Continuing with Brownells Accessorizing your 1911 series, in this video we'll go over how
to replace the factory hammer on your pistol.
Replacing the hammer on a 1911 is a fairly simple job once you learn the procedure.
We'll
show you how to disassemble your pistol, prepare the
new hammer for installation, and reassemble your 1911
with the new part.
To begin, remove the magazine and lock the
slide back to ensure the gun in completely unloaded.
Next,
we need to field strip the gun, remove the slide as you would for cleaning, and set the
entire slide assembly and slide stop out of the way for
now.
Then, we need to remove the grips using the
appropriate hex wrench or screwdriver, and set them off to
the side.
While the hammer is back, we'll remove the
thumb safety by rotating it to the middle position and
pulling it out of the frame.
Now put your thumb on the hammer, and pull the trigger
while depressing the grip safety and carefully guide the hammer
to the lowered position.
Next we can lay the pistol on the bench block
with the left side facing up, and locate the mainspring
housing pin at the bottom rear of the frame.
You'll see a small depression in the head
of the pin.
This is where you place your mainspring pin tool or
punch and push the pin out the other side.
Now you can
pull the mainspring housing out.
If it doesn't want to move easily, you can cock the hammer
to get the housing started.
Once it's out, the grip safety
and sear spring can be removed and set aside.
The hammer pin is easily pushed out from right
to left with a small punch and allows the hammer to be
pulled free.
Set everything but the hammer aside and prepare to transfer the strut and
pin to the new one.
Using a bench block and a 1/16" punch, carefully drive the strut pin completely out of the
old hammer.
Then, drive the pin partially into the new
hammer, align the strut, and tap the pin the rest of the way in.
Be sure the strut is oriented correctly with the tail curving toward the rear, and that
the retaining pin is securely in place.
Now the new hammer is ready
to be installed.
To reassemble the gun with the new hammer,
place the hammer in the frame, line up the holes, and
push the hammer pin into place.
Before going any further, make sure the hammer
is all the way forward.
Then, lift the hammer strut up
and place the sear spring in the rear of the frame with the three legs at the top and the
small tab at the bottom.
That tab must go into the small cutout
in the frame for it to seat correctly.
Hold the sear spring
in place while sliding the mainspring housing up into the frame about halfway.
Now you can
take your finger off the sear spring and put the grip
safety into place.
At this point we can slide the mainspring
housing all the way up, taking care to see that the tail end of the hammer strut seats
into the mainspring cap.
You may need to move the frame around
to let gravity help with the alignment.
When you have everything in place, align the
holes in the frame and the housing to receive the pin.
It
should stop about halfway in.
You can knock it in the rest of the way with a plastic mallet
until the pin is flush with the frame.
Cock the hammer to make sure the strut was aligned properly.
Once you have the hammer
in the cocked position, replace the thumb safety.
You may need a small tool like a small punch to retract the
safety plunger to allow the safety to move all the way into position.
Once the safety is in place, the gun can be reassembled and function tested to ensure
everything is working properly.
That's all there is to it.
Be sure to visit brownells.com to see our full selection of
1911 hammers and other 1911 accessories.
And remember, everything
we sell is completely backed by our 100% unconditional forever satisfaction guarantee.