1911 lighten hammer pull weight

robbor · 05-06-2008, 11:19 PM

Has anyone played with lightening a revolver hammer?
Im wondering if there is any real benefit to a faster lock time or harder strike?

randr · 05-07-2008, 07:20 AM

Yes. Haven't lightened any myself but Randy Lee at Apex Tactical does this as a matter of course on many of his tunes. His S&Ws come out with a 3.5-4 lb DA pull. He is an
engineer by training. He posts regularly over at Brian Enos Forum in the revolver section.

RePete · 05-09-2008, 03:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randr

Yes. Haven't lightened any myself but Randy Lee at Apex Tactical does this as a matter of course on many of his tunes. His S&Ws come out with a 3.5-4 lb DA pull. He is an
engineer by training. He posts regularly over at Brian Enos Forum in the revolver section.

While over there, check out the posts by carmoney too.

Mikke · 05-09-2008, 10:11 AM

I have cut down the target hammer on my S&W 617 so it now is the size of the standard hammer.

I also have two 686, one with a target hammer and one with a normal hammer, and I can feel the difference between them, the normal one beeing faster. Not a big difference, just barely noticeable, but in that case different springs might be part of it, even if I think they are close in weight.

I have not tried to go lighter then the standard hammer, only seen pictures of it. Not sure if there is any big gains in lock time, but it seems like it at least doesn't have negative effects on the strike.

randr · 05-10-2008, 06:43 AM

Lightening the hammer will definitely reduce lock time. If I recall correctly Randy Lee and others maintain that ignition is obtained by energy transferred to the firing pin and not momentum. By decreasing lock time and speeding the hammer up energy goes up more than a proportionate amount due to the squaring in the math equation. There should be some pictures of lightened hammers either on Lee's website (he sells them) or over at Brian Enos Forum as Carmoney has posted some pictures of his lightened hammers.

Over at the Ruger forum another gunsmith, Iowegan, described how to effectively lighten a Ruger hammer.

05-06-2008, 11:19 PM	#1
robbor Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Ca. Posts: 6	Lightening a hammer Has anyone played with lightening a revolver hammer? Im wondering if there is any real benefit to a faster lock time or harder strike?

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05-07-2008, 07:20 AM	#2
randr Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 36	Yes. Haven't lightened any myself but Randy Lee at Apex Tactical does this as a matter of course on many of his tunes. His S&Ws come out with a 3.5-4 lb DA pull. He is an engineer by training. He posts regularly over at Brian Enos Forum in the revolver section.

05-09-2008, 10:11 AM	#4
Mikke Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Umeå, Sweden Posts: 8	I have cut down the target hammer on my S&W 617 so it now is the size of the standard hammer. I also have two 686, one with a target hammer and one with a normal hammer, and I can feel the difference between them, the normal one beeing faster. Not a big difference, just barely noticeable, but in that case different springs might be part of it, even if I think they are close in weight. I have not tried to go lighter then the standard hammer, only seen pictures of it. Not sure if there is any big gains in lock time, but it seems like it at least doesn't have negative effects on the strike.

05-10-2008, 06:43 AM	#5
randr Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 36	Lightening the hammer will definitely reduce lock time. If I recall correctly Randy Lee and others maintain that ignition is obtained by energy transferred to the firing pin and not momentum. By decreasing lock time and speeding the hammer up energy goes up more than a proportionate amount due to the squaring in the math equation. There should be some pictures of lightened hammers either on Lee's website (he sells them) or over at Brian Enos Forum as Carmoney has posted some pictures of his lightened hammers. Over at the Ruger forum another gunsmith, Iowegan, described how to effectively lighten a Ruger hammer.