New hammer?

[Doc H]

Anyone tried the new hammer from USFA with the screw-in FP?  I've had less than stellar experiences with the standard pinned FP in my Colts, and it seems like a really great idea.  That's the one part of a SAA likely to break that's not exactly "user replaceable" in the field.  I know it's not "authentic", but I'd bet any cowpoke on the range worth his spurs would have traded in a heartbeat back in 1873.  Nobody pined for the loading lever and percussion cap on a working gun when metallic cartridges appeared....

[Coffinmaker]

Not yet ...... but ...... as few guns as I've had in the shop for a firing pin replacement in the last 10 years, I see it (the new hammer) as a "gizmo."  I suppose you could justify it as an aid to dry fire practice but that is what Snap Caps are for.  I wouldn't recommend subjecting a hammer to constant impact with the frame for any real length of time.  Just not good for the gun.
Now, if your gun has sloppy cross pin fit and keeps spitting out the cross pin and firing pin, OK.  However, if the cross pin is properly staked, that shouldn't be an issue.  Nope, still just a "gizmo."

Coffinmaker

[Doc H]

Thanks for the responses all!  My problem is my Colt SAA does keep spitting out the firing pin rivet, and I think because of the design.  I've had the rivet replaced 3 times now after what I would consider very modest dry-firing; once by the Colt factory, and its on its way to Eddie Janis for the fourth replacement.  I also use snap-caps (AZooms and Triple-K), which I think are part of the problem.  When the FP whacks to a stop on the snap cap, it puts direct force on the firing pin rivet before the hammer hits the frame, and bends it back just as if you smacked it with a metal punch.  After a few hundred cycles, it bends enough that it pulls it out of the countersink on either side of the hammer and it literally falls out - this last time after it edged out sideways and whacked the back of the frame as the hammer went home.

I don't see how this could not happen on any 3rd gen Colt dry-fired with snap caps; the floating firing pin by definition "floats" with a small rivet through its center, which absorbs whatever impact the firing pin transmits if it hits something other than a soft, unfired primer.  The alternative would be to not use snap caps and let the hammer impact the frame, but I'm guessing (and hearing) that this can damage the recoil plate and firing pin port.

I'm just wondering if the USFA design is stronger and allows dry-firing with the gun.  Happy to use snap-caps, in fact I've used 'em in every other gun own.  Practicing with live rounds out of the holster for me is not a great option, for a whole bunch of reasons besides economic ones!  It just seems that in this case, snap-caps are the problem, not the solution, and it looked like USFA might have the answer...

[jphendren]

Do all new USFA's have this new hammer with a screw retained firing pin?  I hope not.

Jared

[Doc H]

Don't know that you can even get a screw-retained FP hammer as an option; just saw them on USFA's site for some of their new models.  I also understand the standard USFA FP is more like the 2nd gen and may be a little sturdier than the 3rd gen design, so might hold up better anyway.