rgkeller Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 (edited) Practicing today. Hammer started following. Cleaned it. When I pull the hammer back, it will not hold in cocked position. What does this mean? Thanks Edited December 21, 2006 by rgkeller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 With luck, it means that you put it back together wrong and have something out of place. Could be sear spring, could be overtravel screw, could be something else. Otherwise, it means it's new trigger-job time. If it was following before, that is more likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird_Dog0347 Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I would detail strip it again and make sure that everything went back together correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 When I pull the hammer back, it will not hold in cocked position.What does this mean? Thanks Sear nose is not engaging the full-cock notch on the hammer: 1) gun is assembled wrong (check sear spring leaf carefully, it may be on the wrong side) 2) sear nose broke off 3) hammer hook broke off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmca Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 If it's an S_I, it could be a cracked grip frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmon Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 you have your sear spring out of place. Harmon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 you have your sear spring out of place.Harmon Very likely.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoshidaex Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 (edited) another +1 for a sear spring out of place. Done it a few times myself. Disassembly revealed the left arm of the sear spring was under the sear it self. Edited December 22, 2006 by yoshidaex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihatepickles Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 I agree about the symptoms sounding like the sear spring, but there's extra info to consider. The original description made it sound like he didn't disassemble the frame until after he had an issue with the hammer following. That makes me think there's a decent chance that the sear or hammer have been damaged. It's also possible the sear spring could be damaged I suppose but I'm having a hard time imagining how to damage the sear spring without disassembly. Just some thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgkeller Posted December 22, 2006 Author Share Posted December 22, 2006 (edited) The pistol has not been disassembled. Best news would be a broken sear spring. evidently. STI frame. Where would the crack likely to be? Edited December 22, 2006 by rgkeller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmca Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Take a look above the back of the trigger guard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hitman Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 +1 on the sear spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird_Dog0347 Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 When cleaning my Edge today... I put the sear spring in wrong, it had this exact effect. Oh well... easy fix... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 The pistol has not been disassembled.Best news would be a broken sear spring. evidently. STI frame. Where would the crack likely to be? As Shred says...check the overtravel screw and make sure it is not incorrectly adjusted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Bell Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Practicing today. Hammer started following. Cleaned it. When I pull the hammer back, it will not hold in cocked position. What does this mean? Thanks In a normal gun, it means the sear is worn. In a custom gun, it may be that, a broken or weak sear spring of simply one that's been set too light to engage the hammer. It most likely means that it's time to take the gun to a competent gunsmith to ensure that it's right. Lee I agree about the symptoms sounding like the sear spring, but there's extra info to consider. The original description made it sound like he didn't disassemble the frame until after he had an issue with the hammer following. That makes me think there's a decent chance that the sear or hammer have been damaged. It's also possible the sear spring could be damaged I suppose but I'm having a hard time imagining how to damage the sear spring without disassembly. Just some thoughts. Easy. One of the ways some gunsmiths lighten the trigger pull is to bend the sear spring. Combine polished surfaces with a lightened spring and it only takes a little wear before the sear fails to engage the hammer and it follows the slide. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Further - I had a chance to handle one of the very early STI Eagles. This particular one suddenly had the hammer start following. Nothing was actually wrong with the pistol, except that the plastic on the inside of the frame where the sear spring sits was too slick, and allowed the sear spring to shift off of the sear. This happened in the middle of shooting it - one minute, it worked, the next it didn't. Luckily, no full auto fun (my wife was shooting it at the time). Quick work with a punch put enough texture on the spring to keep it in place. So, just because it hasn't be disassembled doesn't mean it can't be the sear spring... But the other stuff applies, too - if the overtravel adjustment screw is loose, various symptoms can arise, including this one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmon Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 sear spring could have slipped out of place..or just broke... dissassemble to be sure. harmon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Sample Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 The way I read this post is that the hammer started following BEFORE he cleaned it. Shred has a good point about the overtravel screw and the sear spring is iffy , too. Anything we say is WAG! Without The hands on the 1911, it is a mystery! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 (edited) The way I read this post is that the hammer started following BEFORE he cleaned it. Shred has a good point about the overtravel screw and the sear spring is iffy , too. Anything we say is WAG! Without The hands on the 1911, it is a mystery! Good point, the original post does read that way. Might be fixable just by upping the spring force a tad on the sear leaf (assuming the spring is OK). It's very easy to do by bending the spring leaf a touch. Edited December 27, 2006 by bountyhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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