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O.K. Answer me this one...........

2K views 19 replies 10 participants last post by  Buckeye 
#1 ·
All the autoloaders shown lately have hammers that have a loop or hole through them. Why?

All the Government Models I was familiar with had a more convential hammer, or a beavertail hammer spur.

Why the big looping spur?

Bob Wright
 
#2 ·
Looks. And, supposedly, the hammers are lighter. On 1911s, it started from competition shooters - same as the holes in the trigger. I think it supposedly speeds up the hammers fall, or has something to do with lighter firing pins. On Berettas, those hammers are sold as being able to speed up lock time.
 
#3 ·
DennyCrane said:
Looks. And, supposedly, the hammers are lighter. On 1911s, it started from competition shooters - same as the holes in the trigger. I think it supposedly speeds up the hammers fall, or has something to do with lighter firing pins. On Berettas, those hammers are sold as being able to speed up lock time.
You're right on target. The mass of the hammer is trimmed in specific areas in order to maintain the impact energy required to drive the firing pin efficiently. The holes make the Hammer lighter without looking smaller.
 
#9 ·
My whole point was, if it had been an extra-expense modification or option, would you have paid, say $75 dollars extra, to get a hammer with a hole in it?

I'm recalling the test published years ago (In Shooting Times?) concerning the efforts to speed up lock-times in various handguns. The bottom line was they did not affect accuracy in any way.

I sort of hold to the theory if something has a hole in it, sooner or later something is going to get poked into it, often at the wrong time. Sort of like the ventilated rib on a Python, or ported gun barrels.

For the first fifty or sixty years of its life, the Government Model made it just fine with the beavertail hammer.

Bob Wright
 
#17 ·
Actually, they didn't make the holes. They made aluminum struts from the center to the outer rim. The holes just materialized. The struts have four surfaces, offering greater area to the air for cooling.

And the wheels were standard on my Jeep. And they do a good job of keeping the tires in place.

Bob Wright
 
#18 ·
That was the same reason for the slotted rail on a Phyton. To help stay cooler during competion. Oh me I know I am going to hear about this one.
 
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