Hammer block?
- Thread starter YukonBrett
- Start date
BattleRife
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- of No Fixed Address
No, I would not assume that.
The firing pin is mounted on the hammer. Can you push on the hammer and make the firing pin protrude through the recoil shield? If not, the hammer is blocked.
The firing pin is mounted on the hammer. Can you push on the hammer and make the firing pin protrude through the recoil shield? If not, the hammer is blocked.
... unless it was removed by some previous owner. It's easy and worth doing the "push on the hammer" test.
Pushing on the hammer won't tell you anything because all Hand Ejectors have a rebounding hammer that does not go fully forward unless the trigger is pulled. The only way to tell if the block has been removed is to remove the sideplate.
The rebounding hammer was the original drop safety, but it made the gun more "drop-resistant" than intrinsically drop safe, as a sufficiently hard blow to the hammer could still cause it to fire. The hammer block was introduced after a fatal accident resulting from a revolver being dropped onto a ship deck.
The rebounding hammer was the original drop safety, but it made the gun more "drop-resistant" than intrinsically drop safe, as a sufficiently hard blow to the hammer could still cause it to fire. The hammer block was introduced after a fatal accident resulting from a revolver being dropped onto a ship deck.
Well. mine certainly has one. Here's generic pic- in this case of an N-frame - but the guts are all basically the same.
View attachment 98439
View attachment 98439
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S&W hammer blocks are not the same as a transfer bar. A transfer bar rises up as the trigger is pulled to transfer the blow of the hammer to the firing pin. The hammer block drops out of alignment as the trigger is pulled in order to allow the hammer to fall all the way forward.
Thanks for this. I stand (er... sit) corrected! I should have kknown this because a) I've had my S&W revolvers apart a number of times and b) it's officially called a hammer block by S&W, which ought to have told me something!
I've amended my post (which originally stated "It's really a transfer bar, which moves up between the hammer and firing pin as the gun is cocked, then slips back when the trigger is released") The Ruger revolvers have a transfer bar.
Well.... You got me wondering now, so I hauled out my spurred 29, 19 and 36 and tried the hammer push test. None would budge.
My 17 and 617 are not spurred and have the obvious hammer block blade which is clearly visible.
M
My 17 and 617 are not spurred and have the obvious hammer block blade which is clearly visible.
M
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