Hammer face metal

[Bill Faulk]

Note that the hammer faces on my 1892 top lever are showing ever deepening indentions where the hammers strike the pins.Is the metal getting soft with age ?
Do you find some one that caps the hammer faces of rehardens the hammers ?
I have noticed indentions are becoming wider and more pronounced each year..any advice ?

[Roundsworth]

I wonder about that, also. When I refurbished my 1895 vintage Syracuse Lefever, I replaced the firing pins with new-made units. The striking area of the new pins are slightly rounded, unlike the originals. The faces of the hammers showed slight signs of use, but nothing that was noteworthy. After about 30 rounds, I disassembled the gun and discovered that the hammers now have small concave dimples in them from the new pins! The hammers looked great after 115 years in service, but, after 15 rounds each, now have dimples.

[Wild Skies]

Originally Posted by william faulk

Note that the hammer faces on my 1892 top lever are showing ever deepening indentions where the hammers strike the pins.Is the metal getting soft with age ?
Do you find some one that caps the hammer faces of rehardens the hammers ?
I have noticed indentions are becoming wider and more pronounced each year..any advice ?

I had a similar problem with the hammmer faces of a Wm. Powell & Sons .410 back-action hammergun that Turnbull Restorations hardened with satisfactory results.

[Bill Faulk]

Thanks for the information..were caps added over the hammer faces or was the hammer faces actually hardened ?
Bill

[Wild Skies]

Turnbull tig-welded some metal into the dished faces of the hammers, filed the faces smooth and then rehardened. I might add that the hammers took three trips to his shop to get it right, but he stood by his initial charge. In the end the problem was solved, Doug explained that there is a fine line to get the hardening just right, too soft and the problem will persist, too hard and they become brittle.