Gday guys.

Just wondering if anyone can tell me if the hammer noses come in different lengths?
I have two 586 revolvers, both with different length hammer noses. One works flawlessly and the shorter one gives me the odd light strike and misfire. Yes the spring is wound right up.
My dealer tells me they only come in one size.

Cheers Dave

First of all, welcome to the forums from Louisiana.

As far as I know, there is only 1 size of hammer nose. I just looked at Numrich and they only show 1 part number on 586 guns from no dash to -6 engineering revisions.

The different sizes are probably due to manufacturing tolerances. There were longer hammer noses before 1988, before they went to a shorter one, probably to try to make them stronger.

You can make your short one longer, though. Just tap out the rivet, remove the hammer nose, and grind off .005 or .010 of the hammer face on a disc sander, being careful to keep the same angle as original. You may need to file or grind more clearance on the hammer nose so it doesn't push on the hammer nose bushing when the hammer is all the way down. Once you put the parts back together, the hammer will go further forward, carrying the hammer nose with it.

When Factory did the M modification on the early L frames, they also changed the hammer nose length as well as the recoil bushing.

As mentioned, the L frame "M" modification hammer noses are different than the "no dash" noses.

The hammer noses used in the "M" modification are slightly smaller diameter at the end, .068" compared to .078"......and slightly shorter from the rivet to the tip, .060" vs. .070". The refit nose tip also has a slight taper on the stem from back to front. These changes correspond with the new hammer nose bushing that is also installed during the refit.



Side by side comparison, refit nose on the right:





refit nose on top:

__________________
Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer