Banjo 10-79
Member
Anyone put a spurless hammer in a Ruger Police Service 6? Anyone else own one of these revolvers? I recently came into possession of a 2 &3/4 inch 357 magnum example.
Ruger Police Service 6
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I own a couple 2 3/4” Speed Sixes, one in .357 Mag and another in 9mm, as well as a 2 3/4” Security Six.
Ruger did make a small number of Service Sixes with a 2 3/4” barrel but they are not common and border on rare. I would under no circumstances bob the hammer on one.
Ruger also made a small number of Speed Sixes with Police Service Six or Service Six markings. These were Service Six frames pulled off the line and modified with the round butt to fill Speed Six orders. These are also fairly rare and again I would not mess with one.
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None of these guns are pocket carry sized and I’ve carried K framed sized revolvers including the speed and security six IWB for years and never saw any need for or advantage to removing the hammer spur. I put bobbing the hammer on a K frame sized revolver right up there with buying a big pickup truck and then putting low profile tires on it. It might help you feel cool or special but all it’s really doing is costing you capability for no real gain.
Sometimes you see bobbed hammers on S&W K frames but that’s more often than not an artifact of a problem with push off.
Ruger did make Speed, Service and Security Six revolvers with bobbed hammers as special order revolvers for police departments with training deficiencies that could not get their officers to stop cocking them manually. It wasn’t done as a tactical improvement.
Ruger did make a small number of Service Sixes with a 2 3/4” barrel but they are not common and border on rare. I would under no circumstances bob the hammer on one.
Ruger also made a small number of Speed Sixes with Police Service Six or Service Six markings. These were Service Six frames pulled off the line and modified with the round butt to fill Speed Six orders. These are also fairly rare and again I would not mess with one.
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None of these guns are pocket carry sized and I’ve carried K framed sized revolvers including the speed and security six IWB for years and never saw any need for or advantage to removing the hammer spur. I put bobbing the hammer on a K frame sized revolver right up there with buying a big pickup truck and then putting low profile tires on it. It might help you feel cool or special but all it’s really doing is costing you capability for no real gain.
Sometimes you see bobbed hammers on S&W K frames but that’s more often than not an artifact of a problem with push off.
Ruger did make Speed, Service and Security Six revolvers with bobbed hammers as special order revolvers for police departments with training deficiencies that could not get their officers to stop cocking them manually. It wasn’t done as a tactical improvement.
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I would see no problem modifying a spare hammer by removing the spur and fitting it, giving you the option of changing back to the original. I have seen a Ruger GPNY, DAO with a spurless hammer.
All I can add is; I wish I'd bought a Speed-Six or two back in the day!
robertrwalsh
SWCA Member
I used to have a speed six. I put a factory spurless hammer on it. The nice thing about it is the mass is the same as the spurred hammer so you would tend to not get misfire issues that are possible if you take the hammer mass down too low. I eventually sold it as it was a bit too big and a bit too heavy for my taste for a concealed carry piece. It was, however, a fine gun.
xfarfuldog
Member
I had a brief infatuation with Rugers. I owned a Security 6 and a Speed 6 both 2 3/4 and in stainless. They are good strong guns but a bit heavy.The Speed 6 had a spurless hammer. Personally I detest those. I sold both as I prefer K frames or a Detective Special.
Still have a Security Six...it's a good horseback gun, with enough penetration to put down a fatally injured horse. It also doesn't matter as much if you hit the dirt with it. 
OP
Banjo 10-79
Member
Thank you guys for the replies and photos. This is a cherished pistol that I received from an uncle. No plans to permanently alter it nor carry it for social purposes. I’m not a gun plumber by any sense but it appears Ruger’s are less complicated than Smiths to tear down.
cd228
Member
First, Burn the heretic, this is the S&W forum!!! None of the great Satan Bill's spawn are permitted here. Next, you will be talking about the devil's own contraption, them evil hand guns without cylinders.
Just having a little fun. I've got a 2 3/4 .357 Service 6 and actually like it better then my 3" 66. You can find parts for it on everygunpart.com They buy chopped old guns and part them out, so sometimes their inventory varies. I got a hammer, barrel, cylinder, trigger group, main spring and strut, etc. for around $200. Gunpartscorp aka Numerich arms out of NY has some parts too. You could buy a used hammer and have it chopped and fitted (if needed) by a gunsmith and keep your origional. Supposedly, you can swap hammers between Rugers with out fitting, but I haven't tried it.
Just having a little fun. I've got a 2 3/4 .357 Service 6 and actually like it better then my 3" 66. You can find parts for it on everygunpart.com They buy chopped old guns and part them out, so sometimes their inventory varies. I got a hammer, barrel, cylinder, trigger group, main spring and strut, etc. for around $200. Gunpartscorp aka Numerich arms out of NY has some parts too. You could buy a used hammer and have it chopped and fitted (if needed) by a gunsmith and keep your origional. Supposedly, you can swap hammers between Rugers with out fitting, but I haven't tried it.
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Banjo 10-79
Member
SCEVA where did you find the grip adaptor? Rest assured CD I have many more S&W’s than Rugers, you did make me chuckle!
Gripgrabber
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swagmeister
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I've had several Security and Service Sixes over the years and currently only own one, a 4" blue .357 Security Six with action job by Jim Clark in 1977. One I wish that I had back was a six inch blue .357 Security Six with "Made in the 200th Year of American Liberty" on the frame and no warning on the barrel. Although not quite as smooth as a K Frame Smith, they all gave good service and were excellent shooters.
kbm6893
SWCA Member
Spend $35 for a new hammer and it drops right in. Rugers come apart so easily
Off ebay many years ago when they were still fairly easy to find. It is an older one that came in the little white box. The grips I got from Don Collins about the same time frame.
