I shot my 15-22 for the first time last week - Maybe 100 rounds sighting in my new scope. No issues until I took it apart for cleaning. I'm no gunsmith by any means but ive been around guns plenty and I'm fairly handy so I knew what i was getting into when taking the trigger group out. First thing I noticed after removing the assembly was a small straight spring/pin(what looked to be a piece of a spring) and I immediately thought something was broken. The spring/pin that had fallen out was the short, straight spring/pin that is located inside the hammer to retain the hammer pin. I had a b!tch of a time getting it back inside and functioning as all I found online said the spring wasnt supposed to come out. Can anyone post a picture of the front of their hammer as to which way it is oriented?

Has anyone had any issues with this?
Is this spring/pin even supposed to come out?
Should I contact s&w?
Again, the rifle has less than 120 rds through it and is less than a month old.
Thanks in advance.

Not to sure about which spring you are referring to.

He is an install video for a lower parts kit for an AR15. Same concept as what is in the 15-22. This should help you out.
CMMG Lower Parts Kit install video

For me I like to use a can of compressed air to clean out the lower receiver. Unless things get realy bad in the lower receiver I don't worry about removing the fire control group.

Thanks.
I typically wouldn't have removed the FCG but there was quite a bit of grit in there, especially for the first time shooting. Again, I have dissasembled AR's before.
The part I'm referring to isnt really a spring I guess but the straight pin that is located inside the hammer. The hammer pin detents grab this spring/pin when inserted and keep it from sliding out.

That spring should not come out. Is it reassembled now? Pin is retained? Then don't worry about it.

Another question to ask yourself: Did you really need to disassemble the fire control group after 120 rounds fired? The answer is probably no.

I agree, I didnt need to take out the fcg but I'm sure glad i did. I didn't do anything to make the spring fall out - it had already done so.

I just want to make sure its back the way it should be - Only reason I asked.
Thanks

Gotcha, sounds like perhaps the legs of the springs were not resting in the grooves of the pin. If they are not in the grooves then possibly the pin will come out of the receiver.

That Guy,

He's actually talking about the retention spring that is encased inside the hammer. No it should not have come out, it's supposed to be staked permanently inside the hammer.

Must not have been manufactured correctly. You may want to call S&W and see if they will send you a replacement hammer, explain why.

Got it, thanks for the clarification Brett.

Welcome

Thanks for posting the url for that vid Guy,it was one of the best I have seen ...

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JR

Thanks Brett. I've got an email into s&w cs. So far they have been great so will take pics for others and update.

UPDATE: Contacted by S&W this am - the pin/spring is not supposed to come out as others noted and they have already ordered me a new hammer and are replacing it.
Once again, excellent customer service on their end. Very impressed.

I also had mine come out. I had about 500 rounds through mine when I started to get light strikes. I looked into it and it was caused by my pin walking out so it wasn't catching both sides of the receiver, thus making my hammer not work properly. Took it all out, and sure enough, that same retention spring(for lack of knowing the technical term) was gone. I just took the hammer out of my m&p-15 and went back to shooting. I'm looking into what trigger to go to because I need to drop it down to around 3 lbs. for my slidefire to work properly. Might be something for s&w to look into as I have 2 acquaintances that had it fall out also.

I got the new hammer from S&W about 3 days after they contacted me. I can't say enough about their cs.

Will post pics tonight for anyone else. There is no way I could get the spring/pin back in as far as its supposed to go.

Dikinalaska - Sucks but glad I'm not the only one. Def give s&w a shout

Definitely am going to when I get back into town from work. Still worth every penny, or lack there of lol, to go s&w for cs. Glad they stand behind their products. Glad it all worked for ya.

Here is the new hammer S&W sent me:


and my hammer =[

Can someone explain what the "spring" does?

Is it simply to retain the hammer on the pin.

Thanks.

It holds the pin that goes through the hammer in place.

Interesting. He had a skeletonized hammer from the factory.

Thanks. That's what i thought, cheaper than a detent pin and spring, or smaller i suppose.

Yeah that is interesting! That's the first time I've seen that type of hammer in a 15-22 from the factory.

his 2nd pic is the same hammer in my 15-22. is that different from older/other versions?

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od: xd9 3"&4", 15-22, 1911 .22

I've done trigger jobs on two 15-22's purchased months apart and neither had the skeletonized hammer.

wOady, when did you purchase yours? What's the first three numbers of your serial?

4/30/12 - dzm.

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od: xd9 3"&4", 15-22, 1911 .22

My DZL has the same lightened (hate to call it skeletonized because it's not cut all the way through) hammer too. It's a DZL MOE. I assumed it was standard.