Bisley hammer swap for OM Vaquero

[Peter Cummalotta]

I have several old style vaqueros. All of them are 45LC's and I like to shoot them a lot. Now that I am getting older and my thumbs do not heal as fast, I was thinking about replacing the old style vaquero hammers with old style bisley hammers. I would like to switch out part #KMR04002B with part #KBR04001B. I think this would save some wear and tear on my thumbs. Would this be a straight forward operation or am I in trouble?

 

[Robb Barnes]

You are not in trouble but due to the higher hump on the bottom part of the bisley hammer it will not fit unless you grind it down to match the normal Vaquero hammer shape at the bottom. I took a normal hammer, cut off the spur and lay it right on a bisley hammer by way of a normal action pin then scribe the part I need to grind away then start carefully grinding and filing. If you want to try it, let me know and I will send you the template hammer and a pin and you can give it a whirl. I have done a number of them and I agree that the bisley hammer is easier to reach. In fact I do not own a Ruger Blackhawk that does not wear a bisley spurred hammer, old or new model.

 

[Peter Cummalotta]

Thank you for the great info Robb, very much appreciated. Time to clean the files and find the oil.

 

[Hondo44]

For another choice with same lower profile as the Bisley, you may want to consider the Super Blackhawk hammer which is a drop-in hammer.

 

[Peter Cummalotta]

I finished these two....thanks for the help guys!

http://s1379.photobucket.com/user/williammattes/slideshow/