Spent part of the weekend problem solving, how to keep spent caps from blowing back under my 62' Police, hammer. First I tried making a cap sleeve cutter. Scissors and endcutters, collapsed the end being cut and were uncomfortable to use, so I went to using a razor blade with a jig setup.
This made quick work of making 3/8" cap sleeves. They fit well and kept the caps from shredding when fired. Unfortunately, the caps were blown out of them and back into the hammer recess again!!
Next up, spring steel. I made a cross bar out of an old pocket watch spring and held it in place while working the hammer off the trigger....I ended up with 3 pieces of spring steel, one jammed into the nipple cutout. Removed that and thought some more. Next was to beef up the main spring. I made a long washer for under the spring and put it in place. Unfortunately I had to rework the inside of the handle to get it to fit with out pre-compresssing. Got lot's more tension, but blow-back still won....caps went directly into the hammer slot as usual, just not as far. Someone had posted a method recommended on a SASS site (over on the "voy"), and that was what I decided was my easiest and most likely fix. I drilled a 3/32" hole in the receiver, back away's above the arbor, the pic will show why it had to be recessed back on the frame.
I then used some 3/32" binding wire cut down to be my post for the hole. I opened a slot in the top of the hammer, but didn't go all the way to the face with it, to prevent more gas leaking. In the original SASS instructions they said to use a drill steel for the pin, but I need the flex of mild steel because I lowered the hammer carefully and bent the pin forward so it would be closer to the nipple.
After checking it's position, I peined a retaining divot with a punch to keep her tight. EUREKA!!! 2 full cylinders(20g fff + wad and .357rb), and 15 dry fire caps only later, I can say with confidence...my cap's in the action day's are OVER!!
This made quick work of making 3/8" cap sleeves. They fit well and kept the caps from shredding when fired. Unfortunately, the caps were blown out of them and back into the hammer recess again!!
Next up, spring steel. I made a cross bar out of an old pocket watch spring and held it in place while working the hammer off the trigger....I ended up with 3 pieces of spring steel, one jammed into the nipple cutout. Removed that and thought some more. Next was to beef up the main spring. I made a long washer for under the spring and put it in place. Unfortunately I had to rework the inside of the handle to get it to fit with out pre-compresssing. Got lot's more tension, but blow-back still won....caps went directly into the hammer slot as usual, just not as far. Someone had posted a method recommended on a SASS site (over on the "voy"), and that was what I decided was my easiest and most likely fix. I drilled a 3/32" hole in the receiver, back away's above the arbor, the pic will show why it had to be recessed back on the frame.
I then used some 3/32" binding wire cut down to be my post for the hole. I opened a slot in the top of the hammer, but didn't go all the way to the face with it, to prevent more gas leaking. In the original SASS instructions they said to use a drill steel for the pin, but I need the flex of mild steel because I lowered the hammer carefully and bent the pin forward so it would be closer to the nipple.
After checking it's position, I peined a retaining divot with a punch to keep her tight. EUREKA!!! 2 full cylinders(20g fff + wad and .357rb), and 15 dry fire caps only later, I can say with confidence...my cap's in the action day's are OVER!!
