M-28 Highway Patrolman hammer tip broke

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Doug.38PR

Moderator
The flat thumb tip on my hammer just broke off last night on my Highway Patrolman. Essentially it is now a "bobbed" hammer. It still functions in SA fine obviously. I don't even know what happened. I took it out of the holster, emptied it's shells, dryfired it a few times and suddenlys something fell off the gun and clattered to the floor. It was the tip of the hammer.

Are hammers on 1970s Hwy patrolmans easy to replace? Do I even need to take it to a Smith? Are hammers with flat thumb pieces still easy to find?
 
Thats wierd , wonder why it broke.
I got in a pretty bad motorcycle accident and bent the hammer on my Taurus ultra lite.
 
my guess is that it was already fractured and I just never noticed (it may have even happened before I bought the gun a few years ago when somebody dropped it or hit it real hard against something) and it finally just let loose after enough use.
 
Yes, they're very easy to replace.

You MUST, however, get the right engineering change model hammer.

If you have a 28-2, you need to obtain a 28-2 hammer.

Other engineering change model hammers MAY work, but they may also require a lot of hand fitting to get them to work.
 
are there any sites that I can order one from? kinda like coltparts.com? S&W I would imagine don't have them anymore.

EDIT: I just called up S&W and ordered a M-28-2 "target" "hammer nose." I told them teh hammer nose thumb hook was flat (not a strip) and square and I thought it was a target hammer. He seemed to understand what I mean't. Cost $14 including shipping. Should be here in 5-7 days.

Said removing the firing pin from the broken hammer nose should be easy to do.
 
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Removing the hammer nose (firing pin) is easy but when replacing it you need a specially shaped tool to spread the rivet. You can make the tool out of a regular center punch. If you look at the rivet you will see what needs to be done. The hammer should be a "drop in" part. BTW, it may seem obvious, but install the hammer nose before putting the hammer in the gun.

Jim
 
ummm, not to sure what you mean there. I thought the hammer nose and the hammer were the same part (that's what S&W said anyway). THe nose is the part of the hammer where they thumb grabs to pull the hammer back. it is not something you connect to the hammer but is part of the hammer itself.
 
The hammer nose is the riveted firing pin in the hammer of the older versions (god...did I just say that?) Smiths..how about the non-frame mounted firing pins?
 
:confused::confused:omgsh, now you really have me confused. Are you saying that the hammer nose and the firing pin are the same thing? And that the hammer is an entirely different thing from the nose?:confused::confused:
Anybody got a parts blueprint?

I just got my dad a S&W Revolvers book by Jerry Kuhnhusen for Fathers Day. Unfortunately it does me no good here and now, it is at home in Houston waiting to be wrapped for FD

here is a picture of the broken hammer. What part is what?

2007-06-12-66460.jpg

2007-06-12-66768.jpg
 
mod 28

thats a hammer spur not the nose he told you the nose was the firing pin.the new hammer may have the pin.if you sent it back to the factory the might have given you a new hammer after determining the cause of the fracture.and they would fit the hammer if you told them the trigger pull you wanted.revolvers are easy enuf to change parts but proper fit is something else:):confused:
 
looks like the spur and the nose are the the same part. They are all the hammer as a whole. The only separate part is the firing pin as far as I can tell.
Is that correct?
 
OK, I'll try again. Not all manufacturers call similar parts by the same name.

Smith & Wesson, for reasons of their own, calls the firing pin (the part that hits the cartridge primer) the "hammer nose". On the Model 28, it fits into a slot in the top front of the hammer and is riveted in. So "hammer nose" and "firing pin" are the same thing, just people using different terms.

If you ordered only a hammer, you will probably NOT get the hammer nose (firing pin) or the other hammer parts, so you will have to swap over the ones from the old hammer. You will have to swap over the hammer strut (S&W calls it the "sear" - the part the trigger pushes on to cock the hammer in double action firing), its pin, and its spring, as well as the stirrup and stirrup pin. The stirrup is the part at the bottom rear of the hammer that the hammer spring hooks onto. Just put everything on the new hammer just like it was on the old one.

The thumbpiece you use to cock the hammer manually is the hammer spur; it is part of the hammer.

The whole thing is a lot easier to do than it is to describe. You need a good small pin punch in addition to that riveting tool I mentioned earlier. Also, take care not to lose parts - those pins and the sear spring are really tiny.

Jim
 
Okay, I assumed the guy I was on the phone with was on the same page when I said the hammer was broken and he said nose. I even asked him if the firing pin was easy to change from teh broken (as we started calling it) nose to the good nose. He said yes, just take the little thing that holds the firing pin in place out, remove the firing pin and the put it in the other nose.

I hope I ordered the right part:eek:
 
Its not the end of the world. You can ship the gun back to S&W and have the hammer replaced, and any other work you might want at the same time.

I HAVE seen a hammer spur silversoldered on and it was seamless. Back when the 686's first came out one of our customers just had to have the wide hammer spur on his 686, so we came up with a used K-frame hammer, cut it off, silversoldered it on to the L-frame hammer and polished the sides to match. SO- a good smith might be able to pull it off.

You could also look for a used N-frame hammer.
 
S&W doesnt have non mimmed hammers anymore IIRC, nor does Gun parts Corp. I will see if we have one, chances are not good. You should call both and ask if they are available

Pending finding a hammer, your best bet is to braze or weld the piece back on. We have been forced to do that several times with Colts.

WildpartsisgettinscarceAlaska
 
Okay, I just called S&W and got squared away. Y'all are right, the nose is the thing that hit's the primer. I kept saying firing pin, and firing pin is something, to them, that is inside the frame on the newer guns. Nose is on the hammer and does the same thing as the firing pin.
They canceled the mistaken order and they back ordered a M-28-2 hammer with a size 400 spur (which we believe is the same thing as the broken one). It should be here in about a week theys said.
They do have a larger 500 spur that they coudl send out right away but I think that is a little larger than my hammer.
 
I think 400 is the broken one my gun came with and I am love it....but you know I think I might just order both....just to get you to stop yelling at me ;)
 
"The hammer should be a "drop in" part."

Generally yes, but only in the same engineering change series.

If you go outside the engineering change it can be a bit problematic.

Ask me how I know. :)
 
Doug, I think you should send that broken thing to me so you dont have to worry about it!! I hate it when TFL buddies have malfunctioning weps...I do what I can to help out!! (I'll foot the bill for the shipping, but don't expect this every time!)
 
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