How far past full cocked?

[Spindly61]

How far past the full cocked notch should the firing pin stop/slide push the hammer? Been just looking and tinkering again. Thanks.

[wichaka]

Not very far, it shouldn't touch the grip safety.

But during the violent recoil cycle, the hammer sometimes will touch the grip safety, this is normal.

[Spindly61]

Thanks wichaka,
I put a commander type hammer on my pistol and once it is at full cocked cycling the slide is a little harder than I'd like. I radiused it some and that helped. I was just wondering if I could get a little more aggressive with it as long as I stay above the area that strikes the firing pin. I'm sure i have plenty of mass.
Just curious if anybody has done this or if it was a practice at one time.

[Lazarus]

If your hammer touches your grip safety when cycling the gun by hand, then you don't have enough clearance there, my friend. It's not designed to work that way. Of course the hammer needs to go past full cock notch a little or it won't cock when you rack the slide. But the grip safety should not interfere with the hammer's movement at all during hand cycling.

During actual shooting the hammer will always bang back and forth between the g.s. and the slide, unless there is something else getting in the way (hint, hint).

When you put the new hammer on, did you also install a new hammer strut? If so, check for binding due to a little extra length on the strut.
(The binding will be your mainspring coming close to a coil bind. If that is the case, remove a little length from the strut. A couple thousandths should do it.)

-Lazarus

[John]

As Tuner says, there is nothing swift when the slide cocks the hammer. Things are pretty violent, and the hammer will indeed hit the grip safety and bounce back.

[1911Tuner]

Spindly...If you installed a rowel hammer along with the standard grip safety, (used with the spur hammer) you need to relieve the safety to allow free travel of the hammer. If this is the case, it's a wonder that the hammer will go to full cock at all.

[Spindly61]

Thanks guys. I do have a beavertail installed and there is clearance. I used a EGW hammer strut. That might be the culprit.
Its not binding. It came with a knife edge point on it where it fits into the mainspring cap. Not radiused ,I was wondering if this was for less friction or needed hand fitting. That would explain it sticking up higher but O.A.L. is O.K. I never read about this before, Thanks again.