half cocked hammer

P

possumking

New member
I took my S.A .45 Champion to the dealer the other day to buy some mags and grips. I had a question for him about the hammer.. I asked him what was the purpose of the hammer in the "half cocked" mode? It's not really half cocked but only pulled back off the pin alittle. He was holding the gun and pulled the hammer back a bit (until it locked ) and then pulled the trigger... well the hammer clicked back into uncocked position. he stated that the hammer isn't supposed to move and never really answered my question. He said he'd look into it when he put in a ambi-dexterous safety for me.Sooo what is the half cocked position for and is the hammer supposed to move when he pulls the trigger.. Again .. when I say "half-cocked" you only have to pull the hammer back maybe 1/8 of an inch and it locks.hope I gave enough info and thanks for any help.

Tom
 
The purpose of the half cock notch on a 1911 type gun is and is only to catch the hammer if it should somehow be jarred off of full cock.
A true half cock notch is undercut to lock down the sear and the trigger cannot be pulled to drop it the rest of the way. Does not make it a safe carry setting.

In 1983 Colt came out with the Series 80 firing pin block and changed from the true half cock to a "safety stop" lower down on the hammer and without undercut. I don't know their reasoning, maybe it was to keep anybody from being tempted to carry the gun at half cock.
Springfield followed suit sometime later, I don't know the year but both of my SAs are like yours.

There is nothing wrong with your gun, Springfield/Imbel made it that way, and your gunsmith is out of date.
 
It is the 19th century carry position for people who were sure that a deer could appear and disappear faster than they could swing the lever and who were not likely to sue Marlin if they screwed up and let off an AD.

It was about the only option, lever action rifles do not - at least until some of the modern Jap cosmetic copies of Winchesters - have inertial firing pins. If there is a cartridge in the chamber, the hammer better not be all the way down.
 
Wow, you are too quick. So basically, it just keeps the pin from resting on the primer with the hammer down on a chambered round? So is it not a good idea to deckock a lever action like mine? I've never tried it, but now I'll make sure not to. Ever thought about writing a book? Thank you.:)
 
Until fairly recent times, quite a few gun makers (and gun owners) thought that a half cock was a perfectly good safety, on the theory that only a damned fool would carry a gun with the hammer down on a live round. One who thought that was John Browning, who didn't care much for safety devices on hammer type guns, feeling that the half cock was good enough. He only put the grip and thumb safeties on the M1911 pistol because the Army demanded them.

Of course now that lawyers outnumber everyone else by about twenty to one, safety devices abound on everything, and owners' manuals consist solely of red lettered warnings.

Jim
 
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