I recently purchased a 64-5 DAO with Pachmayer grips. I was told if the gun is a factory DAO if you pull the trigger enough to grab the hammer and pull it back the hammer wil not lock back in a single action mode. If the gun was made as a SA/DA and had the hammer bobbed that doing the same test the hammer will lock back in the single action mode. Is this fact or fiction? Is there any other way to determine if it left the factory as a
DAO? I did call S&W CS and was told the month, year and model of the gun based on serial number and was told no other information was avaiable.
Second question, was the 64 or more specifically the 64-5 shipped from the factory with Pachmayer grips?
Thanks in advance for any information anyone has.

Well, the way to know how it left the factory, is to get a letter from the factory. Easy-peasy.

It is true, if the gun has a DAO trigger sear, you will not be able to lock the hammer to the rear in a cocked, single-action position, even when you pull the trigger far enough to grab the hammer and try to do so.

If it does lock to the rear, you know that the hammer was simply bobbed, but the sear was not changed.

If it won't lock to the rear, you only know that it has a double action only sear, but still not when that was installed or how it left the factory.

See point one.

If your model 64-5 has NY-1 stamped in the yoke cutout, that makes it easy - it is a factory DAO gun. Other LE and security agencies used them, however.

In this era, S & W was still using wood stocks on these, but switching them out for carry was very common. It 'may' have had factory Uncle Mike's rubber grips, but Pachmayrs were very common as an aftermarket add-on also.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Factory DAO revolvers do not have a single action cocking notch on the hammer, they truly are DAO.
Many people who wanted a no-snag hammer for carry would simply grind off the cocking spur. With this modification, it is possible to start the pull in double action, then pull the hammer back to single action, but if you slip... BANG!
For a revolver with such a modification, I suggest learning to shoot it as a DAO or have S&W or a qualified gunsmith install a replacement hammer.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Can you post a picture? S&W factory bobbed/DAO hammers have a specific shape. While I don't have the gun anymore, this 2" 64 has a factory bobbed/DAO hammer. Note the little "notch" where the rounded portion meets where the spur would be. While not conclusive, it's probably a good indicator. Most custom bobs I've seen don't have this shape. Usually there's no notch, with a smooth transition.



And yes, as far as I know, S&W factory bobbed hammers are DAO.

Can't help with the grips question.

Leaving that notch on the hammer ensures that it can't be cocked back too far, thus tying up the action. The notch is a positive stop against the frame, and is a remnant of the original part of the hammer below the hammer spur.

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protocalldesign.com

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that little notch served a purpose.

This started life as a 64-5 DAO. It’s safe to say if your hammer looks like this it’s factory. Most home bob jobs go completely smooth with the back of the hammer

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-Matt

Many after market DAO modifications include checkering on the top of the hammer which makes it much easier/safer to cock for SA shooting.

And also another clue that it's not a factory DAO, especially if you can't handle the gun.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

64-4 NY-1 marked, no S/A capability. Book says Oct 1989, my records show I got it in 1989 so it probably went from factory to distributor directly. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

1993 ship date on this one (cant find a dash number on it).

It’s factory DAO. Also included a picture of it with the sideplate off.

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S&W customer service dated it to March 1989. Attached is one photo of the gun and one with side plate and safety bar removed. In comparrison it looks like a factory hamme. If a person/company changed from SA/DA to DAO and bought a hammer from S&W I don't suppose this would help prove anything?

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Are you just trying to show that it shipped that way (“factory original”)?

I don’t know how you’d do that outside of requesting a letter.

Yes, I am trying to learn if there is anything that, at least with a high percentage of probability, that it left the factory that way short of lettering the gun.

Justin, did you letter your gun? If not how do you know it is a factggory DAO? thanks.

I don't know how you could possibly do this. DAO hammers were sold by S&W to anyone who would pay for them and are easily changed with whatever came from the factory. There is no practical difference between a gun that came from the factory with a DAO hammer and one that has had a SA/DA hammer replaced with a S&W DAO hammer.

Please note I am not talking about a SA/DA hammer that has been bobbed. That is another question entirely and the differences have been discussed above.

I don’t really, without a letter. It’s a likely best guess based on observation and inference. My gun came to me as a basket case and I put it all back together. It has some electro-pencil graffiti on it that suggests it was possibly part of an inventory, further suggesting LEO or security service of some kind. This configuration is known for being associated with the large numbers of LEO turn-ins, and some law enforcement groups specified double action only. I guess it could have been converted but it wouldn’t make any sense to me to do this to this particular gun.

Sorry for the novel.

The hammer on my Model 65 won't lock back, as a gunsmith removed the single-action notch from the trigger. It retains the hammer spur but is SAO.

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Let's be careful out there

Well, unfortunately no. But if you look at the large numbers of DAO model 64s made during this era, either it is one of those or someone went through a fair amount of work to build a readily available variation of the same gun.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

This method of changing a gun to DAO was common with the LAPD; members here have commented on it, called “denutting”.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

I believe you mean it is DAO........

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Jim
S&WCA #819