357454 Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 During a discussion with another shooter he commented that he had seen several revolvers that had been "Tuned" by well known gunsmiths and the hammer block was missing from the gun. After reviewing my USPSA rule book I can not find where this is prohibited. Comments Please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pskys2 Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 The first action job I had on a M29 by Jim Clark Jr. came back without the hammer block, or flag, I called him and he said it was standard to remove them but it should have been in the box. So he sent it back to me. NRA requires it to be in, USPSA or ICORE don't. I think IDPA has gone back and forth, but I'd expect them to require it. It's a redundancy built into the system. The hammer foot rests on the rebound block and keeps it from firing if dropped. It could be hit hard enough to break it though. So don't remove it from your carry, packing around or hunting gun. I'm not sure it helps or hurts a good action job either. Now if you try to get under 5 lbs, a gnat getting into the action can cause issues! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzShooter Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Every gunsmith I used has taken it out. Since I shot IDPA for a little while I knew at that time that it was required. I felt no difference in the trigger. I did polish the hammer block along with all the other internals. BYW my actions were under 5 pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 When pulling the trigger, gravity lowers the hammer block. It adds no additional resistance to the pull. The rebound slide does have to push the hammer block back up on reset, but I can't imagine how sluggish reset would have to be for you to notice it. I leave it in all the revolvers I work on.Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RePete Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Removal was a PPC thing and I removed mine briefly but put it back in. Required in IDPA under 8.8.1 E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanzo Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 357454 - what difference do you feel this would make?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolguy Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 The hammer block can make the action a bit slower on the trigger return part of the cycle on a very light action. A lot of smiths just leave it out, as they don't know how to deal with it. I keep it in all my guns just for the added safety aspect. The parts that can cause a problem are the top of the flag and the triangle hole at the bottom. The top of the flag can catch on the hammer as it is rebounding, or on the frame on the older, hammer nose guns. The fix for that is to make a generous chamfer or radius on the front and back top of the flag so it will slide past these areas without catching. The bottom hole can drag on the actuator pin on the rebound slide because the part is stamped on a punch press. Any part made like that has a smooth part and a broken part all the way around the perimeter and inside any punched holes. If you file the 2 long sides of the triangle hole smooth with a needle file, the rebound pin will run smoothly and you'll never know the hammer block is in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RePete Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 14 hours ago, Toolguy said: The hammer block can make the action a bit slower on the trigger return part of the cycle on a very light action. A lot of smiths just leave it out, as they don't know how to deal with it. I keep it in all my guns just for the added safety aspect. The parts that can cause a problem are the top of the flag and the triangle hole at the bottom. The top of the flag can catch on the hammer as it is rebounding, or on the frame on the older, hammer nose guns. The fix for that is to make a generous chamfer or radius on the front and back top of the flag so it will slide past these areas without catching. The bottom hole can drag on the actuator pin on the rebound slide because the part is stamped on a punch press. Any part made like that has a smooth part and a broken part all the way around the perimeter and inside any punched holes. If you file the 2 long sides of the triangle hole smooth with a needle file, the rebound pin will run smoothly and you'll never know the hammer block is in there. The operative word here is light action and I agree. My revolvers have a heavier pull with a 14# rebound spring for CCI primer ignition, due to not being able to find Federal SP primers consistently and I've had more problems with Winchester primers since about 2000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Watson Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Heck, there are PPC tuners who leave out the teeny little spring in the cylinder bolt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RePete Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Jim Watson said: Heck, there are PPC tuners who leave out the teeny little spring in the cylinder bolt. Never heard of that one. Maybe they couldn't get it back in! Thanks Jim. Edited February 12, 2020 by RePete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolguy Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 The teeny little spring in the cylinder bolt is not a problem. What they are trying to correct is pressure of the bolt on the center pin that makes the cylinder a wee bit harder to turn. The real way to fix that is to file some metal off the back radius of the thumblatch where it butts up against the slot in the frame when the cylinder is closed. Once there is a bit of free play between where the bolt touches the center pin and where the thumblatch stops on the frame (pulling it backwards), then the problem is fixed. The small centerpin spring is what needs relieved. It is much stronger than the cylinder bolt spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RePete Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Thanks Warren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pskys2 Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 On Jerry's action vid he states 1) lighten one of the springs, can't remember which, for the center pin (don't do this, tried it and didn't like how it felt). 2) relieve the Cylinder Thumb Piece on the rear edge so there is no pressure on it when the Cylinder is closed (I do this but not sure it helps much). The one reason I take out the Flag is it is a PITA to line back up during re-assembly! But then maybe I shouldn't be taking it apart as much? Which I try NOT to do anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolguy Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 The easy way to get the flag back in is to raise the bottom of the grip, leaving the top of the gun on the bench. Gravity keeps the hammer block (flag) in the "up" position while you get the sideplate back on. Super easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan454 Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 I did have a hammer block fail on me once, the rebound slide pin broke and locked up my whole gun. I now remove them on my competition revolvers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cas Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 (edited) I found one in my recliner once. I looked at it and stared and stared... "I know what this is!" but i'd be danged if I could place what it was. Drove me crazy for days. It stayed on my desk for a couple years. One day I pulled a new Smith apart to do some action work and bingo, the lightbulb went off! "Oh crap!" Then I had to go figure out what gun it came out of. Edited February 16, 2020 by cas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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