10-8 has the firing pin on the hammer and I keep all six chambers loaded, Then I have to TRY to explain "hammer block" vs "transfer bar" - Now I'll just link this vid!

Imagine trying to home invade Hickok and he wastes your entire crew while he educates about the the actual guns he is shooting you with.

Such an awesome video man. I wanna be a gunsmith one day so being able to see the inside of a firearm and how it functions is super cool for me would be cool if you made a few more like these about different mechanisms and how they operate. It’s also great to have a humble and honest gun reviewer that admits his wrongs!

The first S&W hammer block was a spring actuated "wing" style located to the right of the hammer but wouldn't work if dirty or gummed up. The new or current type is of course mechanically actuated during cocking the hammer. Competitive shooters used to remove these leaving safety up to the "bump" between top of the rebound slide and bottom of the hammer- only way gun could possibly fire with a heavy blow to the hammer was if the hammer broke internally. They felt that removing the block let the action work more smoothly.

I like you saying you can be right about being wrong , love your videos, I have been shooting over 40 years and I still learn something new in every video keep up the good work

Even though i already understand the mechanics of modern revolvers i still enjoy hearing him explain it.

In 1840, a blacksmith in the United States named David Maydole introduced a claw hammer with the head tapering downwards around the opening for the handle. This provided additional bearing surface for the handle and prevented it from being wrenched loose when the hammer was used to pull nails.

If you pull the trigger on a Smith it will let the hammer drop all the way. As soon as you let the trigger off, the hammer block forces the forces the hammer away from the primer.

I half expected you to include a bit about the "rebounding hammer". But it doesn't prevent the first strike. Excellent video though! 😊

Just shows how thorough you are. 1600 videos and how many of them are videos of you correcting something you've misspoke... not many. Keep up the great content Hickok45 and John.

Note the recess on Ruger hammer to further prevent contact between hammer and firing pin.

Thanks for explaining, essentially they both stop the hammer from hitting the firing pin if the trigger is released. But one comes up to interfere with the hammer and the other retracts to provide space for the firing pin. Damn, revolvers are complicated.

Decades ago my father sent in his Ruger .41 magnum and his .22 Single Six to have them upgraded to the transfer bar system. That Single Six is an awesome little gun to teach people to shoot with. Simple, 1 hammer pull 1 shot at a time, enough sound and recoil to count but not enough to scare people.

Loving the guns, living here in Scotland, this is as close as I'll ever get to seeing these babies.

Much respect, Sir. Too many people these days will not admit to a major mistake. Now here you are making an apology for a “wrong” that could be viewed as a hair-splitting semantic error. When you get right down to it, the modern Ruger’s are built with a hammer block. Take out the transfer bar, and the gun will not fire - it is safe (unless someone clubs you with the gun). The physical shape of the hammer blocks, prevents, it from hitting the firing pin to cause the gun to discharge. The linkage of the trigger to the transfer bar is a method to override, defeat, the hammer block. You were NOT WRONG on the bottom line, both designs (hammer block and transfer bars) are designed to not fire unless the trigger is fully depressed.

I'm glad you called that guy out!

Good explanation of a hammer block vs transfer bar safety. Thanks!

Very good camera work, clear and excellent viewing, well centred. Great job

Thanks for clearing this up and providing a clear explanation of each. Hammer block for the S&w, transfer bar for the Henry rifle. 😎

I have to come clean and tell you this is a great video and I for one hate the transfer bar saftey system on the new model ruger blackhawks .I have an old 3 screw superblackhawk 44 magnum and tried to buy a new set of the Ruger factory grips for it and after I told the lady on the phone the serial number of that handgun she informed me that unless I sent it to them and let them install the transfer bar safty system ,free of charge that Ruger would not repair or sell me any parts even the grips for my old hand gun ,so I politely explained that the action the way it was was perfect and I would never do such a thing to this firearm,and hung up the phone and went online and got a set of grips from brownells.was kinda mad for a bit but I got the grips I had wanted and I still love my Rugers .

I noticed this exact thing on a Ruger Single Six that my Dad just inherited. If you just set the trigger off instead of squeezing, the bar drops out of the way so you can't connect with the firing pin. I had no idea what I was looking at, so I was just trying to determine what I was seeing. Good to know I was right and saw it correctly.

Great video with a demonstration to show how the hammer lock and transfer bar works. It answers all of my questions. Thank you Sir.

On a lot of models.The easy way to see if you have a hammer block is to. Drop the hammer with the trigger pulled all the way back. Then release the trigger and the hammer will back off just a smiggen(tad bit). Some revolvers with the firing pin on the hammer.Have do have a hammer block and no transfer bar. Oops almost forgot to say Thanks for the Vid.

Checked it out on my Alfa Project while watching this vid, thanks Hickok45, I learned something today.

Wow, thanks for clarifying the difference between transfer bar and hammer block. I love learning new stuff. Now I could explain the difference to someone else, if I'm ever asked. You're a good man, Hickok. Thank you for the video.

I'm a big fan of the transfer bar. I have 3 Rugers, 3 Tauruses and 2 H&R single shot shotguns that have transfer bars.

It shows great humility that you put out this video explaining the difference. Most everybody knew what you meant by hammer block. It's too bad these trolls keep pointing out little mistakes just to show how smart they think they are. I love your videos Hikok.

5:04 Literal "bullet point",😊

Taurus actually uses the transfer bar system. I just bought a 627 Tracker recently and it is present in that gun. I'm not sure if they've always used that system, but the newer Taurus guns definitely have it.

I'm Australian and found that very interesting indeed. I wish we had the availability to get firearms like America has. The TRR8, the black one, looks really cool. Some nice pieces of craftsmanship there.

Great explanation. Thank you.

Terrific explanation of hammer blocks and transfer bars.

Charter Arms & Colt are the only 2 guns I know of that the cylander rotates clockwise when the trigger is pulled or the hammer being cocked. Every other revolver that I know of the cylander rotates counter clockwise.

Imagine prosecutors calling hickok45 as an expert witness against AB and the Rust incident. AB should take the last line as advice just before the proverbial hammer drops.

Great video. Was just wondering what exactly a block, or transfer bar was and sure enough here is the video in my feed.

Your alright Hickock 45 love your videos thanks for everything that you do !

Thank you for your usual excellent video. I always enjoy your channel. This information is very important as it has real world consequences. My grandfather dropped a Smith & Wesson .38 pistol in 1904. As it hit the stone floor it landed on the hammer and fired a shot into his lower abdomen. The family loaded him into a wagon and took him to Dallas (from Ferris Texas where they lived). He died three days later. My dad never loaded more than 5 rounds in any pistol he owned for the rest of his life.

Hickok, I want to see that trr8 in a vid soon, it looks pretty cool.

I Didn't know the total difference myself. Thanks for the education. Clears it up for me. Doug.

Well done sir.... I love it when I learn something... much appreciated!

Oh good grief. Ok they’re a little different, but they’re all a safety device. You presented a concise explanation of the two. Once again you gave a great tutorial for everyone.

I have to say that I have a lot of respect for someone that comes out and admits an error. WildBill45 has surely shown us that he can be trusted. The reason that I never had a problem with understanding the difference between those two items it my desire to use proper English. For example, a "HAMMER BLOCK" serves to BLOCK the path of the hammer, whereas a "TRANSFER BAR" TRANSFERS the energy of the hammer.

I believe the reason why this was done ,was due to people cocking the hammer causing accidental discharges. I was trained to never fire or cock the hammer back on revolvers or any firearm.