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BryanTheRed
Member
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Banjo 10-79
Member
I have a T Grip on a 629 mountain gun. I got a BK grip adapter on a smith 638. I got the BK years ago when I was just a dirty lurker here. I didn’t see any Ruger Tyler’s available. I really like the look of these original grips but an adapter would make them perfect.
Got to this one late due to a trip, but herewith:
I have a 2 3/4" bbl stainless Security Six in which I have installed a spurless hammer. I also have one in my backup Ruger PPC revolver (more on that anon). It was a drop-in conversion for both.
Owing to my background, I shoot DA revolvers DA all the time, without exception. In that context, a hammer spur is useless to me (emphasis on context). I fail to see the analogy between preference for a spurless hammer and low profile tires on a pick up truck.
When I bought the 2 3/4" Security Six I would have preferred, had the shop had any, one of the fixed sight models. Between a smooth top strap and spurless hammer there would have been less to snag on or abrade outer garments.
Despite my shooting DA only, I did have a use for a spurred hammer. Our department provided wadcutter ammunition for PPC matches. These were commercial reloads with varying tolerances. Before a match, in my garage, with all of the appropriate safety precautions, I would load the cylinder of my PPC revolver with these rounds. On each cylinder full, I would carefully retract the hammer, using the spur, and rotate the cylinder to make sure there were no high primers. I did this with all the rounds to be used in the match. The spur let me do this safely. My backup PPC revolver, which as it turned out never got used, had a spurless hammer since I only tested on my primary.
A lot of PPC competitors preferred spurless hammers. The thinking at the time was that a spurless hammer, having less mass due to no spur, slightly reduced lock time thus reducing the time available for the sights to be misaligned before the bullet left the barrel. I have no idea if this was true. I was not good enough to make that determination. But given the skills of the top PPC shooters at the time, it is a cheap shot that ignores the history behind the rationale to conclude "...it may make you feel cool or special....". The only thing that made any of us "...feel cool or special..." was the score on the target. That is why we were there.
My department did not have a great track record with our issue S&W 66s, so when I decided to buy a K frame size short barrel revolver, I chose the Ruger. It is a great revolver.
I have a 2 3/4" bbl stainless Security Six in which I have installed a spurless hammer. I also have one in my backup Ruger PPC revolver (more on that anon). It was a drop-in conversion for both.
Owing to my background, I shoot DA revolvers DA all the time, without exception. In that context, a hammer spur is useless to me (emphasis on context). I fail to see the analogy between preference for a spurless hammer and low profile tires on a pick up truck.
When I bought the 2 3/4" Security Six I would have preferred, had the shop had any, one of the fixed sight models. Between a smooth top strap and spurless hammer there would have been less to snag on or abrade outer garments.
Despite my shooting DA only, I did have a use for a spurred hammer. Our department provided wadcutter ammunition for PPC matches. These were commercial reloads with varying tolerances. Before a match, in my garage, with all of the appropriate safety precautions, I would load the cylinder of my PPC revolver with these rounds. On each cylinder full, I would carefully retract the hammer, using the spur, and rotate the cylinder to make sure there were no high primers. I did this with all the rounds to be used in the match. The spur let me do this safely. My backup PPC revolver, which as it turned out never got used, had a spurless hammer since I only tested on my primary.
A lot of PPC competitors preferred spurless hammers. The thinking at the time was that a spurless hammer, having less mass due to no spur, slightly reduced lock time thus reducing the time available for the sights to be misaligned before the bullet left the barrel. I have no idea if this was true. I was not good enough to make that determination. But given the skills of the top PPC shooters at the time, it is a cheap shot that ignores the history behind the rationale to conclude "...it may make you feel cool or special....". The only thing that made any of us "...feel cool or special..." was the score on the target. That is why we were there.
My department did not have a great track record with our issue S&W 66s, so when I decided to buy a K frame size short barrel revolver, I chose the Ruger. It is a great revolver.
I obviously struck a nerve. My apologies.
However I’ll stand by the comment I made. The fact is that for the majority of people who want a spur less hammer, they are giving up some degree of capability in exchange for at best questionable return.
Checking for high primers isn’t a use for a spur hammer that would have occurred to me (a straight edge and a case gauge work just fine) but it’s obviously a use you found for a spur hammer and you are not even a fan.
I’m in agreement that for defensive purposes mastery of the DA trigger is critical, including the ability to shoot accurately with the DA trigger pull.
However, for a small target 100 yards or so down range, it doesn’t make much sense to use a DA trigger pull when you have an SA pull option available.
For example, let’s say your engine quit and you are down in a forest somewhere with weather conditions such that you are going to be there awhile. You have a revolver and 12 rounds total. You also have a rabbit or partridge even just 40-50 yards away. Sure, you *can* hit it DA, but if you had a lick of common sense would you take that shot DA or cock the hammer and shoot it SA?
As for PPC, there generally isn’t a minimum trigger pull restriction for in a revolver division, at least under IPSC rules. Even in semi auto classes with a minimum pull weight it’s either 5 pounds for the first shot and no restriction there after, or it’s 3 pounds for all shots (striker fired pistols, and SA only pistols).
I do have a spur on my go-fast custom shop Model 625 revolver, but I’d never bother using it as the DA trigger is incredibly light and smooth. But I also would not remove it.
Yes, the hammer might move faster and slightly reduce the lock time, but it also potentially reduces the reliability, and an mis fire will ruin your day if you have a harder than average primer cup. That delightfully light DA pull comes by way of a lighter than standard hammer spring, where the momentum of a heavier hammer is important.
There’s never a free lunch. It’s always a balance between minimum spring weight, sufficient hammer weight, with a commensurate balance between trigger weight, lock time and reliability.
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