Hammer works, but wont fire DA

[dana]

I don’t know what is wring but it fires fine in SA. IN DA the hammer moves back and looks like it should work but for some reason the firing pin is not hitting the primmer. I looked at the primmer of the round that failed to fire and there is no mark on it at all from the DA trigger pull.
At home I made sure the gun was empty and I put a pencil down the barrel into the chamber. SA repeatedly launched the pencil across the room. But DA would not move it at all even though the hammer goes back and drops just like it should. Any ideas?

[normsutton]

dana

How hard is it to pull the trigger on the DA, if it seems very light I think you need to go with a WOLFF 18 or 19# hammer spring , if it is hard to pull you got something else wrong
I'll be home most of the day email or PM your Phone # and time to call and I'll see if we can't get you strait

NORM

[dana]

It doesn’t feel like I am going to get blisters on my finger when I pull it, but it is heaver than any other gun I have. I figure if a spring was too weak then it would have at least left a mark on the primer or made the pencil jump out of the barrel. It acts like something is blocking the firing pin in the DA. But I don’t know why it would work SA but not DA.
Right now I took it apart to see how it all works. I am going to try to replace the trigger return spring and clean it out really well.

[normsutton]

dana
just sent you information trigger return springs phone # is at bottom of page

NORM

[brigade]

I don’t know what is wring but it fires fine in SA. IN DA the hammer moves back and looks like it should work but for some reason the firing pin is not hitting the primmer.

You say the hammer moves back but didn't follow it up with the hammer flying home and striking the firing pin... Does that happen? If so then I don't understand how it could be the hammer or pin or spring. It is possible that your safety catch might be falling down due to a worn detent and which could be blocking the hammer from fully striking the firing pin during double action. My dads did that. I made him a new safety detent.

[dana]

yes the hammer moves forward in what looks to be the right way after i pull the trigger in DA.
ehat was the part you were having trouble with? is it in the slide around the firing pin?

[brigade]

Download the 2 manuals by clicking the link below.

http://p64.proboards67.com/index.cgi?bo ... 1180205461

Look for part 32,33,34 in the "Parts Illustraded Manual"

Then look to page 8 of the "Assembly/Dissasembly Manual" and start from there. If the detent is not working or even missing the safety catch can drop down during firing or even ratcheting of the hammer during double action trigger pull and cause the saftey catch to lower down and then the saftey catch is trying to do its job by blocking the hammer from stricking the firing pin. It's just one possibility and one that I experienced before.
-Troy

[normsutton]

dana

This a case i just tried to fire in DA when the side was not closed all the way in one of mine ( side not in full battery)


most of the time if the side isn't in battery the trigger will pull and no action will happen but just a slightly out of battery the hammer will move but not strike the firing pin hard enough as shown in picture

NORM

[brigade]

One more thing to try. With the gun unloaded... pull the trigger to cock the hammer and just before it falls hold it with your thumb and finger and ride the hammer down WITHOUT releasing the trigger. The hammer will fall into its resting place gently cause your holding it but then push it forward to simulate it striking the firing pin. Does it go all the way forward and push the firing pin(remember you are still holding the trigger back). Where is your safety lever when you are doing that? Where is your slide in relation to the frame of the gun? Is everything lubed properly? Is the slide meeting resistance when trying to come all the way forward?

[pshootr]

When you attempt to fire your pistol double action do you pull the trigger through quickly in a single stroke or do you "stage" the trigger and release it slowly? From your description of the "pencil test" it sounds as if the sear is catching the safety notch on the hammer in double action mode.

[brigade]

Pshooter... What do you mean exactly? The sear doesn't make contact with the safety catch.

[bzinggg]

Clean your chamber, maybe.

[pshootr]

Sorry not to be more clear. I didn't mean the manual safety. There is a safety notch on the hammer. The hammer has two sear notches cut into it. One holds the hammer in the full cock position. The other prevents the hammer from going all the way forward and contacting the firing pin unless the trigger is all the way back. This is accomplished by allowing the trigger bar to force the sear out of the way when the trigger is fully pulled. If the pencil flies across the room on single action, and doesn't even move on double action, I don't think the hammer is even hitting the firing pin in the double action mode. To drop the hammer in the single action mode you MUST move the trigger far enough back to release the sear from the hammer, because the sear is all that is holding the hammer in the full cock position. In double action, the trigger bar first engages a shallow notch on the lower right side of the hammer, dragging the bottom of the hammer forward and rotating the upper part of the hammer backward, the part of the hammer you can see. Then, as the angle of the hammer changes, the trigger bar slips off of the notch in the hammer, allowing the hammer to go forward under pressure from the hammer spring. At about the time the trigger bar slips off of the hammer it contacts the sear and pushes it away from the hammer, otherwise the sear would intercept the safety notch on the hammer, stopping its forward motion before it struck the firing pin. Sometimes, due to varying tolerances, the trigger bar releases the hammer before the sear is moved clear. In this case the trigger must be quickly pulled fully through to release the sear before it has the chance to stop the falling hammer. The idea behind single action firing systems is that if the gun were cocked, then dropped or struck a blow, releasing the hammer from the sear, that the pistol still would not fire because the hammer would stop moving forward when the sear met the safety notch on the falling hammer. Only pulling the trigger fully back is supposed to release the sear. Try pulling the trigger very quickly fully all the way back while doing the "pencil test".

Pshooter... What do you mean exactly? The sear doesn't make contact with the safety catch.

[bzinggg]

Yes, and the slide has to be fully forward for these actions to take place correctly. Isn't that correct?

Could a hard fouling build-up at the forward end of the chamber cause the cartridge case to hold the slide back far enough to make a problem like this?