SP101 Hammer question

[MnBulldog]

Wondering....are all of the DAO SP101 hammers the same? In pictures, the newer ones look to be smooth and polished all the way to the top. The older ones have a small knurled pad on the very upper tip. Just wondering if they changed styles over the years or if the pictures of the newer ones just do not show the very top.
thanks in advance

 

[6gun]

Must not show the top. my 2 year old SP101 is knurled for your thumb on the hammer spur, they may have changed to MIM hammers in the last couple years I don't know but sure they would be knurled also.

 

[JLarsson]

Must not show the top. my 2 year old SP101 is knurled for your thumb on the hammer spur, they may have changed to MIM hammers in the last couple years I don't know but sure they would be knurled also.

Yours is DAO? I thought those came only with spurless hammers (I have one).

My DAO hammer is NOT knurled, nor can I think of any earthly reason why it SHOULD be. It has no SA sear so even if you pulled the hammer back with your thumb, it would simply fall when released.

Probably something I'm missing here.

Mine's like this one:

 

[REB]

Neither of my SP101 DAO hammers are knurled. They are both about 10 years old.

 

[JLarsson]

Interesting - I just found this reference:

"The Burr Hammer...

...was offered briefly by Ruger, many years back, in the early days of the SP101. As I recall, it was an option on DAO models and could also be ordered as a part. However, all this was in a fairly small window of time - when I attempted to order one for an early .357 SP101 that had been rendered DAO, they were no longer available. "

in this thread: http://www.gunrightsmedia.com/showthread.php?418058-ruger-sp101-with-commader-s-style-hammer

So, did Ruger put a spurless hammer with a knurled top on an SP101 but retain the single-action sear?

 

[6gun]

Must not show the top. my 2 year old SP101 is knurled for your thumb on the hammer spur, they may have changed to MIM hammers in the last couple years I don't know but sure they would be knurled also.

Yours is DAO? I thought those came only with spurless hammers (I have one).

My DAO hammer is NOT knurled, nor can I think of any earthly reason why it SHOULD be. It has no SA sear so even if you pulled the hammer back with your thumb, it would simply fall when released.

Probably something I'm missing here.

Mine's like this one:

No mine is DA with hammer spur, sorry my mistake, top of my spur is knurled.

 

[Varminterror]

Since the question has been answered, I thought I'd "vent my frustration" on this topic :lol:

I'd love to be able to order spare OEM hammers and bob them for our SP-101's (SA/DA), just to make carry that much easier, but then retain the standard spurred hammer for certain occasions. Sadly Ruger will only install a new hammer at the factory, so the only way it seems possible would be to lie and claim the hammer either broke, or at LEAST that I lost it while reassembling the gun, and get a new one installed by them. In which case, of course, they may alter the trigger to mate the new hammer and the old hammer may not be ideally fit any more.

Or maybe a take off, but I haven't seen many floating around.

C'mon Ruger, sell hammers!!!

 

[JLarsson]

I'm with you. I love a SBH hammer in my BH's. And I DID manage to find a SA/DA hammer for my SP101 way back when, so now I can have it either way.

It wasn't a drop-in process, though. I had to replace the trigger plunger and the pawl and fit them both until I had 100% function in both modes. So I understand why Ruger doesn't want to make the hammers available.

The SBH/BH swap is more straight-forward, IMO. No real fitting, unless you need to adjust the overhang at the top of the transfer bar. You want the hammer to trap the transfer bar firmly without any gap between the top step of the hammer and the cylinder frame. Not too tricky, but again it makes sense that Ruger doesn't want those parts out there making their guns unreliable and/or unsafe.

 

[Thel]

On my SP101 I bought a second hammer with spur and it did work so I guess it is the luck of the draw. Regarding knurled hammers with no spur my Speed 6 (different gun model) has one with the single action retained. Perhaps in the early days of the SP101 Ruger was going to continue to do that but changed course.

 

[MnBulldog]

Must not show the top. my 2 year old SP101 is knurled for your thumb on the hammer spur, they may have changed to MIM hammers in the last couple years I don't know but sure they would be knurled also.

