There have been reports of the cast HB's breaking in some J-frames. Apparently S&W has gone back to the forged and twisted HB's now.

I am going to have to pop the plate off one of my older Taurus boat anchors, and also one I have from the 90's to see what kind of hammer block they have......IIRC the new Taurus guns have transfer bars.

The HB is one of those parts some people may think is "extra ****" that they don't need inside the action, but one brain fart and a gun dropped on the hammer and you'll be glad you left it in there! If you drop it and someone at the range gets shot, you won't have a leg to stand on in court when it's found out you disabled a safety feature.