Warning

 

Close
Confirm Action

Are you sure you wish to do this?

Cancel Confirm
AR15.COM
AR Sponsor
5/5/2012 7:58:25 PM EDT
I have some guns with notched hammers, some without.

I've heard not to use a notched hammer with an AR .22

What's the difference and what is the notch for?
5/5/2012 8:08:08 PM EDT
[#1]
One of the Colt bastardizations of the AR/M standard parts intended to make it more difficult to make it run FA.





The notched hammer was intended (in conjunction with the shroudless AR bolt carrier) to engage the head of the firing pin and keep the bolt from running all the way home when the hammer was not caught on the disconnector.





In real life what it does is bend firing pin retaining pins, interfere with the bolt carrier riding home smoothly, and in bad cases, enlarge the hammer pin holes in a lower.





Some of the other variations Colt made in the Civilian models were oversize fire control pins (to make M16 parts not fit right) and making the front takedown pin oversized and/or a setscrew to make the rifle harder to disassemble.




 
5/6/2012 2:27:50 AM EDT
[#2]
A B got it covered. No reason for them and shame on companies for still making them.
5/6/2012 6:49:34 AM EDT
[#3]
Thanks for the info.
Can you dremel it smooth and use it?
It hasn't been a problem with anything so far, but i need one for a .22 conversion.
5/6/2012 7:20:00 AM EDT
[#4]
If you remove to much material from the hammer it will not get pushed down far enough by the carrier to catch the disconnector when it needs to.
5/6/2012 7:43:43 AM EDT
[#5]
Replacement GI hammers are cheap enough.
 
5/6/2012 8:09:46 AM EDT
[#6]
Several places sell standard profile hammers. You just have to look for them, as most don't bother to identify their parts one way or the other.



The last I looked, DPMS hammers were standard profile. I don't recall any others specifically.


 
5/6/2012 8:37:12 AM EDT
[#7]
I don't like the notched hammer either, but as I understand it, the problem with bending FP retaining pins occurs when a large-headed M-16 FP is used with it. Use of an auto carrier negates any effects of the notched hammer.
Ref: LINK
AR Sponsor