Hammer want to chase my slide

[a matt]

Hammer follow when dry firing 1 out of 5 times when I cycle slide. Runs great when live fire. What gives? 2011 6" 40,1.75 lb trigger, SV tri glide internals. Koenig hammer.

Edited June 29, 2012 by a matt

[bbbean]

Hammer follow when dry firing 1 out of 5 times when I cycle slide. Runs great when live fire. What gives? 2011 6" 40,1.75 lb trigger, SV tri glide internals. Koenig hammer.

Time to tweak your sear spring. Every case of hammer follow I've seen started as an intermittent problem. If you don't catch it soon enough, you'll end up touching one off at make ready, and that can really take the fun out of a match. Unintentional double taps don't do a lot for your scores, either.

BB

[twodownzero]

Intentional double taps don't do much for your score, either.

It sounds like the leg of your sear spring that actually pushes on the sear needs a little tweak to make sure it has enough pressure to hold the sear against the hammer even when the slide closes.

During live fire, the slide is slowed by the fact that it has to actually feed a round under the extractor and up the ramp and into the chamber. When slamming the slide home on an empty chamber, the gun isn't so limited.

Edited June 29, 2012 by twodownzero

[Ming the Merciless]

Hammer follow when dry firing 1 out of 5 times when I cycle slide. Runs great when live fire. What gives? 2011 6" 40,1.75 lb trigger, SV tri glide internals. Koenig hammer.

How are you cycling the slide? Just racking it back and letting it slam forward?

[dskinsler83]

I've been told dropping the slide on an empty chamber is bad for the sear/hammer engagement

[shooting for M]

I've been told dropping the slide on an empty chamber is bad for the sear/hammer engagement

+1, A couple other things, I just had that start happening and pulled things apart to look at them. I had an Infinity trigger installed with stock STI internals, the ball on the back of the trigger bow actually wore a groove into the disconnector. If you have all SV internals, probably not an issue though.

Try the sear spring bend, you may want to get a new one, one with the four fingers. Supposedly they will hold the sear better under shock. But I don't really know for sure, wait for someone with more knowledge than I to pipe in.

[lawboy]

The four- finger springs are problematic in many instances. May be worth a try but they caused nothing but grief for me. Ymmv

[a matt]

Yes just rack the slide let it fall 3times to check for hammer follow. With the finger on trigger pressing no follow with it off about 5th time follow.

[Poppa Bear]

Are the hammer and sear fitted or factory? I have heard that many hammers come from the factory with shallow hooks because you can always cut them deeper, but you cannot go the other way. So if they are fitted then everything should be OK.

[scooter doc]

also check your top grip screws if they get loose the hammer can follow.

dave

[a matt]

they are fitted. and i check the gun out when i clean it usually the day after a match or practice. im off to my gunsmith. thanks for all the suggestions. ill let you know what we find...

[Seth]

Try a different grip. I had a plastic grip give me fits. Just far enough out of spec that the sear spring wasn't sitting right.

[a matt]

working on a new grip now. thanks

[Steve RA]

When closing the slide on an empty chamber, hold the trigger back, can't follow then.

[392heminut]

When closing the slide on an empty chamber, hold the trigger back, can't follow then.

Exactly! A phenomenon known as 'trigger bounce' can cause the hammer follow when the slide is dropped on an empty chamber and the trigger is able to move in the process. Colt had a huge problem with the early Gold Cups because of this. The triggers on the Gold Cups are wider and were steel, making them heavier than the Govt. Models. To resolve the problem Colt, in their infinite wisdom, added a little spring loaded piece to the sear on production Gold Cups which for the most part resolved the issue. Heaven help you if you disassembled a Gold Cup and didn't have a slave pin to hold the sear and spring loaded piece together for reassembly!

[Steve RA]

Holding the trigger back when the hammer is cocked and the slide goes forward prevents the disconnector from resetting, then, when you release the trigger you should - unless you have been shooting for too many years - be able to hear the reset (click).

[Braxton1]

I am in full agreement about the "don't let the slide slam on an empty chamber", but all of this talk about pinning the trigger back while cycling the slide is unsettling.

I've been doing this for a while and for the first 20 years, I pinned the trigger on LAMR, cycled the slide, came off the trigger, set the thumb safety, and holstered. Then there was a considerable amount of discussion on this subject a few years ago and, IIRC, the consensus was "DQ the guy doing it".

I wouldn't want a newer shooter who is doing a lot of dry-fire building that into his procedure, because sooner or later, he's going to do it during a malfunction drill or during a UASC and touch one off.

Please remember that we build subconscious actions through repetition (and dry-fire is our best effort at repetition). Our subconscious mind really can't distinguish between "doing it in dry-fire" and "doing it for real". Those are conscious thoughts and it only takes a quarter-second distraction to side-track the process. Been there, done that, ate the DQ.

From a mechanical side, this follow can result from the sear spring losing some of its tension through age & use, rounding of the hammer hooks or the sear, or from having the overtravel screw set too tightly. That will result in the aforementioned "rounding" of both.

Edited July 2, 2012 by Braxton1

[frag316]

I had an issue with hammer follow when I installed a Cylinder and Slide kit on my wife's 1911 and used a trigger with a pretravel screw. The kit is sensitive enough that the trigger bounces and trips the sear. When I replaced the trigger, no more problems.

YMMV

[38super]

You are overdue for an AD, either fix or get your trigger fixed. Learn how to work on your gun.

[frag316]

I am in full agreement about the "don't let the slide slam on an empty chamber", but all of this talk about pinning the trigger back while cycling the slide is unsettling.

I've been doing this for a while and for the first 20 years, I pinned the trigger on LAMR, cycled the slide, came off the trigger, set the thumb safety, and holstered. Then there was a considerable amount of discussion on this subject a few years ago and, IIRC, the consensus was "DQ the guy doing it".

I wouldn't want a newer shooter who is doing a lot of dry-fire building that into his procedure, because sooner or later, he's going to do it during a malfunction drill or during a UASC and touch one off.

Please remember that we build subconscious actions through repetition (and dry-fire is our best effort at repetition). Our subconscious mind really can't distinguish between "doing it in dry-fire" and "doing it for real". Those are conscious thoughts and it only takes a quarter-second distraction to side-track the process. Been there, done that, ate the DQ.

From a mechanical side, this follow can result from the sear spring losing some of its tension through age & use, rounding of the hammer hooks or the sear, or from having the overtravel screw set too tightly. That will result in the aforementioned "rounding" of both.

Actually, as I understand the rulebook, the shooter who pinned the trigger while either making ready or unloading and showing clear is DQ-able, as per Rule 10.5.9 ("Failure to keep the finger outside the trigger guard during loading, reloading, or unloading. Exception: while complying with the “Make Ready” command to lower the hammer of a gun without a decocking lever, or while initially loading a revolver with a spurless hammer" under Unsafe Gun Handling).