My good friend Superman and I got into a bit of a discussion last night over dinner and a few beers. Supe was interested in the differences between the Colt and Ruger single actions. Madcorgi was in attendance as well, but my lovely wife was distracting him with conversation regarding other matters. So, for Supe's edification (and because some of the rest of you might be interested), here goes. A very basic primer on Colt vs. Ruger.
A picture is worth a thousand words, so here is several thousand's worth. First, a basic side view. The Colt has hard rubber grips, the Ruger wood. Notice that, other than that, they are almost indistinguishable:
Next up, the most important difference between the two. Both are at full cock, showing their different hammer and firing pin designs. On the left is the Ruger, with its frame mounted firing pin. On the right is the Colt, with its hammer mounted firing pin. Notice the shiny vertical "bar" on the Ruger, partially hiding the firing pin that is in the frame. This is what they call the "transfer bar", in that it transfers the blow of the hammer to the firing pin. This bar is held up when the trigger is fully to the rear, as in firing the gun. When the hammer is at rest, and the trigger is forward, this bar drops down well below the firing pin into the frame, so it cannot transfer the blow of the hammer to the firing pin. The nose of the hammer then rests safely against the frame, unable to fire the gun.
Notice the Colt, on the other hand, has no such transfer bar. There is a simple hole through the frame through which the hammer mounted firing pin strikes the primer. When the hammer is lowered all the way down to its resting position, the firing pin is sitting right up against the primer. Any blow to the hammer will fire the gun.
Dropping a single action inevitably results in it landing on the heel of the grip and the hammer spur, with the barrel point right up at the poor guy that just dropped it. That is just how they are balanced, each and every one of them. Like a cat landing on its feet each and every time.
Needless to say, you don't want to be the guy who just dropped a single action Colt with a round under the hammer. So we carry them with an empty chamber in that position, rendering them a five shooter. Well, Ruger fixed all of that with their modern transfer bar system. Rugers are entirely safe to carry with six rounds in them.
Next up shows another, less important difference. It shows both of them in their loading/unloading position. The Colt must have the hammer pulled to half cocked to free the cylinder so it spins freely and can be loaded and unloaded. The Colt has four notches in the hammer, so it clicks four times when pulling it back to full cock. The second click is the half cocked position.
The Ruger frees the cylinder to spin by simply opening the loading gate. The hammer stays all the way down in the rest position. There is only one notch, or one click on the Ruger hammer - fully cocked.
Internally, the differences are few. The Ruger uses a coil hammer spring, where the Colt has the old style single leaf flat spring. Some say the Ruger is "more rugged" but, in over 40 years with Colts and tens of thousands of rounds through them, I have yet to break anything. Some say the Rugers are more accurate, but I have not found that to be the case. What I can say is that the fit and finish on the Colt is definitely superior. I guess it better be, at roughly three times the cost of the Ruger.
So, there you have it. I like my Colts, but I obviously have a Ruger (or several) as well. If I were to recommend a single action today, it would be the Ruger, based solely on price and availability. Both are also available in adjustable sight versions (Colt New Frontier and Ruger Blackhawk), so if that's what you want, they are available. They are all great guns, that will serve you well.