Editing Colt Single Action Army (section)

==Loading, operation, and instructions for carrying==

===Original U.S. Army===

The original instructions for operation of the Single Action Army, both by Colt and the [[United States Army Ordnance Corps]], specifies the loading of all six chambers and carrying the revolver habitually with the hammer cocked in the safety notch.

[[File:Colts Revolver Nomenclature Springfield Armory (U.S.) (1874). Description and Rules for the Management of the Springfield Rifle, Carbine, and Army Revolvers, Caliber 45. U.S. Government Printing Office.jpg|thumb|Original loading and operating instructions for the Single Action Army from the 1874 US Army Ordnance Department's Manual<ref name="Manual" />]]

Specifically, the 1874 U.S. Army Ordnance Manual, ''Description and Rules for the Management of the Springfield Rifle, Carbine, and Army Revolvers, Caliber .45'', state "bring the hammer to the safety notch; keep it there until the Pistol is to be fired." as part of the loading instructions.<ref name="Manual">{{cite book |last1=Springfield Armory (U.S.) |title=Description and Rules for the Management of the Springfield Rifle, Carbine, and Army Revolvers, Caliber 45 |date=1874|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}</ref>

[[File:Colt ad circa 1920s.jpg|thumb|A Single Action Army advertisement {{Circa|1920s}}-1930s, note the instruction in the bottom left reading "May be carried cocked with the hammer in the safety notch"]]

===Commercial===

Colt continued to provide instructions specifying the revolver was to be carried with all six chambers loaded and with the hammer on the safety notch from 1874 to at least 1945. In 1898, the advertisements for the Single Action Army, [[Colt 1877|1877]], and M1878 all instructed: "These Revolvers should be carried with the hammer resting in the Safety Notch."<ref>{{cite web |title=Colt's Manufacturing Company 1898 Catalog | website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttohvVvNG4E}}</ref> Colt's advertisements in the 1920s through 1945 (after which the first generation Single Action Armys were discontinued) instructed that the revolver "May be carried cocked with the hammer in the safety notch."<ref>{{cite web | title = The First Generation Colt Single Action Army|date=September 4, 2019 |url=https://gunsmagazine.com/guns/handguns/the-first-generation-colt-single-action-army/}}</ref>