Extending An Encore Hammer Spur
Turning Awkward — Into Manageable
The extended spur flows down to allow the thumb
to rest on it securely during the cocking movement.
The final install showed the mod was a success, and now there was
plenty of access to the hammer spur for cocking. A small-diameter
pistol scope might not have had any issues, but the Crimson Trace
rifle scope is wider, hence the need to lengthen the spur.
The skateboard tape worked out great too
A test fit showed there was now enough clearance to easily cock
the TC’s hammer. Why the factory didn’t extend it further remains a mystery.
After finally finding a newer TC Encore in .308, I snapped it up, looking forward to testing it in my backyard range. I scoped it with a Crimson Trace rifle scope, promptly discovering even with the nifty TC Hammer Spur adjusted sideways, it was all but impossible to cock the hammer. Huh? What?
It seemed to me that would have been obvious at the factory level, but I think with S&W taking over the line some years ago and their general lack of interest in it, such things could happen. They have since closed down the TC brand, much to the dismay of fans everywhere. But I liked the idea of this stout receiver and .308 barrel, and the ability to swap barrels and calibers sweetens the deal. But I had to do something about that hammer spur situation.
The stock spur is secured to the top of the hammer with an Allen head screw. Where things went awry is the spur itself is simply too short, especially if you use a rifle-style scope with a lens bigger than an average pistol scope. Since these guns can shoot sub-1″ groups at 100 yards, I didn’t want to limit myself with a 2x pistol scope and a narrow field of view.
To extend the hammer spur on his TC Encore, Roy scrounged up
a piece of steel and welded it to the existing spur. This way, his
thumb would have room to get a good purchase on the hammer
spur for cocking. The stock one was just too short when a
scope was on the gun.
Here’s the underside. While it looks a bit messy (and it is …), you’ll be amazed at how things can clean up with files and other tools.
Eyeballing Things
I always start a new project by simply deciding what I want to be able to do with the gun when I am finished. That was easy … reach the hammer spur more easily to cock it. So how do I do that? Well, extending the existing hammer spur would work, but how? I thought about making a new spur using my milling machine, but then it dawned on me I could just shape a spur extension out of mild steel and TIG weld it to the existing spur. That takes advantage of the stock attachment bolt, making things much easier.
Digging into my metal cut-offs drawer, I found a small piece of steel about the right size. I band-sawed it into a rough shape, then TIG welded it to the existing hammer spur. It’s always just a bit scary to look at the rough part after being welded. It’s easy to think, oh Lord, I’ll never get that looking right. But there are few things I enjoy more than file work, so that’s just what I did.
After a half-hour or so, it started to look like I was going to win this war after all. I re-shaped the welded piece, blending it to the original spur, shaping the curve to clear my scope lens. When I had it roughed out, I installed it and found I had guessed right, and things were going to work out just fine. More hand-shaping, smoothing with various wet-or-dry grits and a final bead blast and I had a much better hammer spur in hand.
Some initial rough filing helped Roy to sort of eyeball things to see
if it was working out or not. He thought it was going in the right
direction. Note the original screw hole from the stock spur.
Roy continued to hone the finish with finer files and eventually various grits of wet-or-dry abrasive papers, from 220 to 400 grit.
After final shaping and finishing, Roy put a pad of skateboard tap on the hammer spur to offer a good surface for his thumb. He also used a bead blaster to put a soft bead finish on the steel to even things out.
Cold blue served to make the new spur match the black/silver finish of the stock gun.
Final Finishing
rI was originally going to hand-checker the end of the spur for a better purchase with my thumb but spotted my skateboard tape stash. Skateboard tape is an awfully handy tool around the shop, and once applied to a pistol front strap, back strap, grip area or wherever, the term “non-slip” gets a new meaning. It works great, and the self-adhesive on the back of the tape really stays put. So, with a bit of tape and some trimming, I was almost there.
I used some touch-up cold blue to make things match the blued hammer and installed my final product. You can see from the photos it reaches past the circumference of the scope allowing me to get a good purchase on that spur for cocking. It changed the whole character of the gun and suddenly made shooting it fun rather than an ordeal with much fussing.
I’ve re-shaped hammer spurs on single-action revolvers, DA revolvers and even H&R Handi-Rifles, and it almost always makes the gun easier to handle and more pleasing to shoot. Keep that in mind if you’re confronted with a recalcitrant hammer spur “situation.”
