[Skidboot]

Back in January, I began a thread saying I was considering trimming the hammer on my Airweight to allow for a cleaner draw from a pocket holster. I asked for opinions and experience. The question generated a lot of discussion, and responses ranged from, "don't worry, it'll be fine", to "the sky will fall."
I finally went ahead and trimmed the hammer, and the draw is much smoother. Today I took the gun shooting. I used jacketed and unjacketed target ammo as well as defensive ammo in +P. I also used store bought and hand loads.

The gun was just as reliable and accurate as ever; no failures of any kind. I said I'd post a follow-up if I made the change, and this is it. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[QKShooter]

As long as you made a nice clean/neat job of it...lots of folks have made that exact modification.

If it's yours and you intend to keep it....do with it what you will to make it yours. :yup:

 

[pete950]

How about pictures of the job!

 

[Renaldow]

Yep, pics or it didn't happen

 

[Skidboot]

I tried posting a pic, but my effort was a failure. I won't even tell you what I have to do to get the pic from its source to my computer. It's very 20th century. I'll give it another shot.

 

[RebelSoul]

Glad its working out for you.

Mrs. Rebelsoul carries a S&W 637 every day.

You said you "trimmed the hammer"...can you still use SA or is it pretty much bobbed now?

 

[bustoff]

Glad its working out for you.

Mrs. Rebelsoul carries a S&W 637 every day.

You said you "trimmed the hammer"...can you still use SA or is it pretty much bobbed now?

I'm wondering this, too. I bought the 638 so that I could use it SA if need be. Actually, it's a lot of fun to shoot off a rest at the 50 yard berm. The sights on mine are dead-on. Sorry. Not meaning to hijack the thread.

 

[helderberg]

The only thing I might have done differently was to buy a second hammer and keep the original in case you wanted to move it later. That said, it is your gun and if it did not affect reliability I am glad you went for it. J-frme was my go to for years until arthrititis got me and I had to move on.
Congrats, Frank.

 

[Skidboot]

Apparently the picture, although it now resides in my computer, is too large to post; so I'll just describe what I did.
Originally, I wanted to leave enough hammer to allow for single as well as double action shooting. I did the removal in stages until I was assured of guaranteed easy pocket draw. Once I achieved this, there was no longer enough hammer remaining for easy single-action operation. I can still shoot it single action, but I have to first use the trigger to move the hammer; then I can grab the hammer with my thumb and cock it. I knew going in that might happen, but as I virtually never shoot the gun in single action, I was okay with it.
This gun is just about my favorite carry gun; I liked it before the operation, and I really like it now. I am by no means a great shot or superb gun handler, but I've always shot this gun really, really well. That, and the fact that it looks like a gun should look, is one of the reasons I like it so much. So...the modification worked for me; if someone wanted to try it but had doubts, they could, as has been suggested, buy another hammer and bob it.
Hope that answers questions. I thought someone would ask, "If you wanted a gun without a hammer, why did you buy one with a hammer?" I have an answer for that, too:smile:.

 

[Haywood]

Here is a picture of mine. I can still cock it for single action. It takes a strong finger and thumb to do it.

 

[Wishoot]

Bobbed the hammer on my 637-2 when I first took possession of it. Bought it lightly used for exactly $300 and figured if I screwed it up I wouldn't be looking at a huge loss.

The bobbed hammer makes all forms of carry easier and after a few hundred rounds, has not had any negative effect on ignition.