Hammer on a GPR

[Walt H]

Hi,new to the forum,need some help I have a GPR and the hammer is not in the center of the nipple can I bend it . Thanks Walt H.

[Voyageur]

Yes with care and some heat...."Doc"

[Walt H]

Thanks for the reply. Walt H

[rollingb]

Walt,... the hammer is "malleable" and can be bent a little when cold (if careful) by removing it from the lock so as not to over-stress the tumbler.
As mentioned, the safest way of bending the hammer,.... is to heat the portion of the hammer to be bent red hot, this is also done OFF the lock, so as not to adversely affect the "heat-treatment" of your other lock internals when heating the hammer.
All adjustments to the hammer, should be done a little bit at a time, given time to cool, and fitted back on the lock to see how things are progressing.

If the the hammer is just a "little bit off center" (as it came from the factory) and is NOT landing on the edge of the cap enough to effect ignition,... I probably wouldn't worry about it too much if it were mine.  

[Semisane]

Bending the hammer may not be the right fix. Have you tried checking the position of the lock plate in the stock? You may have over tightened the lock screw, causing the lock to sit at a slight angle in the mortise. Try loosening the lock screw, positioning the hammer in the correct position over the nipple, and while holding it in that position, gently tightening the lock screw. It doesn't need to be real tight.

Another fix is to shim the lock plate to change the angle of the hammer to the nipple. The shim should be about an inch long and 1/8" wide, and about the thickness of paper cut from a business card or plastic cut from a Coke bottle. If the hammer is off to the right of the nipple, put the shim between the lock plate and the mortise at the bottom of the lock plate. If it's off to the left, put the shim at the top of the lock plate, between the lock plate and the mortise.

Another fix is to gently scrape wood in the mortise to change the angle of the lock.

[Walt H]

Thanks for all the replies, but some heat on it and moved it a hair it is right on now. Thanks again  for the replies.

[Riley/MN]

[MountainDevil]

if it fires reliably, leave it alone.

[cowboys1062]

You shouldnt have to bend anything. When I first got my GPR I was getting missfires every shot. I had to take the nipple off and put a little blackpowder in there and put the nipple back on to fire it. The problem was that the front edge of the hammer was barely touching the edge of the nipple. I sent the GPR back to Lyman and they did a (HAMMER/NIPPLE ALIGNMENT) and also put a new barrel on it for some reason. You shouldnt have to correct a quality control issue on Lymans part. Just my opinion!