Problem wth a S&W 442-1: An amusing anecdote

[EdC]

New S&W 442-1. Shoots very nice, but a little rough on the trigger return. I decided to pop the sideplate, look at few vids on Youtube (Gunsamerica had a vid of their smith doing a J-Frame), check things out, etc. Decided not to go too far, and just put a dibby dab of oil here and there.

Putting it back together, and could not for the life of me find the hammer block (aka transfer bar on Rugers). Didn't remember it falling out, searched high and low with a high lumen flashlight, under over and around the bench. Dammit!

Oh, wait, I think, I've got a broken (hammer stud on the frame) 642 in pieces, in a bag in a drawer. I'll cannibalize it. Nope, couldn't find the doggone hammer block on the junker, either. Must have lost that one, too, I figure.

Looked at Brownell's, Numrich and MidwayUSA, and couldn't find the part. Oh, well, guess I'll call S&W Monday.

But then I came across the S&W forum-the 442-1 and 642-2 don't have the hammer block, even thought the sideplate is channeled for one. Of course, same sideplate for the J frames, like he 638, which is DA/SA. Which is what the guy from Gunsamerica was working on in the Youtube vid.

Just had to share.

 

[45fan]

The first DA revolver I had ever taken apart was my 442, so I wasnt at the disadvantage you were, lol. One thing I did learn with the 442 over the external hammer guns that I will share, apparently they have issues with the firing pin being a bit short (to pass drop safety testing, or so I have read). Even with factory springs, I started getting light strikes after a few hundred rounds. C&S makes an extended pin, so I dropped one in, along with a hammer and trigger return spring kit. Little polishing of the moving parts and a dab of grease here and there, its the slickest trigger I have ever felt, and no more light strikes, even with SR primers.

 

[Drail]

A S&W hammer block and a Ruger transfer bar are NOT the same thing. One blocks the hammer and one connects the hammer to the firing pin. S&W firing pins that are short are because of safety reasons - they are just sloppy manufacturing practice. To ship a gun out the door that is not 100% reliable is B.S. And they've been doing this for a while now. In all of the years I have worked on S&W revos I have never seen one from the factory that did not have a hammer block and I cannot imagine any possible reason for them to leave it out.