Hammer BITE!!!

[Bigg Jimm]

I broke out the old Ruger P97 yesterday to run a few rounds through it. Everything was normal except one thing. I usually wear gloves when shooting and this time I did not and the hammer on this pistol was giving me the blues. Don't get me wrong it shot great and functioned reliably but the web of my hand had one mean blister when I finished.
Okay here's my question, is there anything that I can do other than having the hammer ground down to reduce the bite?


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[Spad2008]

Shot it more and toughen up that web....

 

[The_Next_Generation]

+1 for getting nice and callused up!

 

[chris in va]

Wait, you're saying the hammer is hitting the web of your hand? That's not normal.

Oh wait, I saw a pic of one with the hammer and slide back. Yikes.

 

[Bigg Jimm]

I actually like that suggestion. I love shooting that pistol. It was my very first handgun purchase many years ago. Shoots even better now than it did then. I don't get to shoot as much as I used to due to rising ammo prices, so I suppose my hand could be getting a little sensitive.


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[BSA1]

How large are your hands? If you have hands the size of meat hooks You may just have to live with it.

Otherwise try changing your grip. Bobbing the hammer is also a good solution. I did that on a 1911 and while it solved the hammer bite it didn't help toughen up my soft desk job hands.

 

[Drail]

If you cannot solve the problem by changing your grip, BOB that hammer.

 

[Bigg Jimm]

I'm 6'5" about 300 lbs and have pretty large hands. I usually shoot with a very high grip and I really don't want to get my hammer ground down. I do have a set of Hogue HandAlls on it and they make me grip it higher than normal.


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[ku4hx]

Go back to wearing gloves.

 

[mach1.3]

Had a similar problem with a Browning HP .40, the one with the long hammer spur. Ended up trading it away for a Sig 229. Man that thing would bring blood.

 

[Bigg Jimm]

I usually do wear gloves when shooting. But I'm not always going to have them. So I shoot without them from time to time.


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[ku4hx]

My Gen3 23 used to knock the hide off my right thumb at the knuckle where it joins my hand. It was not a lot of fun to shoot that gun and it didn't matter if I wore a glove or not. All a glove did was soak up the blood.

Then I installed a Crimson Trace Over Mold laser and the problem disappeared. Basically the laser added a very short, thick beaver tail. A bit expensive to stop the thumb clobbering, but it works and that laser is never coming off.

 

[Skribs]

Hmmm, I never have problems with the hammer hitting my hand on my XDm or my M&P...

 

[Bovice]

Maybe you should ditch the hogue handall. Did you get hammer bite before the hogue?

Now STOP! Hamma-time! (Can't touch this)

 

[Captcurt]

My Hi-Power Practical bites me too. Don't care. It still shoots better than I can hold it.

 

[Bigg Jimm]

don't want to get rid of the HandAll it greatly improved my control of the pistol. I got a set on most of my pistols.


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[chris in va]

That's funny Bovice.

 

[Walt Sherrill]

You've nixed bobbing the hammer and getting rid of the Handall -- maybe you should try a second handall on top of the current one, or repositioning the one you've installed. (If you try installing a second one -- heat it up in hot/boiling water to soften it before you try installing...)

 

[Bigg Jimm]

Im thinking that if I ground down some of the serrations on the hammer that it might help. I like the exposed hammer for target shooting and looks so I really would hate to get rid of it.


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[Walt Sherrill]

When bobbing the hammer, you don't have to remove the entire hammer tang; it can just be shortened a bit so that there's nothing that can hit your hand. Just removing less than 1/2" (or less) can make a big difference. You can still thumb cock with a smaller hammer tang.

 

[Bigg Jimm]

Can u do that to a P97? It does not have a spur type hammer.


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[Walt Sherrill]

It's been a while since I last saw a P97 up close.

When I checked the images on line, it looks as though some models have a small spur that is rounded. If that's what you've got, you might be able to have a gunsmith remove a part of the rounded area where its coming in contact with your hand. (Have the gunsmith look at it, and see if it's practical to do so.) You might still have enough left to thumb-cock the weapon if you need to do so.

Otherwise, you're stuck with doing something to cause you to move your grip down a bit -- maybe some padding UNDER the Handall in the rear, under the beavertail -- maybe all the way down the grip. That could PUSH your hand down just a little, reducing the area of contact -- and it may not really affect the feel all that much, or change what you like about using the Handall.