Question about just what it sounds. I need to make a replacement hammer for an old H&R 22 Special revolver. The old one is broken right at the fixed firing pin tip base and there are no replacements I can fine on the used parts market. Anyway, would you use a simple tool steel and harden then temper or case harden a low carbon steel? The old one was case hardened and that looks to be the problem as the case depth must have made the narrow neck to the firing pin brittle.

Any suggestions appreciated!

Matt, I would use S7.

That was one of my thoughts. So far all I've messed with is O1 and D2, but I know S7 has the shock resistant characteristics needed. Otherwise I know I could harden O1 and differentially temper the end to soften it up a bit more. Anyone have a suitable piece of S7 laying around...maybe 2x2 by 1/4" thick?

My thoughts would be to retire it and put the money/time saved into a Ruger Single Six or a Smith & Wesson. I've yet to see any H&R or Iver Johnson revolver built anywhere near as well as a Ruger or Smith.

You say, "But John, it belonged to my Grandfather/uncle/Dad/ etc. ad nauseum". I reply, "So did that Philco television set, but I don't see you watching it anymore".

It's even worse, I'm doing it for an old friend that I grew up hunting with and sharing many stories around the hunting fire...nothing to do with money or convenience....

Does this one not work then?
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Products/276280A.htm

Then buy him the Ruger; you'll both be happier.

Better yet find turn in program get a 100.00 for it and then go buy a Ruger.

Mark, close, but not the same one, I looked at Numrich and I know a lot of them are the same, but this one has a different geometry along with a firing pin tip on the hammer.

And guys, I already know it's a hell of a lot easier and probably better to just get a new gun, but there's a learning experience in making new parts, heat-treating them, and doing that kind of work. You're attitudes are perfect examples of why the craftmanship of old is dying. I'm not too old (41), but I had a very good mentor that recently passed on that would have made a new one, and it would have been as good/better than the factory. He did a lot of muzzleloading stuff, and many of them he made from scratch, his own lock, stock AND barrel and they were (and are) works of art...anyway, making little parts like these IS worthwhile as you'll learn stuff from it.

Nothing to do with craftsmanship: All to do with the fact that H&R never made a well-made revolver-period! Doesn't matter how much talent, time, tools and money you have. Why do you think the H&R is no longer made but the Single Six has been in continuous production for 60 years? I could make that hammer without having to even think about it much, but I don't work on junk. Come to my shop and see extractor/ejector assembly i made from scratch for a fine over/under long out of production and never imported to the US, or the hammer I made for a 1906 1st-gen Colt SAA because I couldn't find one I liked, or the 1903 L.C. Smith live-bird trap 16 I just spent a year restoring. Don't whine to me about craftsmanship if you're referring to crap guns.

Here's a list of makers I don't touch, having learned the hard way:

H&R revolvers
Iver Johnson
Raven
Jimenez Arms
Phoenix Arms
R-G
AMT 1911s
High Point
Smith & Wesson "Lemon Squeezers"
No-name single shot and double shotguns from the first half of the 20th century
Para Ordnance 1911s
Dan Wesson revolvers

Probably others i cant think of right now. If some of you read this and are upset because you own something from this list, too bad. There are gun buy back programs going on all over where you can dump it on the government.

John, if having read my reply and thought I was referring to you my appologies, I've seen enough of your work to know better. The fact you could make a new hammer for it so easily shows it really isn't that much trouble. I enjoy doing these things for friends and I don't support myself with smithing, although I do make a fair amount of extra funds doing so. Anyway, thanks for your input and I do agree there is a lot of stuff out there not worth working on...sounds like I'll be adding another to the list after I do this one