I noticed the hammer felt gritty on my model 60 pro. so this morning I took the side plate off and took the hammer out and found that the pivot pin was broken off at the frame.
the gun still would cycle but didn't feel right. I guess it was using the side plate groove to pivot.
I called smith and am sending it in.
does a pivot pin break happen often??
its my winter carry gun, doesnt make me feel too good.

The pin broke on my 642-1 last year. I'd had about 1400 rounds through it, including about 500 rounds of +P, over 4 years. Plus several thousand dry fires with snap caps. S&W paid for shipping, replaced it under warranty, and reimbursed the transfer fees.

I've read about it happening a few times with the airweights and I think the airlites, but I don't know about the steel frame guns. With steel guns it may be possible to re-attach the pin, but I think it might be more cost effective to just replace the gun. I think I'd probably trust a replacement gun more than one with a repaired hammer pin, but that's just me. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable about such repairs will chime in.

FWIW, I don't worry about it with my replacement gun. I took it to the range a couple of times and I trust it enough to carry.

The hammer pivot pin broke a couple of years ago on my model 60 no-dash pictured below which I bought new in the mid-80s. I sent it back to S&W and they replaced the pin. Overall, they did a good job of it.

They drilled a hole in the frame and pressed in a new pin which is visible near the cylinder release. This gun is older and not covered by warranty so the repair was on my dime.

The other similar failure I've had was a trigger pivot pin on a 642-1. S&W elected to replace the gun instead of repair.

I guess it can be a cheaper "fix" to just replace the gun, so I'm not sure what they will elect to do with your 60.

Edmo

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What does "feeling gritty" feel like?

I had a trigger pivot pin break on my 642, and a hammer pivot pin break on my 640 Pro. Smith replaced both guns.

kinda like it had sand in it. wasn't smooth like it was.