Howdy, everyone!

I recently picked up a 1973 15-3 that has a habit of piercing primers - the hammer nose looks like it was practically filed to a point. I pulled the nose thinking that I might be able to drop in the old one from my 1979/1980 10-7 but they look different:



15-3 hammer, 15-3 nose up top and 10-7 nose below.

Both fit in the hammer and sit flush but the 10-7 nose has up and down play while the 15-3 nose is fixed. If I remember correctly, the 10-7 has a spring that keeps the nose indexed. If that's the case, will the 10-7 nose work if I can find a spring? And/or if I want to replace it with another of the 15-3 style, what should I be searching for to ensure I get theright style?

I should mention that I put a Power Custom extended nose in the other gun, which might be why I'm confused. Also, would one of those work for me here?

The nose on top in your photo is the wrong one for your model 15. (looks like a much earlier version M&P nose) The nose at the bottom should work fine, with or without a spring. Correct part number is 07580.
In approx 1988, the nose was changed slightly, made with a slightly wider spring notch and a slightly different lower profile.

The "K" series Power Custom hammer nose should also work. You can confirm compatability by giving the a call.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

I had been having issues with a couple of my k frame .38s. The bottom nose is the correct one, with or without the little spring. Just make sure the slot is clean when you re-install the nose and pin.

Numrich,aka gunpartscorp,shows your style hammer nose as out of stock with a price of $22.55 when they have it.

The hammers for the model 15 have a few different spur widths from .265" up to .500" which is the most sought after by target shooters.

A complete vg condition used case hardened K frame hammer for pre 1988 on ebay usually runs about $50 and up.After 1988 hammer is same but hammer nose added cutout for a nose spring.

A NOS .500" hammer with nose will be $85 and up.

Below is photo of NOS .500" set>hammer nose without spring.

Attached Images

K Frame Set.jpg (44.5 KB, 51 views)

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NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

Just curious, as I am relatively new to S&W revolvers with my recent 19-3 acquisition, are there any specific symptoms of primers being punctured, aside from the obvious visual inspection, is there some blow back of gasses, difference in sound or ... ?

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Pierced primers can cause erosion in the face of the firing pin bushing, so if you see a ring shaped "burn" starting around the firing pin hole you need to start inspecting every single case. BTW, the easy way to do this is to simply tray up your fired cases with the primer facing up. Do this and it will be extremely easy to spot the "sooty" primers that have gases escaping out the dimple.

As for the Power Custom extended hammer nose kit, I used one purchased from Brownells to correct for a short factory installed hammer nose on a 1972 vintage 19-3.

BTW, that tends to show that the Pinned and Recessed era was NOT a period of Flawless quality as some would have us believe. On the plus side this defect did allow me to purchase a vintage 2 1/2 inch model 19 that was either unfired or nearly unfired because it wouldn't ignite a Magnum primer in Double Action at all. On the "plus" side it would ignite an American Eagle 38 special about 30 percent of the time in double action.

Note, the instructions for Power Custom for fitting the new hammer nose was superb. Probably the finest bit of Technical Writing I've seen since about 40 years ago when companies actually provided well written instructions. BTW, that is a pet peeve of mine, now when you purchase an article where instructions may be needed/helpful you are either told to look at a video on youtube or ask for help in some forum. Had to purchase a generator due to a lengthy power outage and the instructions were 8 cartoon panels on the top of the machine. While that did help none of the cartoons showed that the mains on the electrical panel for the house need to switched to the OFF position. Thank heavens I was paying attention during an episode of This Old House where they were installing a standby generator.

So, concerning the Power Custom Kit. First when they say Extended they weren't kidding. While I didn't have any pierced primers the dimples from my first range outing with the new hammer nose were deeper than I've ever seen. So, I spent 3 range sessions gradually shortening the hammer nose while keeping a hemisperical tip after each shortening. Ended up reducing the length by 0.012 inch per my digital calipers and now have reliable ignition with slightly deep looking dimples. BTW, a fine grit diamond Lap/File (Eze-Lap Fine)made this easy to do with the hammer installed in the revolver. I'll also note that the kit comes with a spring and using this spring worked just fine with my Pre Hammer spring model 19-3.

Yes. I was getting what felt like a pinch of hot sand blown into my face every time one went boom. You'll also see excessive flash since it's occurring at the rear of the cylinder.

Thank for the advice, all! I'll probably toss this nose in, I just wasn't sure if the spring was critical. I'm going to forgo the Power one here because this gun is headspaced pretty tight but I agree, they had some of the best instructions I've ever seen.

Great question and info you shared matteekay, thanks.

Scooter123 thank you for the excellent explanation.

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