Beretta Stampede Old West Beretta Stampede User Manual - Page 13

DESCRIPTION Thank you for purchasing a Beretta Stampede single-action cartridge revolver. Your Beretta Stampede single-action firearm is an accurate, fully-functioning and faithful replica of an original American firearm produced approximately 130 years ago. It has been designed and constructed to provide years of trouble-free use. Beretta has updated the original firing system by introducing a safety mechanism that allows you to load all six chambers of your revolver without the danger of accidental discharge typically associated with traditional single-action revolvers. This mechanism features a transfer-bar that engages the firing pin only when the trigger is pulled. (Fig. 5-R) As with all safety mechanisms, though, a transfer-bar does not replace the rules for safe firearm handling. The safest way to carry any revolver is by keeping the hammer on an empty chamber. In traditional single-action revolvers the firing pin is located on the hammer, and it will make contact with the cartridge primer every time the hammer is lowered on a loaded chamber. With the transfer-bar mechanism of the Stampede, on the other hand, the firing pin is independent of the hammer. The Stampede relies on a steel "bar" to "transfer" the momentum of the hammer to the firing pin (hence "transfer-bar"). Also, the transfer-bar will only allow the hammer to come into contact with the firing pin when the trigger is pulled from a cocked hammer. 13