S&W hammer block safety

[RazorsEdge]

Can you install a hammer block safety on an early model S&W revolver that did not have one?

 

[Radagast]

Depends on the model. Some victory models (Military & Police model of 1905 4th change) had the new hammer block retrofitted during WWII, so it was possible with that model.

 

[rcmodel]

It would not be a simple thing to do.

The side-plate would have to be milled with the slot for it to set & slide in, the frame milled for a place for it to fit between it & the hammer, and a pin installed on the rebound slide to operate it, as well as a few other things modded to make it operate..

Milling the sideplate & getting it right would be a bear without a proper fixture to hold it.

rc

 

[ranger335v]

What RC is saying, with great accuracy, is not really.

 

[Jim K]

Actually, S&W hand ejector (swing cylinder) revolvers did have hammer blocks from about 1915. There were two different types, but both moved out from the sideplate rather than up and down. Both suffered from the fact that they were not "positive", but depended on spring tension to operate. If the spring broke or failed, or gunked up from dirt, the block could fail to move out to block the hammer. Converting a gun with either type hammer block to the modern type would be even more difficult than converting an early HE that had no sideplate cuts at all.

Jim