Looking for some advice from someone that has more experience than I do. I am NOT a trained gunsmith, however I am certainly not bubba, that I can assure you.

The 19-3 basket case that I received that had serious push off and the cross threaded strain screw, I started to fit my NOS hammer to.

I believe that I have hand fitted all the parts to a smooth action in terms of fitment.

My problem lies in the fact that there is a centering problem with the hammer on the frame whereby it is rubbing on the frame side as it descends to the firing pin hole.

Is the proper way to fix the alignment via a shim, say from power custom, or some other means?


Also when fitting the hammer and trigger combination, is the sole driving force to get the SA sear to fit in the notch below the sear engagement hooks on the trigger, the height of the DA sear?

I realize the the DA sear must be stoned to, when the hammer is at rest, to slip over and on tope of the trigger sear engagement hooks. However, should it be stoned enough to allow it to rest on the hook or is there a clearance distance that must be there?

Any advise is appreciated and welcomed !! BTW I did look in the shop manual but I cannot seem to find a direct citation that this is the correct methodology.

Thanks

Nick

Does the hammer stud appear to be bent, or is the hammer too close on the frame side? There should be a raised boss at the bottom of the hammer stud that provides some clearance.
If you need to move the hammer out away from the frame you can buy shims to do that.....to help you center it between the base of the hammer stud and the boss on the sideplate.

You can buy the shims here if you need them: TriggerShims Brand Shim Kits

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

I look at that and it appears true and straight to the eye - I can look again tomorrow. The boss on the frame side seems fine as well - again I will check. The hammer is much too close on the frame side as it appears to bind when not under mainspring pressure, enough to warrant a concern and mark the hammer. Thanks for the link - I will look at the shims !

I had a hammer binding problem once that drove me nuts until I discovered that the pivot hole in the hammer was not chamfered on the frame side and would bind on the pivot stud's base radius when the sideplate was tightened. Tolerance stacking is real.

Larry

For the sear fitting, you want it so the forward toe of the sear touches the top of the trigger first, then for length you want it so there is a smooth, seamless handoff to the second part of the hammer/trigger interface. If the sear is too short, the bottom of the hammer will stub against the lower trigger lobe. If it's too long, there will be a noticeable bump in the handoff. You can see and feel what's happening by having just the hammer and trigger in the frame and rocking them back and forth by hand.

When I went thru the S&W Armorer's School, we were given a small tool kit of gauges that were 95% for revolvers. There is a small SS block with two studs and one inspection hole. The pistolsmith is to use that gauge block for fitting the trigger/hammer fit up. It actually works very well because of S&W's history of such great repeatable measurements in their manufacturing. Over the years I found myself just using the method as outlined by 'Toolguy' as that works well. If the distance from stud to stud on your gauge block doesn't match your handgun, an additional problem develops. ....

BTW, the use of shims to center the trigger is a well accepted problem solver. 'Lebomm's' catch on his trigger not being chamfered is a rarity, but, hey, stuff happens in all production.

Thank you all for the excellent schooling. ....it's appreciated.