Hammer contacting BGS?

[tonka]

My RIA has been fitted with a Wilson drop-in BGS and an STI skeletonized spur hammer. Today I noticed a wear spot in the hammer clearance of the BGS caused by the hammer, which seems to over-traveling a bit. I can round off the spur of the hammer without any problem, shortening it by about 3/32", so I'll do that, but first I want to know if I'm heading for trouble if I don't do it. I think leaving it alone will accelerate wear of the hammer pin hole, besides letting two pieces of steel batter each other. What do y'all think?

[niemi24s]

There's only 3 ways I can think of to eliminate that contact:

• Whack some off the hammer spur
• Whack some off the offending part of the grip safety
• Whack some off the top of the hammer face (so the slide doesn't overcock the hammer too much)

Or maybe a little of each

[wichaka]

With the grip safety depressed, and you rack the slide by hand.......does the hammer hit the grip safety?

If not, don't worry about it, it's normal.......the slide coming back is pretty fast and will cause most every hammer to contact the grip safety.

[John]

Spur hammer and beavertail grip safety???

[tonka]

Spur hammer and beavertail grip safety???

Yes: it's a very abbreviated spur hammer, though, about 3/16" shorter than the stock, GI-style hammer. It's actually shorter than some of the elongated rowel hammers out there, which just don't look right to me.

It looks like I can knock another 1/16" off this one. I know the hammer is supposed to over-cock to some extent. The hammer and BGS don't hit when I hand-cycle the slide, but this is going to make crazy; I can't stand the thought of those parts whacking each other.

[toolman]

The most sure-fire way to prevent the hammer from contacting the BGS is to use a hammer and BGS made by the same manufacturer. Since you already have the different brands you mentioned, if it were me I'd whack some off the BGS as Nieme suggested (artfully of course, we gotta make our 1911's look purty don't we?).

Whacking some off the hammer spur sounds as if it would more difficult to do artfully and whacking some off the face of the hammer sounds as if it could possibly lead to reliability problems.

I'd say working on the BGS would be the way to go.

[tonka]

I'd say working on the BGS would be the way to go.

I don't really have the tools to deepen the trough on the BGS- at least not to where it would look good when I finished. I will keep it in mind as a Plan B, though. I can re-contour the hammer with a file, however, so that looks like Plan A. The contact isn't all that severe, but it's there, and I'll lay awake nights unless I at least try to eliminate it. That's just how I am.

Thanks for your input, gents!

[John]

The hammer will (almost) always hit the grip safety. What do you think is stopping it? If the hammer doesn't touch the safety when the slide is cocked back, you are OK.

[Pappy]

No expert advice here, maybe some common sense....whack on the cheapest part........

[Rick McC.]

Pappy's sage advice is the #1 rule of DIY gunsmithing! It's often overlooked until it's too late (don't ask me how I know).

Rick

[tonka]

Pappy's sage advice is the #1 rule of DIY gunsmithing! It's often overlooked until it's too late (don't ask me how I know).

Rick

Prob'ly the same way I know, Rick. :butthead:

I think my jets have cooled on this thing, but I still think the profile of the hammer would look better if I did the surgery. It's just elective surgery now, and not an emergency intervention. Besides, I spent last night fitting a mag catch to Fluffy, and my gunsmithing meter is about pegged for now.