Broken hammer nose S&W 10-6

[evan price]

I thought it was OK to dry fire older Smiths...was I wrong?

While dry firing my 10-6 HB today I noticed that I was now without the tip of the hammer nose. This gun *was* rode hard and put away wet by a previous prison owner. It wasn't in great shape when I got it.

Does the rivet just drive straight out with a punch, hammer and a block with a hole in it under the hammer?

Is the rivet re-usable or needs replaced? I would imagine I could peen it out again when it's reinstalled with a conical punch.

Better idea to just find a complete assembled hammer on Gunbroker? Pretty much any "K" hammer of appropriate vintage should interchange, or should I get a matched hammer & trigger?

Thanks in advance.

 

[GP100man]

FP Help

EP , mine rubs the top of the frame & the general concensus was there`s too many styles & parts availability was niel to none , & to send it to S&W for repair .

This`ll be intresting to see what develops , because I`d like to fix mine also without a "refurbish" from the factory !!

I also thought that dry firing the style of FP you speak of was OK

I`ll keep watchin , but if ya get a fix I`d appreciate a holler at me .

GP

 

[dfariswheel]

It's safe to dry fire the S&W.
"Stuff happens" explains the rare broken firing pin.

The pin is replaceable, and that's the preferred course rather then spending lots of money on a new hammer, and possibly having problems with it fitting and function correctly.

The rivet is pushed out and a new pin is installed. Use a new rivet and flare the end as original.
Remember, the firing pin MUST be free to move up and down freely.
Some S&W hammers also have a spring under the firing pin. If so, make sure it's re-installed properly.

You should be able to get a new firing pin and rivet from Gun Parts Corp, Jack First, or possibly direct from S&W.

 

[Cop Bob]

Having been a Smith smith for most of my adult life, I have only seen one other break like that. I have dry fired Smith revolvers literally over 100,000 times.. never a problem.. We used to by some TDCJ Prison guns back in the 70's, mainly to acquire the frames and cylinders for rework as PPC conversions... Your right, I have seen more than one that was beat to heck.. They used to offer the firing pin blade, and the rivet, the install is not that difficult.. I fashioned a punch to expand the rivet by grinding the proper profile in the nose of a punch.

However, the whole hammer is not that expensive, and pretty close to a drop in.. may take a little stoning here and there.. but if you want to try this your self.. DO NOT TOUCH THE SEAR..(where the hammer and the trigger meet) that requires a special jig, and the right stone.. you better know what you are doing.You can lightly stone away on other surfaces. However, just dropping in a new hammer is usually not much too it... If you are going to try this yourself, some India Ink,a fine Arkansas Stone, one or two light strokes, and try the fit/function.. repeat... go slow, don't be aggressive. Used hammers may be out there.. find one that fits the serial number range of your gun... The older M-10's will work with hammers and triggers from a wide year range.. the major differences being the style and width of the hammer spur...

If you are not confident, send it to a good gunsmith... With the right part, and experienced smithy, will have it up n running in about an hour, and that is if it is a problem child...

 

[W.E.G.]

The bushing in the recoil shield can pinch the firing pin if the fit is not perfect.

This will eventually cause the hole in the bushing to become egg-shaped, and the impact of the firing pin against the channel in the bushing as it swages the channel into an egg-shape can eventually break the firing pin.

If you don't have any interference in the bushing, you can dry fire to until the cows come home.

Here's what happened to a Model 64 when there was interference after replacing the original DAO hammer with a SA/DA hammer.

 

[243winxb]

Replace the hammer nose & rivet.

 

[evan price]

Thanks for the advice guys. This hammer & trigger appears to have been messed with at one time because it will hit the top of the bushing if it does not fall down into position. Seemed odd to me.