took the pistol apart and found the hammer pin broke off at frame. is thi repairable? enclosing a picture. john

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Yup, though not easily. The stud is not a machined part of the frame but is essentially a stud. A competent pistol smith should be able to fix it. Basically you take the old broken end out and put in a new one WITHOUT BUGGERING UP THE THREADS. That last part is the hard part.

I had the exact same problem with my 28 a while back. The stud is not threaded in but is a press fit. In order to do the job properly a frame jig is required and a press. This is a serious repair so don't mess around. Do as I did and send it to S&W. They have the proper equipment and there is no risk of a damaged frame. As I recall, the repair was less than $100 and they paid shipping to Springfield.

A broken hammer or trigger stud is one of the few things I will send a gun back to the factory for. This is not a home or gunshop type of repair.

Don't be surprised if S&W says you have to refinish the gun. To have the outside "fade away" into the bluing that is the proper way - as it must be polished together. I've done them myself without refinishing the gun, but the pin is able to be seen if you look for it. I actually did a pretty good job but not perfect.

My 19 was repaired by S&W with a "crown stud" about a year and a half ago, saving the cost of refinishing, which was significant. Without looking, I think my total was under $200 all together.

The exposed tip of the stud appears to be cold blued. Sick to look at it, but I'm better off than I was with a non-functioning revolver.

I must have sounded pathetic on the phone as a rep gave me a free shipping label to send it in - which was most generous on a 40+ year old revolver. Return shipping charged by S&W was about $15. Also a bargain v. UPS/FedEx prices.

Also interesting: one rep suggested asking for a particular guy in the service department as he was one of the last of the old time revolver men.

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Looks like all the pre-war long action guns.

Charlie

Every time I lift out and return the rebound slide to a Smith I worry about the same thing happening.

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wanna do right-- not right now

Sometime around 2011 there was a South American (not Brazil maybe Argentina) forum member that had some sort of N frame, perhaps a m29 with the same problem. IIRC there weren't any revolver smiths available and there weren't any S&W repair depots in his country. For all I know the gun might have been illegal in his country.

From creating a new pin to pressing it in the frame himself, he managed to effect the complete repair himself. I don't know if he'd been able to do the repair if the pin had been a screw in affair, but this guy seemed to be pretty resourceful.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Necessity is the mother of invention.

I imagine that when the last revolver smith dies then all folks with broken revolvers will have to just throw them away.

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NRA Benefactor

The difficulty lies in getting the pin exactly on location. If it's off by even a few thousandths of an inch, the gun won't work properly.

model 28 is on its way to s&w. they emailed a prepaid fedex label. rep said he was not sure if they had part, but would ship back if not. great service for a forty one year old pistol. thanks guys for your help, john

Took a little over three months. To install new hammer stud and fix end shake , and do something with forcing cone is 170.50. I did not opt to have it reblued. Cost would have been 143.00. Anyone have an idea how long it will take to get revolver back? Thanks for everyone who replies to thread. John

you might want to rethink that some. Unless you just don't have the money(i've been there) $143.00 isn't a whole lot of money for a quality polish and reblue of a good revolver....and Smith and Wesson has alot of experience bluing guns....

I had this exact thing happen to a 25-2. Took it to a local Smith in St Louis who was supposed to be good. Had polished a trigger and chamfered some cylinders for me. Did a great job on those. Had a long discussion if he could do this repair. Buggered it up, wouldnt answer calls. Went over and got it. He wasn't there only his lackey assistant. It was still in parts with some missing that I couldn't find.

He had tried to heat the frame to get the stud out which was fine as this is a reblue job but couldn't get it out. Had another local smith do it and the hammer was getting shiny on the left side.

Long story short. Send it back to the Mothership! I wish I had!

The same stud broke on my brother's 28-2 about 30 years ago. We brought it to my local smith. He had a used stud among his spare parts. He replaced the stud; no problem since. The gun still Works fine.

Over and over again I see posters getting "the vapors" about old S&W and Colt revolvers, and how only the old farts can fix them. That's a lot of horse apples. These guns are not hard to work on, and any gunsmith worth the title can repair them. Don't make me post a face palm picture.

I sent in a Model 13 for this repair about a couple years ago. The trigger also had a broken floating hand. Mine actually worked pretty well as long as the side plate was in place as far as the action was concerned. I never fired it in this condition. I opted to have the revolver refinished after the repairs were complete since I intended to keep this one permanently.
total cost was $341.00 but I am very pleased with the work that was done. The bluing is a bit darker than the original since that type of bluing is no longer done by S&W, but it was polished very well and the revolver looks just like new. Functions the same way too! It kind of hurt at the time to spend the money, but I do not regret it now in any way.

As has been said, this is a job for the factory. I was nervous till I got it back, but I was very pleased with the factory's work at the time. I assume that kind of work can still be expected. They will report if they can do it prior to any work being done. Good luck!

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So long ... Ken

Smith & Wesson can't tell you that you "have to" have the gun refinished. Well, I mean, they can tell you, but you're under no obligation to do so.

I returned invoice with check. I did not want a reblue as this is a shooter. Has a scope mount. I am not sure if they will do the work as the cylinder has two charge holes that are eight thousands out of round. I have another cylinder I use when shooting. I just wanted to send it back as original as possible.
Sometimes gun broker deals don't turn out well! Thanks for the help, John

I have had an unfortunate experience with a broken hammer stud. Now every time before I remove a side plate, I back out the strain screw to relieve pressure on the hammer stud and I don't tighten the strain screw until the side plate is re-installed. Best to have support on both ends of the stud.

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GARY
SWCA #2897, SWHF #436

I get nervous about that hammer stud (and the rebound slide stud) when I take mine apart as they seem kinda small and fragile and can't extend into the frame very far. Good advice re the strain screw; I'll remember that the next time I have one of my Smiths "on the operating table."