Ruger LCRx hammer bobbing?

S

Smith&Steward

Amateur
I was wondering if anyone here had any experience bobbing the hammer on their Ruger LCRx, any caliber. I'm not sure if the hammer is cast or MIM so I'm not sure how well it can be modified. Thanks for your time.
 
I've never seen a bobbed LCRx hammer, though would be interested in one. Generally speaking you shouldn't modify revolvers unless you really know what you're doing.

One thing to worry about is the overall weight of the hammer should you remove the spur. You might need to keep a heavier spring, or have an odd lump on the back, see recent Colts. Ideal solution would be for someone to make an aftermarket bobbed hammer that you can install instead of modify.

Regarding MIM or cast, Ruger has traditionally cast components. There are visible sprues on the hammer, so it's certainly not cut from plate.
 
I've not seen it done, but that doesn't mean it cannot be. I would expect like everything Ruger that the hammers are cast pieces and likely easy to relieve or remove the spur. I don't think, based on appearance of the part, that the reduction in mass would be an issue with stock springs installed. Rugers tend to hit primers plenty hard right out of the box. I have a factory DAO SP-101 .357, shown below, from the early 90s that has never had a single issue lighting off primers in all the years I've owned it.

Ruger's basic hammer design, with the block at the very top that impacts the frame, always seems to have sufficient mass regardless of anything else. That mass, well above the hammer spur and with benefit of the full arc and momentum that comes with being farthest from the pivot point seems to be fully capable with or without the spur.

As an aside I do find it interesting to see some of the heat, and derision, in other forums when people suggest what you're asking about. I'm a big believer in we all have to find our own way in the gun universe.

SP-101 and kit.jpg
 
TheBigDog65 said:
I've not seen it done, but that doesn't mean it cannot be. I would expect like everything Ruger that the hammers are cast pieces and likely easy to relieve or remove the spur. I don't think, based on appearance of the part, that the reduction in mass would be an issue with stock springs installed. Rugers tend to hit primers plenty hard right out of the box. I have a factory DAO SP-101 .357, shown below, from the early 90s that has never had a single issue lighting off primers in all the years I've owned it.

Ruger's basic hammer design, with the block at the very top that impacts the frame, always seems to have sufficient mass regardless of anything else. That mass, well above the hammer spur and with benefit of the full arc and momentum that comes with being farthest from the pivot point seems to be fully capable with or without the spur.

As an aside I do find it interesting to see some of the heat, and derision, in other forums when people suggest what you're asking about. I'm a big believer in we all have to find our own way in the gun universe.

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Thanks for the detailed response. I didn't think about the light strike concern. As you posted I don't think it will be an issue with how the hammer is designed but I think I will go ahead and get a spare hammer assembly from Numerich to try it out on, in case it does light strike I can go back to the original spurred hammer without any down time. Thanks again for the input. I'll post some pics and details once I finish and test.
 
Stanislao said:
I've never seen a bobbed LCRx hammer, though would be interested in one. Generally speaking you shouldn't modify revolvers unless you really know what you're doing.

One thing to worry about is the overall weight of the hammer should you remove the spur. You might need to keep a heavier spring, or have an odd lump on the back, see recent Colts. Ideal solution would be for someone to make an aftermarket bobbed hammer that you can install instead of modify.

Regarding MIM or cast, Ruger has traditionally cast components. There are visible sprues on the hammer, so it's certainly not cut from plate.
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Thanks a lot for your detailed and thought out response. I totally understand that revolvers are complex machines and should not be fiddled with or modified unless the experience is there. However I have not been able to find others that do this work. So with your response in mind I've decided to buy a couple separate hammer assemblies and try it out.
Thanks again. I'll make a post about how it goes.
 
Share pictures please! Also interested in how reliable the gun is after modification. The actual spur can't be a huge portion of the overall weight, so it may not be an issue.
 
Stanislao said:
Now that I think about it, you should be able to drop in the regular LCR hammer. Might not be pretty, but it should be work.
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That was my original idea. I was only able to find the spurred hammers for purchase so a little modding will be the way forward. If I had an LCR in center fire I would have tried swapping them out.
 
I didn't know that the hammers were available for reasonable prices, so now I'm thinking about a 3" LCRx with a DAO LCR hammer.

That being said, I don't know if there are any other internal differences between the LCR and LCRx.
 
Beju said:
I didn't know that the hammers were available for reasonable prices, so now I'm thinking about a 3" LCRx with a DAO LCR hammer.

That being said, I don't know if there are any other internal differences between the LCR and LCRx.
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There may be some little changes in geometry there. I couldn't say for sure, I have only talen apart the LCRx models. But I'm guessing there are small changes based on the shape of the outer shell.

What I can tell you for sure is that bobbing the spur off does work and clean up very well. If you are familiar with the disassembly and reassembly of the LCR it's not a big task, it took me about an hour in less than ideal light.

I'll post about it once I test fire it tomorrow.
 
Numrich's parts diagram suggests that the hammer and the polymer lower frame ("fire control housing sub assembly") would be the only difference (and the top rear of the metal frame on 3" models). If there are any clearance issues with the poly frame, I imagine that it can be shaved.
 
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