I just picked up a pre-Model 28 from 1954. Took it apart to clean and found that the hammer block is missing.

Before I buy one off of ebay, can one of the experts here tell me if they are all the same? I see some listed as "K/L/N Frame". Is there only one size? Do year and or dash number matter?


Why would somebody remove the hammer block? This gun has the smoothest action of all my old S&W revolvers, does the missing hammer block have anything to do with that? Not that I'm thinking about leaving it out, just wondering.


Thanks!

Without looking I know the hand is longer..

Everything below the hammer is the same.

Larry

Back in the day (early 1970's) our department armorer used to remove the hammer blocks as they could cause a potential hang-up at a critical moment is a shooting situation. I still use my service model 19 sans the hammer block "as issued"

Obviously not a S&W trained "armorer"..... as such, they would never remove a factory installed safety feature. That was drilled into our heads from day one.

The dash number of the frame doesn't matter, but you will need a hammer block specific to the N frame, as there are some minor size differences among the frame sizes you mentioned.

Absolutely no reason to remove a properly fit hammer block, as they are one of the safety mechanisms built in to the gun, and do not in any way negatively affect the action. There are some liability issues connected with this action as well. While the hammer block is not the "primary" internal safety of the revolver, there is a critical reason it's in there. Removal or alteration of a factory installed safety is never a good idea.

Here are the J through N frame hammer blocks.......

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

armorer951, thank you for your detailed and very helpful reply. It is much appreciated!

The hammer blocks were/are removed by many who did action jobs. It is found that the action may function a little smoother without this piece. This is due to the person performing the work taking a shortcut or, most likely, not knowing how else to proceed.

These parts are stamped in a punch press operation. As such, they have the broken, rough edges common to all parts made this way. The flag at the top is then twisted 90 degrees to the bottom part. Let's start by making sure the shaft part between the 2 ends is straight. Sometimes they are slightly bent.

Then we need to address the rough edges caused by the blanking process. It is obvious to look at the outside and see the results. What many don't think about is the triangular hole at the bottom. That hole rides on the pin on the side of the rebound slide and is the main cause of roughness in the cycling of the action. It only takes a few strokes of the file to smooth out the sides of the triangle, making for a smooth travel across the r/s pin.

The top of the flag can catch on the hammer on one side and the frame on the other side as it returns up when the r/s goes forward. A bit of a chamfer on each side here eliminates any chance of hanging up.

All of my guns with very light actions still have the hammer block in them. There is no good reason to leave this out.