Toby unfortunately the answers to your questions are not going to be an earth shattering revelation. The snap caps are there because I only have one really heavy duty transport case that you can jump on so the case is used to transport other guns without hammers for other family members (sons can be very clumsy). The hammers and the thumb leaver at the time this caused a lot of angst having them re finished. Originally back in the 60's I purchased the gun as a scrap wall hanger with a famous name. I obtained the gun from a general dealer who purchased it in a batch of scrap guns to be sold as a wall hangers. I put a .740" go no go bore gauge down each tube and it was no go but they where very dented, so I paid the money and purchased the wreck at a hell of a risk. The gun its self was covered with thick rust from top to bottom inside and out not just a slight dusting of rust but the really thick stuff.In removing the rust all the guns original finish if it ever had any went as well. My choice at the time was to colour or re case harden hammers and leaver but the gunsmith in Price street doing the action work was not to keen to re colour case harden, because the thumb leaver is made in two pieces having the bottom inside ridge to stop your thumb sliding off was planted on and brazed, also there was a danger of the hammers may crack. So I was left with the choice of high risk colour case hardening rust bluing or leaving these parts in the white sticking out like sore thumbs so I decided on no risk blue/black. Do you know Toby you are the first person to point this out in fifty years, also I am sure you know gunsmithing was not a sophisticated back in the 1960s it was more interested in selling new rather than working on 100 + rear old guns, making it an up hill strugle.
