I think my local gunsmith needs a serious remedial class on "DAO"

[Sam1911]

in the mean time, until you get the job completed.. just dont be an idiot and try to cock a bobbed hammer.... just not a prudent thing to do....in fact it is a pretty idiotic thing to do.

Please stop saying this. It simply isn't true.

A bobbed hammer revolver with the SA still functional can be cocked and fired safely, with practice. Lots of folks might want the hammer bobbed for a smooth, snag-free draw, but still might use SA in some situations.

A few quotes from other places:

A common modification is to grind the spur off and checker the top of the hammer. The trigger is pulled slightly and the thumb can cock it for single-action fire.
More commonly, the hammer spur is ground off and the single action sear is removed to make the gun double action only.

The gun that I favored had a bobbed hammer. The top of the hammer had been serrated with a file to give a rudimentary surface to cock the hammer if needed. This can only be accomplished by partially pulling the trigger until the hammer is far enough back to grip with my thumb.

On some versions of the bobbed hammer the single action sear notch is left in the weapon for "thumb cocking". These weapons will also usually have small serrations on the hammer to assist with cocking. Others, mostly factory guns are rendered completely DAO. You also have versions that have an "abbreviated" hammer, which is a semi bobbed hammer to assist with a smooth draw but leave enough for secure weapon retention.

The bobbed hammer is serrated, and can be manually cocked by first pulling the trigger, until the hammer has reached the half cock notch of the sear.

Etc., etc., etc.

As this isn't something you'd do until/unless your firearm is pointed towards your target -- AND -- seeing as most modern revolvers will not fire if the hammer slips and falls as long as you use proper technique and get your finger off the trigger as you're thumbing back the hammer, it can be done safely.

This IS NOT what the OP asked his gunsmith for, though, as it isn't DA Only.

-Sam

 

[WC145]

Cocking a bobbed hammer is no big deal, the problem lies in lowering it on live round if you don't take the shot. That's why the two guns I've had the hammers bobbed on are "partial" bobs, enough taken off to reduce snagging, enough left on to facilitate cocking/decocking.

Of course this has nothing to do with the OP's situation. Like I said before, he should have gotten what he asked for.

 

[Old Fuff]

mnrivrat ask...

Since in DA ,the trigger engages the DA fly, and the release comes before the trigger can engage the hammer notch, ( or hammer notch area) I have a need for more explaination on this. And how it somehow helps smooth the DA pull ?

And I'll try to answer your question, but it will take time to type it up, and these days I type very slowly.

Concerning the issue of how things work, Colt and Ruger revolvers work slightly differently then Smith & Wesson's, but more often then not S&W revolvers are what are getting hammers bobbed. Therefore I will focus on S&W products, with an understanding that all D.A. revolvers are not the same.

In all cases, removing the single action notch - in and of itself - makes no difference so far as the D.A. trigger pull is concerned. Certain things that may be done afterwards may or may not be constructive in improving the double-action pull.

Those that want to retain the single-action option are unlikely to change their minds because of my opinion on what should be done. On the other hand those that prefer that the notch be removed are on solid ground for reasons that I have previously explained. The practice of removing the notch on bobbed hammers is by no means "stupid," and a customer that requests that it be done as part of the hammer-bobbing job isn't dumb either. When a customer specifically requests that the notch be removed, it should be done.

 

[9mmepiphany]

i'll try again...

in SA the interface between the hammer and the notch have to be mated for a clean/safe release. this may not be optimal for the interface between the trigger tip and the DA fly. when you remove the SA notch, you remove any limitations to optimising the shape of the tip of the hammer...hence, improved DA trigger release/pull

 

[Old Fuff]

When you remove the SA notch, you remove any limitations to optimising the shape of the tip of the hammer...hence, improved DA trigger release/pull

I don't know how you you do it, but when I do it the surface on the hammer that pushes against the D.A. sear is not touched when the notch on the hammer is removed. Smith & Wesson hammers are case hardened, and the part of the hammer that is involved in pushing against the sear shouldn't be "optomised" at all. The part that you fit is the sear itself, which is made extra long so the 'smith has the necessary metal to do the fitting.

Some pistolsmiths used to make a radical modification on the trigger, to get a better double-action pull on pre-1970's Colt revolvers, but in the process you would lose the single-action option.

I continue to contend that the S.A. notch should be removed, but doing so, in itself, will not affect the double-action trigger pull.

 

[mnrivrat]

In all cases, removing the single action notch - in and of itself - makes no difference so far as the D.A. trigger pull is concerned.

Thanks : That was the point I was getting at, as I see no corellation between removing the SA notch & having a better DA pull .

in SA the interface between the hammer and the notch have to be mated for a clean/safe release. this may not be optimal for the interface between the trigger tip and the DA fly. when you remove the SA notch, you remove any limitations to optimising the shape of the tip of the hammer...hence, improved DA trigger release/pull

I keep reading this but I am missing something, or mis-understanding something. how do you optimise the tip of the hammer to creat a better DA pull ? & and perhaps I should ask - just what is the tip of the hammer ?

 

[9mmepiphany]

oops sorry...i meant trigger

i was shown this by the foreman in the shop at Bill Davis' shop in Sacramento. it was beyond my ability...he was just showing me what they were doing to attain the DA trigger pull on my PPC gun

 

[Old Fuff]

I was shown this by the foreman in the shop at Bill Davis' shop in Sacramento. it was beyond my ability...he was just showing me what they were doing to attain the DA trigger pull on my PPC gun

Bill Davis' reputation preceeds him...

And if the PPC gun in question was a Colt (Python in particular) the picture becomes much clearer.

But today what gets bobbed is usually a little J-frame Smith & Wesson or a clone thereof, and new PPC guns are seldom seen, as we now live in an age of polymer automatics. Those who understand the workings of double-action revolvers are fast disappearing.

 

[9mmepiphany]

it is a very sad state of affairs, because the are alot of great wheelguns out there.

my pistolsmith of choice for a S&W is now Randy Lee of Apex Tactical and i just recently found out the Bruce Gray of Grayguns knows how to tune a Python