Serrated Hammers?

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I purchased a very nice old Model 1917 a couple of weeks ago. This is the first Smith I own that has a serrated hammer. At least I hope that is the correct term. I have not dated this revolver yet, but I am pretty sure it is a pretty early one, probably from 1917 or 1918. I took it apart to clean out any old oil that was inside the other day and while I was at it I took a couple of photos.

I have a couple of questions.

Why was this done to the hammers? I believe I read someplace that it was to allow oil to be retained on the sides of the hammer. Have no idea if that is true or not. Obviously an extra step, and it was discontinued at some point.

Can anybody give me the lowdown on why it was done?

When it was first done on what models?

When did S&W stop doing it?

Did S&W put serrated hammers on other frame sizes and other models?

Thanks.

 

[diamonback68]

I think it was to provide less surface contact between the hammer and the frame and sideplate. I would think the last thing you want is oil around your primers.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

Maybe so, but most of the area on the hammer that is serrated is up where it will not contact the frame anyway. And most of the area that is not serrated is down inside the gun. This old 1917 is still pretty tight and there is a hairline of space between the sides of the hammer and both the frame and the sideplate. No contact.

I know that at some point S&W raised the bearing surface of the hammer and trigger studs so that the only contact between those moving parts was at a small diameter where the stud was. As a matter of fact, I have several 19th Century Top Breaks and they have raised studs too, the moving parts to not touch the frame.

Not saying you are wrong, but I suspect the studs kept the hammer and trigger from contacting anything else.

 

[DCWilson]

I have always thought this was simply an expression of visual style. The first roughly 25,000 1917s had radially grooved hammers (which is the term I usually hear), but the next 125,000 war contract units did not, nor did the 40,000 Brazilian models or the several thousand commercial 1917 models. If the company was willing to forgo the tooling for nearly 90% of their 1917 production, it can't have conferred a crucial performance benefit.

The only other revolver to use the radially grooved hammer was the Registered Magnum.

 

[SWSC]

It was done initially to hold the oil longer. Battlefield experience showed the grooves held dirt and debris so the War Dept ordered the grooves not be applied.

 

[Jack Flash]

As SWSC stated, the Army objected to the grooves and ordered their removal. The Army was always trying to get S&W to speed up production, so if nothing else, the radial grooves required additional time and effort which the top brass considered unnecessary.

 

[gjamison]

If you can give the serial number we can get a better idea. With that
hammer it's an early one. Does it also have the concave grips?

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

If you can give the serial number we can get a better idea. With that
hammer it's an early one. Does it also have the concave grips?

gjamison, thank you for asking.

Yes, it has concave grips. It does not have the flying bomb, instead it has the GHS inspection mark. SN is 98XX. Since you are a SWCA member you can see more about it at this link:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/swca-members-forum/230666-found-1917-a.html

I have looked up the SN at this site and it comes up as 1918.

U.S. Military Dates of Manufacture

Just have not been able to post it on the SWCA Ship Date Request site yet. Roy is really busy right now.

This is a really nice old revolver. Not pristine, but still very nice. I will probably get it lettered.

The purpose of this thread was to learn about Serrated, or Radially Grooved Hammers.

I thank everybody who contributed to this thread.

 

[Jack Flash]

... the flying bomb ...

Mr. Driftwood sir:
Not trying to sound pedantic, but folks usually say "the flaming bomb".

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Ooops.

Sorry Jack, of course you are correct. My mistake.

By the way, I just heard from Roy and you were correct again, this pistol shipped January of 1918.