M36 was dropped - broken hammer

[rajbcpa]

This Model 36 is circa 1976. It had a fully exposed hammer.

I dropped this gun on a concrete cement floor and the tip of the hammer broke off.

Can I order a replacement hammer from S&W and have a smith install it?

Is there a part number for a '76 Model 36 hammer?

Thanks....

 

[rajbcpa]

...from the "break" it appears like the hammer is made from pot metal and not from a good quality steel????

 

[sandspur6]

The 36's have always been prone to this. The hammers, by design, have to be very hard. This makes them brittle and subject to fracture. Fortunately, j frame hammers are fairly easy to find on sites like Ebay and Gunbroker. Replacing them is also usually pretty easy. There is also the option of grinding down, then smoothing, the broken spur and making it into a snag free pocket hammer. Any decent gunsmith can replace or modify your hammer, but you might want to try it yourself. I have done both, and found that it wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.

 

[loeman]

You have all my sympathy. I can easily imagine how you felt when it happened! I know how I'd feel. Sandspur6 gave you some good advice. Good luck on getting your Chief healthy again.

 

[Hapworth]

S&W is unlikely to have the part. My best experiences with obtaining older replacement parts is Numrich, eBay, and the classifieds here on the forum.

Please post which dash number your Model 36 is; you can find this stamped on the frame where the yoke and the frame mate when the cylinder's closed. Open and check, there should be either "36" alone, or with a dash and number behind it, like 36-1, 36-2, etc.

Hammers and triggers are fitted parts, but sometimes replacements will drop in and function well, though a qualified revolversmith (no small thing to find might catch a minucule fitting issue that the amateur hand would not.

I'd keep the broken one and turn it into a bobbed hammer. If you use a revolversmith for fitting the new hammer, let him know you need the new hammer fitted to the existing set-up, so you can switch between hammers as needed.

 

[Skeetr57]

You need a hammer that uses the mainspring guide with a forked top. Early Chief Specials had a guide with a baal end that fitted a hemispherical recess in the hammer. The hammer you need has a slot in the back with a small cross pin. I have seen more J frames with broken or bent hammer spurs than any other frame size. The hammer is not supposed to be hardened all the way through. Case hardening means that the part was made of low carbon steel, then additional carbon was added to the surface by heating to about 1500 degrees while in a carbon rich atmosphere, which causes the surface to absorb additional carbon, so that when quenched, the surface becomes very hard and wear resistant, while the interior steel remains softer and not brittle. Since the thumb piece is the thinnest part of the hammer, sometimes the case hardening is too deep, and the thumb piece becomes brittle all the way through, or nearly so and will break with a sufficient blow. When properly hardened, they will sometimes bend when dropped on the thumb piece and prevent the hammer from fully cocking.

 

[BruceM]

from the "break" it appears like the hammer is made from pot metal and not from a good quality steel?

Not Hardly! It's a forging that's been case hardened.

Bruce

 

[okiegtrider]

If it was mine, I'd bob it. Did it to my model 60 years ago. Makes it much more pocket friendly.

 

[RichCapeCod]

If it was mine, I'd bob it. Did it to my model 60 years ago. Makes it much more pocket friendly.

Bobbing a broken S&W 36 hammer (not all that uncommon a problem) is the way to go. Take the handgun to a decent gunsmith. Cost should be nominal and the revolver will be all the better for the modification. Do test fire the handgun after the modification to ensure there is sufficient mass in the hammer for reliable ignition.

Rich

My S&W 60 with bobbed hammer. Purchased new sometime in the 1970s. I had the hammer bobbed for better pocket carry.

 

[Hapworth]

...Do test fire the handgun after the modification to ensure there is sufficient mass in the hammer for reliable ignition...

Always good advice to confirm reliability after any modification; I have a saying, "Make a change, hit the range." In this specific instance, OP's revolver likely would be more reliable popping primers after a bob, as it's hammer speed, not mass, that accounts for ignition.

 

[Muley Gil]

Occasionally, the replacement hammer doesn't function in double action (DA). The easiest fix is to swap the DA sear from the old hammer to the new.