Hammer loose

[C. Aaron Beck]

The right Hammer on my 10 ga appears to have some slight wobble when lowered. The left is solid. question is: would this concern anyone planning to use the gun? What can be done about it?

[David Hamilton]

I would fix that before shooting much as it will get worse. There are various repairs. I would suggest having someone tig weld the wear and file it to fit. The down and dirty is to punch around the hole in the hammer until it is tight. This repair is only temporary in nature and after awhile it will be as before. Work on the hammer, not the lock. David

[Harry Collins]

I'm in the same boat with a 20 gauge. My Parker needs a little more metal on the front lug and the bite too. Trying to figure out who to send it to and what it might cost.

Harry

[Austin W Hogan]

Parker hammers are usually "a light drive fit" ie each hammer must be tapped into place, and should not fall off (quickly) if the hammer screw is lost. I have snugged up wobbly hammers with a tap of a center punch about 1/32 inch from the edge of the broached square hole. Sometimes a tap on opposite sides is required. There should be visible clearance between hammer back and lock surface when the hammer is fully seated.

Best, Austin

[Richard Flanders]

C. Aaron: be sure to watch the hammer screw if you shoot the gun with that loose hammer as the screw will loosen with each shot just a tad and will eventually fall out. You may lose it if it does this so be careful. I have a Remington hammer gun that has this issue and I've caught the screw backed half way out before. The hammer was tight before I cleaned it all up and took some rust out; now it's loose and I have to watch it and need to fix it somehow at some point.

[C. Aaron Beck]

Ill have to add that to the list of work. likely to have the oil removed from the wood and perhaps a redo of the barrel. There is nobody local, any recomendations?

[Dean Romig]

Could the hammer spindle be loose in the lock plate?

[C. Aaron Beck]

Hard to tell but it feels like it is mostly in the hammer as the spindle doesnt feel loose while the hammer is wiggled. In any event, what does one do if it is the spindle

[Don Kaas]

"Wobbly" Parker hammers often have more to down with worn lockwork than with the actual hammer fit on the spindle (assuming the hammer is seated properly and the screw is tight)...I always loctite my hammer screws. Centerpunching to gain more interference fit, though temporarily effective in some cases, is very amatuerish repair practice.

[Austin W Hogan]

I examined twelve Parker hammer guns of serial range 1- 159 thousand.
My initial reading of your post suggested that there was axial wobble of your right hammer; that is the hammer moved around the axis of its rotation.
Your later post indicates that the wobble is at a normal angle to this; that is the hammer wobbles left and right with respect the axis of the barrels.
Two of the guns I examined with s/n less than 2000 had non rebounding hammers and essentially zero hammer motion with the hammer down.( or in any position)
The remainder had left - right motion when down, but in the rebound notch. Interestingly all had more right lock wiggle than left lock wiggle. Re engaging the rebound notch lessened the motion.
Try this; remove the barrels so you can see the breech face; do the firing pins show? Put a little pressure on the back of the hammer and pull the trigger. The firing pin should now show. Release thumb pressue and trigger; the hammer should now return to a point clear of the firing pin, and the firing pins will retract into the breech if you have rebounding locks.
I have never looked at this before and never heard any one speak of it. Apparently a little clearance is necessary to allow the rebound notch to engage.

Best, Austin

[C. Aaron Beck]

Austin, you are correct. The wobble is perpendicular to the bore axis. slightly more so on the right than left. Not sure where you were going with the trigger depression test, the firing pins do not rebound but the depression does lower the hammer, it does not change the wobblyness on either hammer when trigger is depressed. That said, when cocked, neither hammer has any appreciable wobble and I suspect that that is a good thing. I never would have thought to check this without your post.
Thanks

[Austin W Hogan]

Aaron: I read Don's post after I replied. I checked three more guns; a D lifter, a D hammer, and an A lifter. All of these had the 4 pin lock mechanism used on D grade and higher exposed hammer guns. All three had minimal side to side movement in the rebound notch.
I think the answer is that if your gun is a D,C,B, or A some lock work is in order; if it is a T,P, or G the lock is probably alright if it firmly engages the rebound and cocking notches.
I still learn something every day.

Best, Austin