Hello Guys

For some reason (possibly not a good one !!) I had formed the impression that a rebounding hammer could not be used with a modern high pressure cartridge. I think I must have arrived at this conclusion after reading several of de Haas's Single Shot Rifle books.

However I find that many "modern" rifles, especially lever guns, do have rebounding hammers. Do these have special design considerations that set them apart from older rifles ?? What are these design considerations/operating characteristics??

Thanks - Foster

I have two Winchester 94 Big Bores that had rebounding hammers. The firing pin floats in the Winchester system and doesn't support the primer so the primers will extrude into the firing pin hole at higher pressures. It doesn't happen at 30-30 pressures so it isn't a problem there. It would not be a good design for a falling block action because the breech block would have to sheer off the part of the primer that extrudes into the firing pin hole.