No prizes, I'm afraid. But feel free to decide which set of hammers looks best.

How did the maker decide what pattern looked best on the gun? Even working from a forging, stamping, or casting, I'm not sure which was typical), I can't imagine how hard it must be to produce a pair of mirror-image hammers, and sizing and shaping the holes for the tumbler spindle to have the hammers sit just right, and provide the strongest strike. I suppose that's what apprenticeships are all about: practice, practice, practice...

Here is a iron casting of a pinfire hammer, crudely shaped but not finished, with the hole drilled but not squared. A far cry from the sinuous beauties above!




Last edited by Steve Nash; 09/21/20 03:35 PM. Reason: clarification