Hello everyone..I am new here and so glad I found this site..I hope someone can help me..I have a S&W 6906 and I love it. I have had no troubles until recently, for some reason when I fire the weapon, my hammer is staying back and I have to put the weapon on safe then back to fire. This allows the hammer to go forward...Any suggestions why this is happening???

I am not clear on what you are asking. The 6906 is of the type referred to as a "Traditional Double-Action" or TDA. Is is that you are wondering why the hammer stays back after a shot is fired (it is supposed to), or that the gun does not fire when you pull the trigger for single-action?

If it is the first there isn't a problem. If it is the second, then something is preventing the dis-connector from engaging the sear properly. This could be caused by something as simple as being dirty, or there could be a piece of debris inside ths gun mechanically interfering with he dis-connector.

Try this. With the gun clear, pull the trigger and hold it fully to the rear while you pull the slide back and let it go forward. It will only take three hands because of the magazine safety, and you will have to have a magazine in the gun unless it has been de-activated. Hold the gun close to your ear and listen carefully. You should hear a faint, but distinct, click when you release the trigger. This is the dis-connector re-setting. If you don't hear a click, and the hammer will not drop when the trigger is pulled, start be thoroughly cleaning the gun. "Gun Scrubber", "Brake Clean", or "Lectro-motive Cleaner", they are all the same, are ideal for flushing guns you don't want to dis-assemble fully. The stocks should be off to do this. Lubricate the gun and try it again. A few drops of oil thoroughly distributed by using an air gun is sufficient.

If cleaning doesn't work it is probably a broken spring.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

I'm confused by your post. Maybe I'm just not understanding it.

If you have a 6906, it ought to be a traditional double action (TDA) pistol, meaning with the hammer forward (at rest) it requires a double action trigger pull to fire the gun.

When it's fired for the first shot in DA mode, the slide will cycle and leave the hammer cocked (back) in single action mode, now requiring a shorter trigger pull to fire the gun in single action.

This single action firing mode will repeat with each subsequent trigger pull until you either run out of ammunition (at which time the slide will lock back on an empty magazine), or you decide to stop shooting, and then decock the gun using the safety lever (which safely returns the hammer forward).

Some folks refer to this TDA design as DA/SA, meaning the first shot is fired in DA mode (longer/heavier trigger pull needed to pull back the hammer and release it) and subsequent shots are fired in SA mode (shorter/lighter trigger pull).

The hammer should only go forward from the single action/cocked position if you deliberately pull the trigger, or if you lower the safety lever(s) to decock the gun.

If the hammer follows the slide forward during normal shooting, you have a problem of some sort. You should stop shooting the gun and take it to someone for diagnosis and repair. (Mixing up the ambi safety lever spring with the manual safety body plunger spring can result in unintentional decocking during firing, for example, letting the hammer decock and putting the gun On-Safe, or there could be a problem with the sear spring, sear or hammer's single action notches.)

The safety lever(s) can be left in the down, On-Safe/decock position when loading the gun, meaning when you let the locked-back slide go forward to pick up a round from the magazine and chamber it, but then the lever(s) will have to be raised to the Off-Safe/Ready-to-fire position in order to fire the gun.

If you have a 6946, however, you have a double action only (DAO) gun. The hammer never remains back in the same way as it does in a TDA gun.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Ok, I will try and explain better...sorry guys..when I am shooting the gun, first round, I have inserted the clip and racked a round...I fire, the gun will not fire another round until I put the gun back on safe and back to firing again...I hope this is better

So ... are you saying by "racked a round", that you pulled back on the slide and released it, chambering a round, at which time the hammer stayed back in the single action, cocked condition ... and you were then able to fire the gun by pulling the trigger ... but when the slide came back and cycled forward, once again cocking the hammer and leaving it back, that you were unable to fire the gun by again pulling the trigger?

