Light primer strikes on my new Handi

[Walks with a gimp]

   With the first 20 rounds of ammo I shot through my new 500 S&W Handi, I had about 1/3 of them fail to fire on the first hammer hit. In disassemble and cleaning, I discovered that the firing pin is not traveling as far as it can. This is due to the top of the hammer face stopping too soon on the back of the receiver. I can cock the hammer and pull the trigger and let down the hammer easy onto the transfer bar and see the firing pin protrude out of the receiver about .030. If I keep the trigger back and open the hammer enough to push against the transfer bar with a small screwdriver, I can get almost twice the firing pin protrusion out of the receiver that what the hammer setting on the receiver will produce. I'm thinking that the hammer stop needs to be shortened to get a harder and deeper primer strike on my particular gun.  I wouldn't go more than .010 at a time until I get 100% firings. In looking at all my first fired cases, all of them have shallow firing pin marks in the primers.  Shall I do it?

[McLernon]

You  better get Quick's input on this one. Taking off material may affect the safety function of the transfer bar system,not sure.


Mc

[quickdtoo]

I can't offer any hammer change advice other than to contact H&R and most likely they'll want to have it for repair. The other alternative is go ahead and see what your suspicions yield, worse case scenario is you'll have to buy a new hammer. Some of the firing pin movement isn't just the blunt force of the hammer, but the inertia of the firing pin. If you're not pulling the trigger all the way to the rear at the break, not all of the hammer's impact will be applied to the firing pin because the t-bar isn't in position and has started to drop when the trigger is released. If you're positive you have operated the trigger properly, go for the hammer mod, but a longer firing pin may also be needed, seems to me Fred had an issue of sorts like this and I know weak hammer springs have been discussed before too, in fact I sent one to him and JPH45 for the problem. I've not dealt with them at all, I have a spare firing pin and transfer bar, but have never needed them.

Tim

[Fred M]

Gimp.
If you only get 30 thou pin projection, with a needle file work on the hammer seat and take a bit off the face of on the hammer this will give you another 10 -15 thou. I did both my Handi's like that.

Apply some lip stick and you will see that the hammer tip and the spot where the hammer hits are not very well matched, simple to rectify.

I also did polish the firing pin and the firing pin seat. Clipped off one coil off the firing pin return spring. Reversed hammer extension to the bottom opened up the dove tail in the extension and slid the extension 1/4" forward and toke off the top 1/4 " of the hammer.

I also installed a new hammer torsion spring. No more misfires.

[Walks with a gimp]

  Well, using a "squeeze the trigger" untill the gun goes off method, and a heavy recoiling gun may produce a not so,, to the max trigger pull.  On my other Handi, a heavy barrel .223, they look like deeper primer indentations.   I ,,, may,,, play

[Walks with a gimp]

Gimp.
If you only get 30 thou pin projection, with a needle file work on the hammer seat and take a bit off the face of on the hammer this will give you another 10 -15 thou. I did both my Handi's like that.

Apply some lip stick and you will see that the hammer tip and the spot where the hammer hits are not very well matched, simple to rectify.

I also did polish the firing pin and the firing pin seat. Clipped off one coil off the firing pin return spring. Reversed hammer extension to the bottom opened up the dove tail in the extension and slid the extension 1/4" forward and toke off the top 1/4 " of the hammer.

I also installed a new hammer torsion spring. No more misfires.

   Thanks for sharing your experience I understand what you did to yours and I believe there's enough hammer force to fire the gun properly on this particular rifle. I'll proced with the hammer face reduction/square to get just a little more "pin travel".