Hammer

A hammer is the component of a firearm that initiates the combustion and firing of a chambered round by either impacting the primer of a cartridge or an internal firing pin that then impacts the primer. Some handguns, like SIG SAUER’s Classic Line pistols, are manufactured with hammers. Some hammers are exposed on the rear of a slide, others are dubbed “internal hammers” and are recessed inside the slide, like the SIG SAUER P322, for example.