Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Replacing hammer and sear in Winchester 94

I purchased a very clean Winchester pre’64 model 94 a few months ago. The trigger pull is much lighter than I like and much lighter than my other 94’s. I’ve been told that the hammer and or sear was likely altered. Yesterday I ordered a NOS sear and clean unaltered hammer to replace the “likely”altered ones in my rifle. I would like to attempt the replacement myself. I have done nice gunsmith screwdrivers brass/plastic mallet etc.
1) is this something that can be done by a non gunsmith?
2) if I’m just after a factory trigger pull will there be any sear or hammer notch polishing necessary?

Any tips, do’s/dont’s, special tools needed etc is appreciated. Thanks!

They are easy to replace.

You should not have to do anything to them but if they look rough shouldn't hurt if polished a little.

I would try to test it when done. Put a folded towel on the floor, unload the gun, unload it again, cock the hammer and slam the buttdown down hard on the towel, the hammer should hold at full cock. If anyone else knows a good check for fire control groups sing out, seems like a lot of guys tinkering with these sensitive bits and my only experience is fixing a bad trgger slap on one SAR 2 rifle.

Off set screwdriver for the hammer spring,

Any special size offset screwdriver? Also, any need for clamp to hold hammer spring down?

Just a simple off set from auto supply store works fine, no clamp needed.
Or you can angle grind an old one to get a good bite on the screw.

The top picture shows both hammers (bottom one is hammer I took out of rifle, top one is replacement hammer.
1) is the offset notch in the bottom hammer normal or is it due to wear / alteration? The hammer I got to replace it does not have the notch (as seen in picture)
2) the sear on the left is the one I removed from the rifle. The one on the right is suppesedly a NOS pre 64 sear that I put in the rifle after removing the original. Does it look like the sear has been altered to you?
3) The hammer on the right is the one I took out. The one in the gun is the replacement one. After replacing the hammer, the rearward movement of the bolt will not cock the hammer because it does not move it downward enough. I can cock the hammer wit my thumb and it functions normally. I'm thinking that the new hammer does not have the same profile as the original hammer and the portion making contact with the bolt is not quite tall enough. Your thoughts?

Try old hammer and new sear.

Handcock27......old hammer and new sear did the trick! Thanks!