transfer bar saftey??

[ctaylor]

has anyone cut their transfer bar off and welded it to the hammer to prevent misfires and inconsistent
pin strikes I  KNOW THIS IS NOT RECOMENDED but just wondering

[Cement Man]

No I don't know anyone who does that.  The transfer bar safety is one reason I like the Handi design.  I feel better with me and mine in a tree with that safety.  I think the misfires can be remedied successfully with proper maintenance and repair, and less effort than cutting the transfer bar off and welding to the hammer.  Wouldn't that make the hammer heaver, perhaps requiring a heavier hammer spring anyway?  Doesn't matter anyway - I would not do it.

[Singleshotsam]

If i am not mistaken, I believe some people have removed the Transferbar assy completly.  I personally wouldn't recommend it.

[quickdtoo]

I use two modern SB2 frame with old style hammers and no transfer bar, it works fine, they have halfcock notches, see the FAQs low profile hammer mods part two, IIRC.

Tim

[Double 30]

If such a thing was done it would be terribly unsafe , espicially if the rifle wasn't scoped.Set up that way the hammer would be in full contact with the firing pin when in the foward position. A blow to the hammer would fire the cartridge. Dont do it.

[kody]

   I agree with Quick. The orginal design worked .You can make something foolproof ,but you will never be able to make it damn-fool proof.  Lawyers, bless their litiginous little souls, make very good livings out of that fact!  Ken

[Hammerspur]

The original non-transfer-bar setup is pretty safe also. The trigger needs to be fully to the rear for the hammer face to contact the strike end of the firing pin... without pulling the trigger back the hammer stops at the 'half-cock' notch Quick spoke of.

[Cement Man]

I was really not familiar with the original design that you gentlemen are talking about, but it does sound pretty safe as long as the half cock notch works correctly.  I have taught many young folks shooting and hunting with Handi's and the like for 30 years or so, and was only familiar with the transfer bar system.  I like the transfer bar system and the margin of safety it provides.  Trigger pulls on NEF/H&R are really good as well. (Exceptional for the price of the firearm, in my opinion.)

We all know (I hope) that proper gun handling trumps safety devices and nothing is fool-proof, but I do appreciate anything that is designed to be safer and add a margin without changing the performance.

The specific idea put forward in the original post however, is still not something I could ever endorse. 

[LaOtto222]

I really do understand your frustration. I have had a problem with one of my frames doing this same thing. I was going to stay away from this topic - BUT...I feel that taking the transfer bar off and welding to the hammer is extremely dangerous. There is no half cock, no transfer bar safety or any thing else that would prevent the hammer from striking the firing pin. I thought about grinding down the hammer when I was having problems with misfires. Grinding the little "stop" at the top of the hammer and removing the transfer bar. I nixed this idea because there would be no half cock - no way to prevent the hammer from hitting the firing pin if it was dropped or struck sharply. A better solution is to find out why you are getting misfires and then fixing this cause. Did you do a trigger job? Did it work OK before doing it and then not after? If that is the case you are better off just biting the bullet so to speak and getting a new hammer and trigger and starting over. If you have not done a trigger job and getting light strikes, maybe the trigger spring is light - it happens even on relatively new guns. Then the trigger spring needs replaced. Is the firing pin broken - the tip broken off? How far does it protrude when the hammer is down and the transfer bar up? Do you have excessive head space? - do you have more than one barrel for this frame and is it isolated to just one barrel or both? Have you tried different primers? - in small rifle primers some have a thicker "cup" and will not misfire if you use a different primer. I really think you need to find out why you are getting misfires and then tackle that problem. These are a few reasons you might be getting misfires. Once you figure out why you are getting misfires or isolate it to one barrel or short of that giving us more information like caliber, cartridge, history to help you analyze the problem - ask again for a safe solution. Good Luck and Good Shooting

[quickdtoo]

If you have not done a trigger job and getting light strikes, maybe the trigger spring is light - it happens even on relatively new guns. Then the trigger spring needs replaced.

I think you meant hammer spring? Hammer springs have been known to be weak from the get go, an easy fix. Springs are available from H&R, Brownell's, Numrich and Wolff, they even offer some double springs.  A light trigger spring is desirable, I shorten mine, or you can deepend the spring seat for a lighter trigger.

Tim

[Chas.]

If you are experiencing light primer strikes, you might change to another primer.  I know CCI are among the hardest to dent while Federal are the easiest.  Winchester's somewhere in between.  However, right now with primer scarcity, any primer is a good primer.

[LaOtto222]

Tim - yep I was thinking hammer spring and typed trigger spring - another senior moment.

[quickdtoo]

Been there, done that toooo many times. 

[ctaylor]

thanks for all the info the only reason i asked is because i just got another 223 and was going to do a trigger job on it and try the transfer bar thing when i had it apart i full well know the risks and i never carry any of my other handis with a cartridge in the chamber if you dont have time to load a bullet in a handi you dont have time to take a good shot btw i put a belt shell holder on the stock with some short wood screws for quick loading and second shots afield

[LaOtto222]

As long as you do not get the trigger job too light, the transfer bar should not make that much difference. It does not take very much force to get the transfer bar up into position. I had trouble because the pull was so light, I could not get the transfer bar to stay up into position so the hammer would strike it. I had to literally jamb my finger into the trigger to get it to fire. It was not conducive to good trigger mechanics for accuracy. If I squeezed the trigger, I just could not get it to happen - my trigger pull was extremely light. If you do not get the trigger pull below 2 pounds or so, I do not think you will have a problem. The Handi is not a bench rest gun; so a crisp 2 pound trigger pull is not a bad thing and should be plenty light enough to not jerk the rifle off your line of sight when you put the hammer down; so to speak. You will still have the transfer bar in place with a nice, crisp 2 - 2.5 pound pull.

[zoner]

at one time i also considered doing this modification,get rid of that darn tranfer bar BUT when you consider the possibilty of accidental discharge(things happen) and then consider that you removed a factory safety feature, any lawyer with half a brain will clean you out for sure....personally i had some misfire problems when i get my trigger pull @ 3 lbs or less,i just couldn't do a proper follow thru...bought a new trigger and took it down to 3.5 lbs and it goes bang every time.....i start my squeeze,it takes enough pressure till it breaks and at that trigger pull it surprises me a little bit, and that results in a good follow thru. I would like to have a lighter trigger but not at the expense of reliability or safety.DON"T DO IT.....Mike