The hammer stayed back and didn't fall when you pulled the trigger? Could the trigger be moved at all? Did it move freely or was it locked up? Or, did the trigger move and cause the hammer to fall, but the gun just didn't fire the round?

But then, if you decocked the hammer (with the safety), returning the lever to the up/ready-to-fire position, you were able to fire the gun by pulling the trigger ... in double action?

Did the hammer not remain cocked when you racked a round the first time, but followed the slide forward?

Was your first shot fired in double action or single action?

Was there a fresh round in the chamber after the first shot?

Not being there to actually see what was, or wasn't, happening it's hard to understand what might be occurring from your description.

Is the magazine in the fully inserted & locked position for normal feeding & operation? It hasn't slipped down and disengaged the trigger/drawbar from the sear because of the mag safety?

Sounds like this 6906 really needs to be checked over by someone, like a gunsmith.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Kinda hard to follow,but the hammer locks back after a racked round is shot but will not shoot a follow up round right?
Wild guess here,but sounds like trigger disconnector to sear leg..... or not? And yes,another vote to have it checked by a gunsmith.

Yes!!!! I fire the first shot, the hammer stays back, but when I try to fire another shot, I get nothing...the trigger moves easy..so then I put the gun on safe and back to the firing position and I can shoot another round

If the trigger moves easily and freely through its normal arc, but the hammer isn't being released from the cocked position, then likely the drawer isn't being lifted so it engages the sear and can push it forward (which would push the nose out from under the hammer's single action notches, letting it fall forward to fire the gun).

The drawbar is tensioned upward at the tail by a spring & plunger located at the front, within a frame hole at the front of the trigger guard. Also, the disconnector has to rise and let the tail of the drawbar lift so it can be in the correct position to either engage with the hammer's double action notches (a sequenced set of notches), or push forward against the sear body in single action. Anything which prevents the drawbar from remaining firmly tensioned upward at the tail can create the potential for problems like this to occur.

Might be something worn or damaged. (An older drawbar can sometimes crack at a couple of spots after a lot of use.) There are some other small springs and parts which can affect the proper movement of the drawbar, sear and hammer, too.

A last couple of questions ... Does this happen with just ONE magazine, or with more than one magazine? If the ejector were to slip off the top of the left mag lip, it might result in the mag safety mechanism preventing the drawbar from engaging the sear. Does the tip of the ejector appear shorter than normal (broken)? The older ejectors had shorter tips and a sharper angle under the tip (which could create the potential for a stress riser and breakage). The newer ejectors have longer tips (for faster ejection, especially with hotter loads) and a curved angle without the sharp corner (to help prevent a stress riser). Picture of them: (Old part on bottom. You have to look closely to see the corner versus the curve. The shorter tip is fairly easy to distinguish.)


Might even be caused by a lot of accumulated crud and fouling carried into the working parts by excessive amounts of solvents or lubricants over the years, too.

I had a relatively new 4566TSW brought to me for the hammer occasionally following the slide forward during shooting. The fellow who had been using it for 2-3 years had somehow managed to let enough excessive solvents & lubricant flow into the inner fire control parts (where it shouldn't be), repeatedly, carrying fouling with it, and it had solidified into a nasty mess that was hampering the freedom of movement of the sear, preventing it from snapping back under the single action notches on the hammer, to hold it cocked during shooting. None of the parts appeared worn or damaged. Once I gave the frame a quick, complete cleaning ... removing all the crud ... the gun ran perfectly normally.

I've also seen my fair share of older 3rd gen pistols have poor, improper or simply neglected cleaning practices result in parts becoming "frozen" due to accumulated sludge carried into the frame or slide by excessive liquids, gathering where it isn't intended to flow under normal use.

Your gun can't be properly diagnosed online, as much as you and others might wish that it could be.

It really needs to be examined by a gunsmith familiar with 3rd gen S&W's, a factory or authorized service center technician, or even a certified LE armorer if you happen to know one (harder to find nowadays because of the decrease in 3rd gen guns being found in LE service).

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer