Hammer Bobbing...opinions, please.

[2152hq]

Soft solder a little blob of solder to the newly contoured area where the spur is cut off.
Blend it in nicely of course. It doesn't need to look Bubba'ish.
Lead/tin or Tin/silver alloy. They both weigh about the same. You are just making up the small amt of weight loss from the missing (steel) spur
The hammer will have all the swinging momentum it needs with the orig mainspring and it still won't snag the lining on your lime green JCPenneys sport coat.

Or do/have done what I've seen a few times.
A small custom made hammer spur in the shape of the Colt Commander style welded into place.

Laser or carefull TIG weld with heat shielding protects the hammer itself
Smaller than what's on a Colt, but as much as needed for an easy SA cocking and still a non-snagging shape and very unobtrusive overall.
Again plenty of weight there for the momentum even with the center drilled thru as on the Colt.

.....A Model 38 or 49 just seems easier but we do like to do stuff to guns

 

[REParker]

AAAAARRRRGH! I bow to the late Elmer Keith on this one. He counseled against bobbed hammers. He was a wheelgun man extraordinaire. It was sorta like him intimating, 'If God wanted bobbed hammers, He'd have made it so,' or something like that . I've got a bunch of D/A revolvers, and I would never, EVER bob the hammer on any of them.

Whew...now that I've got THAT out of my system...... I concur with the folks ahead of me who simply counseled getting a 442 or Model 38, with the shrouded hammer...best of both worlds.

I'd get a Model 38 in a heartbeat if I could find one I could afford.

 

[BloodyThumb]

I bobbed the hammer on a 60 in about 1981. Used it as my backup in the early years, and have carried it as a second gun many times. it has ridden on my ankle, under my arm, under body armor, and in my coat pocket.

I have no idea how many rounds I have fired through it, but in the several thousands for sure. Never had an issue. It's old, it's ugly these days but that is the way I like 'em, and it is reliable.

 

[Steve_Revo_]

All my revolvers have bobbed hammers and I have fired tens of thousands of rounds with them in IDPA / USPSA. I have them set up so they run with any primer (the only excepting being some stone age CCI's I've had for more than a decade, I has issues with those in my M9A1 as well). My 686SSR has been 100% with anything I feed through it. I recently had Nelson Ford tune my 627PC and he would not bob the hammer, wasn't his thing. I bought an Apex hammer and it dropped right it. Properly done they work. However, like everything else in the world, you do you. If you want a bobbed hammer go ahead, if you don't, then don't.

 

[ol777gunnerz]

A O Niedner bobbed the hammer on this 22/32. The regulation police grips are original to the gun shipped in 1920.

 

[REParker]

Look at an n frame hammer ,look at a j frame hammer . Big difference Same primer. Find a mod. 38 hammer .no spur same mass as std 36/60

Sorry, but the Model 38 *does* have a hammer spur...it pokes through a gap (slot) in the "hump" and is accessible with the thumb for single action use.

 

[Skeet 028]

Personally I would not bob a hammer..Most of my shooters are adj sighted..the only one that is bobbed is a 29-2 that I did a trigger job on back around 19880 or so. I happened to see the fellows son about 5 years ago....He said you did a trigger job on my dads gun...He told me his father had passed away...then asked if I would likr to buy the gun....400 bucks. When I got it his father had the hammer bobbed and the trigger thinned...I intend to replace both (have a hammer..looking fo a trigger). The trigger is still great even if I do say so...but the gun just doesn't look right. And unless its a pocket gun you can still probably shoot better single action

 

[oldcorps76]

I bobbed the hammer on an old Colt DS and got light strikes. Rather than install a heavier spring, I bought another hammer and found a hammer shroud.

The ivories showed up at a local gun show.

 

[w.r.gun]

Sorry, but the Model 38 *does* have a hammer spur...it pokes through a gap (slot) in the "hump" and is accessible with the thumb for single action use.

About half as much and does not act like a fish hook

 

[Law-dog]

I put on on a model 36 as a backup to police work. The problem is most CCW carry or police emergency use involves only one hand on the gun which is fine for close work. But in police work, your primary gun may run dry and you may need to shoot back at 20-30-50 yards. We found that cocking the hammer made single hand fire OK at distance but when the hammer was bobbed or internal, distance shooting one hand was poor, very poor.

So, for my law enforcement work I put the regular hammer back in and do not use bobbed hammers on any gun.

I pocket carry a model 637 with CT laser. There is never an issue with the hammer hanging up because as an experienced guy, you just grasp the gun with the thumb over the hammer on the draw, it is basically impossible for it to hang up on jeans or pants pockets, unless maybe your pants are too small for you.

The value of snag free is when you might need to fire from inside the jacket pocket. With a 640 or 442 you can fire more than one round without too much worry of a hang-up. With the hammer style it does not matter bobbed or not, when that hammer comes back there is a risk that it will catch on the pocket liner, so the smart move is to just go to the 642 or 640 if you want to shoot from inside the pocket or to be sure of a snag free draw.

In my special agent job we had to pass one hand firing and firing from 50 yards. With the DA only model 36 firing one hand it was hard to qualify at 50 yards if you had a bobbed or internal hammer. I had a model 36 with traditional hammer. You just cock it and fire it completely with one hand and 50 yard accuracy is fine. Just like bullseye shooting. Internal hammers and bobbed hammers limit your effectiveness. I estimate they cut your accuracy by at least 50%, more at distance in a self defense or other shooting where you can only have one hand on the gun, which is common in self defense shootings.

Now, think about police and state and federal agencies today. Is there any agency that will actually issue a gun with a bobbed or internal hammer? I do not think so, they limit you too much.

If you are only shooting 10-15 feet, who cares? It probably does not matter, if you are in gunfights, they vary.

Just take your normal semi auto carry gun. Back off 50 yards and shoot at a gallon jug of water with 2 hands then with one hand. Now, try that with your bobbed hammer or internal hammer gun at that 50 yards. And then do the same by cocking the gun and firing it with 2 hands and then 1 hand. You will instantly see your personal limitations with the bobbed hammer. I have bobbed hammers, they are now in my parts box.

And that displays the beauty of the simplicity of Smith and Wesson wheel gun.

 

[Protocall_Design]

Looks like they need to put hammers on all the Glocks.