I have a k.22 and a k.38 that both have a hair trigger and hammer push off. They belonged to a guy close to me that had shot almost everyday and were bought new in the 1950’s. What is the best way to remedy this so I can pass them on to my grandchildren?

1. Gunsmith might be able to correct this issue
2. New hammers and triggers

In many cases jimmyj is correct. But if someone installed too light of a main or rebound spring or shortened the strain screw too much it can have the same affect. Too many folks think that the key to a light trigger pull is to stone or even file the sear. Big mistake. An action job is a combination of many small improvements inside the gun and the sear on the hammer or trigger very rarely needs touched. At this stage a gunsmith would be the best bet.

The condition is caused by damageor wear to either the SA bevel point on the trigger, or the SA cocking notch on the hammer. This unsafe condition can also be made worse by improperly modifying the rebound spring, and or the mainspring. (cutting or lightening tension)

If the hammer notch is in-tact and has not been tampered with, you may be able to restore function by sharpening the trigger bevel back to the factory prescribed angle. This is a job for someone that has the proper stone, and knows the correct procedure. If the hammer is damaged, it will have to be replaced.

I would also suspect that the OEM rebound slide spring has been either cut or replaced with a lower poundage, aftermarket one. Replacing the altered rebound slide spring with a new, OEM spring may restore function if the trigger and hammer surfaces are undamaged.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

I would first ask about the trigger return springs. Like said, it they have been replace or shortened that could be the cause. If not a good smith might be able to stone the sear notch on hammer or resharpen the trigger sear a bit. But the hardened part on those is very shallow and if much material is or has been removed the soft steel underneath will quickly wear. A new trigger and hammer for each is a better fix. Both show up on Ebay and other places regularly. The K22 hammer is different than center fire hammers and a bit harder to find. Sometimes here in the classifieds. A while back somebody showed up with a big pile of parts. Often a drop in, but sometimes the double action sear needs a bit of fitting or replaced with the old one from original trigger.

Since you are dealing with two target revolvers from the same owner, my bet is that a gunsmith or the owner honed the hammer and/or sear to a breath away from push-off to help with accuracy. When you lighten the trigger pull to that degree, it only takes very slight wear to result in push-off or hammer not holding full cock at all.

Since the tinkering may be extreme, not so sure that condition can be properly addressed without replacing parts. A gunsmith will be able to tell what part or parts have been worked on and replacement parts should be available to remedy the problems you are experiencing. Since they are both Masterpiece models, they are certainly worth the money to repair.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Oldman,

If it were me, I'd call S&W CS and see if they will accept the
revolvers for repair. From what you describe, you don't know
exactly what was done to them by the previous owner. A lot
of things could have been altered to cause these conditions.

Save yourself a lot of grief, and let the factory restore them to
factory specs. A lot of "modern gunsmiths" wont want to work
on old revolvers.

If those guns were bought in the '50s, S&W will not work on them. They even considered my model marked Mod 16 from '59 as obsolete. Find a local gunsmith who will work on them.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Frank Glen in Phoenix Arizona, I bought my pushing off 686-3 to him ,he fixed me up in 20 minutes. Like the other posters said, If the hammer was stoned ,probably need a new hammer, If the sear angle was stoned wrong, that may be fixable, but first, make sure the spring screw is all the way in. My best friend left me the 686 when he died, when it started to do the push off thing I was heart broken, but like I said a competent gun smith will get you running like new from $20 best case to about $120 worst case each. Good luck with your revolvers.