I've owned several N-frames from the 1950s, all of which had service or semi-target hammers that were stubbier than the target hammers that we typically think of from the 70s and 80s. None of my guns had wider target triggers. However, I've noticed over that last couple years that very often 50s 5-screw guns will have the wider target hammers and triggers that I usually see on -2 guns from the 70s. Were these wider triggers and hammers available in the 50s, or does their presence on a gun mean they were added later and aren't original to the gun?

Thanks in advance!

I've owned several N-frames from the 1950s, all of which had service or semi-target hammers that were stubbier than the target hammers that we typically think of from the 70s and 80s. None of my guns had wider target triggers. However, I've noticed over that last couple years that very often 50s 5-screw guns will have the wider target hammers and triggers that I usually see on -2 guns from the 70s. Were these wider triggers and hammers available in the 50s, or does their presence on a gun mean they were added later and aren't original to the gun?

Thanks in advance!

I can tell you that during the '70s & '80s I installed a lot - 200 to 300 would be my guess - of Target Hammers and Target Triggers on Smith & Wesson "N" and "K" Frame guns. They were all the rage for some time. I also took Target Triggers and thinned them by one groove on each side and then Smoothed off all the serrations to make what I called my PPC Target Trigger. I would also do a bit of 'thinning' and smoothing of the checkering on many Target Hammers for the same PPC shooters. When the Target Hammers and Triggers first came out a PPC shooter could easily end up with a raw and/or bloody Trigger Finger and 'weak side' Thumb from shooting no more than a couple of matches.

The wider target hammer (TH) and target triggers (TT) were options during the early 50s until the 44 Magnum came out on which they were standard for that model. Later they became standard on some models such as the 25-2, 57 and later the 27s.

I've got what is either a semi-target or factory target hammer on one of my 5-screws and it does not at all resemble the later wide, flat target hammers of the 70s. It is stubbier, a bit narrower, and convex up with fine checkering. Is this what would have been a target hammer in the 50s, or did the 50s target hammers look the same as the wide ones of the 70s?