The Unofficial P64 Resource Forum

My gun's disconnector works. By that, I mean that between shots, the hammer will stay back. But I happened to notice that with the action all the way open, the gun continues to "click" when the trigger is pulled.

Curious, I let the slide close most of the way, leaving it open about 1/8 of an inch. Pulled the trigger, and the hammer dropped. No biggie. Cocked the hammer then put the slide about 1/4" out of battery. Pulled the trigger. The hammer dropped!

Now after much testing, I have determined that if the slide is OOB even up to around a whopping 1/2" when the trigger is pulled, SOMETIMES the hammer falls! Sometimes it'll "click" and the hammer stays put, and you can pull the trigger repeatedly and just hear "click, click, click." Or sometimes the hammer falls, first try.

Obviously, if the action is open that far, the hammer can't hit the firing pin, anyway. Also, I have determined that the "zero cock" notch appears to catch the hammer IF the action is more than about 1/8" open when the trigger was initially pulled.

I don't think I'd worry about it at all, except for the fact that it's a SOMEtimes thing.

If anyone else cares to give this a try and post their result, I'd be grateful. Just open the action a 1/4-1/2 inch, where the hammer has a little ways to fall, and pull the trigger a few times. Rack, dry fire, repeat. Probably best to unload the gun first! If possible repeat this test at least 6-7 times?

Bump

Summary:
Is it normal that a P-64 can fire when grossly out of battery?

gloob
no its not normal,, you should be able to pull the trigger but it should be sloppy, and it shouldn't connect to anything to the breach is closed

NORM

Mine will let the hammer fall if it's about 1/16" from being closed, but other than that, it disconnects fine.

Thanks a bunch, guys.

It still seems pretty safe, to me, considering the hammer/firing pin geometry and the fact that the "half cock" safety notch stays locked. I can imagine worse, but my bet is that even a light strike on a OOB cartridge will be unlikely. So I guess I'll be on a lookout for a new disconnector, but I'll keep shooting this one, just the same.

I would be tempted to try and manufacture a disconnector from some sheet metal. It's a bend and a hole and a ramp shape on the top. It shouldn't be too hard to do if you have a few tools to do it. I don't know if hardening would be necessary, but it wouldn't be too hard. Leave a bit of extra material on the top side, a few thousandths and try it out.

Well, yeah. I don't think I have the right tools for that, exactly. But just maybe. There are also some other things I thought of.

I could anneal the disconnector. Then move the arm down a tad to give it a little more reach. Then reharden it.

Or maybe file a good size notch out of the disconnector and braze a piece of steel to it to bring it back to size.

Or possibly get someone to weld a bead on the top edge of the disconnector to add some material. Then grind it back down to shape.

Or I could get a MAPP torch and heat the thing up red hot, then pound it with a hammer to make it a skosh longer.

But in all likelihood, I'll just shoot it as is.