I have a 29-3 that I have never fired. Although I don't handle it often, today I happened to dry fire it one time and the action locked up. I removed the side plate, mainspring, rebound slide, and trigger. The hammer is stuck in the forward position (fire). The hammer can be moved back/forth maybe only ~.005" before it seems to "catch" on something. The hammer is not simply "wedged" in a tight spot but rather something is preventing the hammer from traveling back. In my years of shooting S&W revolvers, I have never seen or heard of this issue. Any suggestions regarding what could be the problem and/or how to address it?

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I was able to insert a thin screwdriver blade between the hammer face and frame to get the hammer nose pried loose. The root cause of the issue is the hammer nose is very tight with absolutely no movement of the nose possible, which caused the nose to wedge tightly in the pin bushing. This is an unfired (by me) commemorative gun and obviously could not have been test fired at the factory. I have some spare hammer nose rivets and springs so can address the problem.

All you need to do is lube the hammer nose and dry fire it some. Then remove any burr that forms around the hole in the bushing.

In other words, it's just not broken in yet. Not at all uncommon.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I had a 27-3 commemorative do that too! I gave the hammer thumbpiece a good whack with a plastic hammer and it came loose. Bushing just a little tight!! No plans to shoot it anyway, but its working now.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

PLEASE do not dry fire a Revolver without the side plate on! The hammer will move up on the Boss Pin and strike the gun's frame. Aside from getting stuck, it could also chip the frame! You can operate the hammer when the side plate is off (to diagnose problems) but you should always retard the hammer going forward with your finger. Also keep repositioning the hammer all the way down on the Boss Pin so it doesn't hit the frame.

After closer inspection, I found that rust had formed between the nose piece and hammer and had more or less "welded" the nose to the hammer. After some time of soaking in penetrating oil and trying to work the nose free, it was obvious that I needed to remove the nose. With a small bit in a drill press I was able to remove the rivet flare and tap out the old rivet. Even with the rivet removed it was very difficult to pull the nose out. After cleaning up the nose and hammer nose groove, I installed a new spring and rivet that I had in my parts bin.

It is a lesson to me to not ignore those inconspicuous little grooves on "safe queens" that don't get a lot of attention over the years.

Thanks to all of you for your comments and advice!