Yours is DAO? I thought those came only with spurless hammers (I have one).

My DAO hammer is NOT knurled, nor can I think of any earthly reason why it SHOULD be. It has no SA sear so even if you pulled the hammer back with your thumb, it would simply fall when released.

Probably something I'm missing here.

Mine's like this one:

I would agree that no obvious reason why it would be, but mine is. You are correct in that the hammer does not cock (stay) back. It does give you a little something for your thumb to grip when cleaning it, but...

 

[JLarsson]

I would agree that no obvious reason why it would be, but mine is. You are correct in that the hammer does not cock (stay) back. It does give you a little something for your thumb to grip when cleaning it, but...

Got a picture?

 

[JLarsson]

MnBulldog wanted me to post a couple pictures of the hammer he's been talking about.

You can clearly see in that second photo that the hammer has a completely different contour than my spurless. It almost looks like a hammer for different model that was adapted to the Ruger.

MnBulldog - Did you buy yours factory new?

 

[Thel]

I wonder if a gunsmith converted a DA/SA hammer. I had a SP many years ago that looked like that. It had been converted by a gunsmith in Fullerton, CA.

 

[JLarsson]

Looks like factory hammers. I found these two pictures online. The first is the newer style with a different contour and no knurling on top. The second is the older style. It's not a good picture, but you can see the knurling (or checkering, really) on the top.

New SP101 DAO hammer:

Old SP101 DAO hammer:

 

[MnBulldog]

You can clearly see in that second photo that the hammer has a completely different contour than my spurless. It almost looks like a hammer for different model that was adapted to the Ruger.

MnBulldog - Did you buy yours factory new?

Thanks sir and sorry the pictures were not more clear. Cell phone pics as the good camera was not available.
I did not purchase it new (actually just recently). It is a SPNY sp101, vintage 1989 per Ruger's database. It could have been switched out by the NYPD armorer or original from Ruger as this was a special ordered series in DAO .38 only. It matches the shape of the frame and finish perfectly, so if it was replaced, it seems well done. I had not seen any others (or pictures even) with the knurling/checkering on the top, prompting my question. Any more info would be great and thanks for the feedback thus far everyone

 

[JLarsson]

To me, yours looks just like the second one I posted above. Is that about right?

 

[dickydalton]

I have a GP 100 DAO marked GPNY that has the same knurling/checkering on top and the hammer is shaped the same, only bigger, obviously.

 

[JLarsson]

VERY interesting, DD. Any idea what the checkering is for on a DAO gun?

 

[MnBulldog]

To me, yours looks just like the second one I posted above. Is that about right?

Yes, same contour as the second one pictured

 

[MnBulldog]

Different question,

Are all SP101's marked .38 caliber rated for +P as well? I know the current ones on the Ruger site say +P on the description, but they are not marked anywhere on the barrel or frame. Curious about the prior production runs as well. I know the .357 version would be. Is there any difference in the two, other than the cylinder/frame opening?

 

[Jimbo357mag]

VERY interesting, DD. Any idea what the checkering is for on a DAO gun?

If the gun still has the single-action seer the hammer can be cocked by squeezing the trigger a little and then using your thumb on the serrations to cock the hammer back. BTW, the way to un-cock it is to put your finger between the hammer and the frame and squeeze the trigger then pull your finger out after releasing the trigger.

 

[Thel]

In the link to the discussion string on hammers a hammer with what could call a "commander style" thumb pad was shown. I think these may have been made for a government contract (State Department?). On the NYPD and why a DAO hammer would have knurling: perhaps these started out DA/SA hammers but being a PD were converted to DAO either by the agency or at Ruger.

 

[MnBulldog]

VERY interesting, DD. Any idea what the checkering is for on a DAO gun?

If the gun still has the single-action seer the hammer can be cocked by squeezing the trigger a little and then using your thumb on the serrations to cock the hammer back. BTW, the way to un-cock it is to put your finger between the hammer and the frame and squeeze the trigger then pull your finger out after releasing the trigger.

Nope, no single action seer, (at least not on this one) Double action only.
It does make it much easier to grip when doing disassembling or removing the hammer though