hammer swap

[ltdave]

i have a pair of cobras. one is considerably more finish challenged than the other. it has a full un-bobbed hammer. the better condition cobra has a Previous Owner bobbed hammer...

id like to swap the hammers out so i can carry the 'more seasoned' cobra and leave the nicer one home...

is this something hard to do?

ive had the sideplate off on my King Cobra and really didnt like the poor design of trying to not losing the cylinder latch flat spring and all of the machinations required to reassemble...

i reverted to trying to disassemble/reassemble in a plastic bag and its not really any fun...

[dfariswheel]

Colt hammers usually need at least slight fitting to operate correctly.

While disassembly and reassembly isn't that difficult, you do need to know the correct procedure and techniques to prevent problems.
I recommend buying the Jerry Kuhnhausen book "The Colt Double Action Revolvers: A Shop Manual, Volume One".
This shows full disassembly the correct way and goes into deep detail on how to fit and adjust the hammer.

Note that once you switch a hammer and get it adjusted, it often will not fit the original gun anymore.

Buy the book at Brownell's or Midway.