Printable View
The first production trigger housing (like the model shop trigger housing) did not have a pad or I should say hammer stop pad. It was soon discovered that the movement of the hammer would require a hammer stop pad. A pad was introduced in production without any change to the revision number. I do not know the serial number range that the large pad was introduced into the production, but it was low.Attachment 42065Attachment 42063Attachment 42064
One of the really major problems with the first 1000 or so guns was chipping hammers. Part of the problem was that the narrow top edge of the housing was like an axe blade. Broadening the impact area with a pad reduced the force of the hit on the hammer.
As a side note, during my hammer lightening experiments, it was found that the hammer no longer made contact with the housing after a certain amount of weight reduction. (Got one down to between 1/3 and 1/4 original weight and it never faied to reliably ignite rounds even in sub-freezing weather!)
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...tuff0142-1.jpg
No good for anything but single loading due to the lack of a hammer nose, but otherwise it works great! Not enough overtravel to require the hammer stop faces long before this point.
Back on topic, here's another early housing that has somewhat different machine tool paths than the one above. The inner wall looks as though a pad was intended to be left after machining, but somehow it didn't make it. (Somebody on the production line not quite up to speed?)
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff039-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff038-1.jpg
Note the peening damage.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff045-1.jpg
Just gotta figure this one was an "Oops!"
Attachment 42165Attachment 42164From a no pad early Springfield to a extra large pad early Winchester trigger housing. This
pad is large enough that the later SA round top safety will not snap in the housing. On most large pad SA and Winchester trigger housings, there is some room for a round top safety, but it is sometimes tight. Most were modified and new production had the reduced size hammer pad.