Putting a j frame hammer in

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Jim NE

Jim NE

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One of my model 36's came with a spurless hammer...sort of a chopped off looking thing. Kind of ugly, but the gun was cheaply priced, and an otherwise decent gun.

But I found a complete and good spurred hammer. I've taken a couple of K frames completely apart and put them back together again, so I'm ok there. But do I have to have the hammer "fitted" in any way since it wasn't original to this gun? Thought I'd check before trying it. Thanks.
 
Well you do need to verify that it fits correctly. Install and go through the checks, making sure that it functions correctly in both single and double action. Pay particular attention to trigger return and do check that it does not push off in single action.
 
The hammer will probably interchange without problems, but the little lever mounted in the front was individually fitted to work with a particular trigger, and because of that it may not work. This part is called a sear and you may need a new one, and someone who is qualified to fit it.

This said, you have about a 50-50 chance that the hammer assembly will drop in and work.
 
Thanks Old Fuffl. I ordered the new hammer, and we'll see how it works. The good news is the gun doesn't seem to have had a whole lot of use, despite the mangled hammer and one isolated spot of finish wear, so hopefully worn down parts won't be an issue. The hammer I ordered seems to have had little use - the "case hardening" seems mostly intact. We'll see.

Pushing off in single action seems like a major safety issue, one that I won't accept, so it's a good thing to know to check for it. Thanks for the warning, BBBBill.
 
It's not an S&W factory training manual, but it's the next best thing.
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Actually much of the material came from Smith & Wesson, who used it to train both they're employees and law enforcement armorers.

And yes, anyone who has any thought of working on S&W revolvers should have a copy of Kuhnhausen's Shop Manual, that can be obtained from a number of sources, including Brownells and Amazon.
 
I'm going to get that manual. Thanks!

The bad news, however, is that the guy I bought the hammer from on gunbroker backed out of the deal. Said he already sold the hammer. :( Of course he had others on gunbroker...at a much higher price. (Or the same one relisted at a higher price. I thought the price was a little low.) I guess I'll just live with my bobbed hammer for now.
 
The bad news, however, is that the guy I bought the hammer from on gunbroker backed out of the deal. Said he already sold the hammer.
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Do us all a favor and post the guys user name so we can avoid them. Also give negative feedback.

I have been running across more and more sellers who won't complete a transaction if they feel they didn't get enough for their item. They deserve
negative feedback and loss of business for not following the rules and thei legal obligtions.

PS: the sear that was mentioned is a seperate part of the hammer assy. Using the one you presently have in the gun when you change hammers may avoid potential issues with the trigger to sear operation.
 
PS: the sear that was mentioned is a seperate part of the hammer assy. Using the one you presently have in the gun when you change hammers may avoid potential issues with the trigger to sear operation.
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It may, and then again it may not. The chances are it will work if matched with the same trigger it was fitted for in the first place. But I've occasionally run into instances where the sear wasn't correctly fitted in the original hammer.
 
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