Apparently sometime in the mid-80's (1985?), S&W started putting the "combat trigger" on their j-frames as standard equipment. My pinned Chiefs all have the .240" serrated trigger, while a 1985-ish Chief I used to own had the .312" wide smooth trigger. A wide (serrated) trigger is nice for single-action shooting, but personally I much prefer the narrow trigger (with the serrations ground off & the top rounded) for double action shooting over the wide trigger. How does everybody else feel about these triggers?
I previously owned a 442-2 and am in the process of buying another (used) one. I would like to swap the trigger out for a narrow one, but have never had any luck with triggers just dropping in so will probably just leave it be.

I happen to like wide/combat smooth triggers on SD/CC revolvers.
Some don't, so be it.
I have changed many to combat triggers with no problems, have a box full of triggers & hammers for all S&W's now.... LOL!

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

For a duty or carry revolver, I prefer the narrow trigger, with the serrations removed and the edges of the trigger face rounded....I have altered all of my carry/duty guns in this fashion....everybody has their own preferences.....this approach works best for me.

I prefer the narrow grooved trigger. Why a trigger needs to be smooth to be called "combat" is something I'll never understand. Jerry Miculek articulates the reason for the grooved trigger very well, yet putting eight shots into a target in 1.00 second is not a combat worthy performance?

Dave Sinko

Jerry Miculek has stated he doesn't care for a smooth trigger.
I prefer a smooth trigger for a double action revolver.

I'm no Jerry Miculek. But I say which ever one you like and works for you is the way to go.. I don't believe in the one size fits all..

I suppose the term 'combat' is just a description, like 'target' trigger.

But, I thought everything had to be 'Tactical' now,,

Lke I said, I prefer a narrow trigger, but I haven't ever had much luck swapping triggers so I'll leave the wide one in my new-to-me 442-2. But I don't care for the sharp corners of the trigger blade, I've had trouble with those biting me before. I don't know much about MIM parts- will smoothing off the corners result in going down into softer material? I plan on hitting the ground-off places with cold blue.
BTW I swapped out the rebound spring for a 13# Wolff yesterday, and the spring I removed was painted blue. Does S&W paint their springs? I watched an Apex how-to video for their j-frame spring kit and I noticed they removed a blue rebound spring and installed a green one.

I like a wide, smooth trigger.
I want to replace my 15-3 hammer and trigger with a target hammer and a wide, smooth trigger.
I want to replace my 586 hammer and trigger with a target hammer, and a wide, smooth trigger. It already has a wide, smooth trigger, but the trigger and hammer have finish issues, having been an evidence locker gun.

Gunparts dot com seems to be out of the K frame target hammer and trigger, and the .400 L frame trigger.

Maybe I just need to strip mine and hot blue them.

I'm not sure about my 15. The gun is almost perfect.
I just like the long, wide target hammer spur and wide trigger better.

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What would Jim Cirillo do?

Look in GB gun parts, you will find many of the ones you want.

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

I much prefer the narrow trigger smoothed out.

The wider trigger is inferior in my opinion.

Of course, this is just my opinion and my preference.

My 19-4 4" came with wide target hammer & Trigger. I actually liked the feel of the wide target trigger for combat style shooting - back in the day at least. I recently acquired a minty 19-6 6", and I intend to turn my old 19 into a strictly combat oriented revolver -- and thus will change the trigger to a medium-wide, smooth combat trigger.

I will then put the old wide target trigger on my new-2-me 19-6 and turn that into a dedicated target gun -- with some PPC thrown-in on occasion.

As you can see, feel is a very subjective thing, much like beauty.
Some of us prefer wide/smooth, some prefer narrow/smooth, some prefer wide/grooved, and some prefer narrow/grooved.

Now, that we've made your decision more difficult with our lack of consensus, you'll have to decide which of us with whom you agree.

Go with what feels right to your trigger finger.
Grooved triggers make my finger sore after a box of ammo.
Others have no such problems.
My buddy loves the Videki speed trigger on his 1911.
I hate it.
Subjective.
There's no accounting for taste, etc.
I hate the way SUVs and luxury cars drive, others love them.
Perception, taste, all subjective and infinitely debatable.

I've been no help at all, have I?
For that, I apologize. I just know what feels good to me.

For the record, I can understand both sides of the wide/smooth vs narrow/smooth debate.
My 586 feels great with it's wide/smooth trigger.
A J frame may or may not.
A Colt D frame feels great to me, with a narrow/smooth trigger.

Even more important to me, than wide vs narrow, is that it be smooth.
I like grooved for single action range fun. Sometimes.
Mostly I prefer smooth.
I've thought about defiling my K and J frames by smoothing/rounding the triggers.
I just don't feel right about doing it to the stock trigger.
Maybe I should buy spares to smooth.
I don't like to make irreversible changes to guns as old as/older than me.

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What would Jim Cirillo do?

I have two revolvers with MIM triggers.
A 442-2 and a new 640 Pro.
I like the new MIM triggers better than the one on my departed M60 no dash. They seem nicely rounded and the width is just about right.
If I had kept the M60, I would have worked on the trigger.
I don't know if MIM triggers come in different widths. I assumed they were all the same. S&W seems to be eliminating options in such matters.
I had a Ruger SP101 for awhile, and I didn't like the trigger profile or the action. Back to S&W revolvers.

Best,
Rick

The width of the trigger is not as critical as the smooth surface for double action shooting. I have all three width's in various examples, and all with the grooves removed for double action shooting. My favorite for PPC was my 686 (no dash) with a case hardened .500 target trigger which has been smoothed out and contoured.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Could you please direct me to where Miculek articulated his
preference for the serrated trigger?
Thanks,
Sid

I'd say the biggest hint would be the fact he includes a grooved trigger on his signature series 625 JM guns.


Personally, I prefer a smooth narrow trigger.

I know Miculek articulates his desire or the grooved trigger in his video. He doesn't want his finger sliding around the trigger when he's shooting DA at high speed. It's important to note that he uses the pad of the trigger finger and NOT the crease. This is an important distinction, as most who prefer the smooth triggers also contact the surface of the trigger with the crease. I pull the trigger of all firearms (except J Frames only because they're so small) with the pad of my finger and it's the reason I prefer grooved triggers on all my firearms, not just my revolvers. I have a lot of trouble managing DA revolvers that have smooth triggers. Rather than fit new triggers, I simply cut two grooves into the face of the smooth .312" triggers in my revolvers. This gives me the feel that I need and is a perfect compromise, as those who shoot my revolvers with the two grooves and use the crease don't even know that there are grooves in the trigger.

During high speed shooting, much time is lost by the action of curling and uncurling the trigger finger when the crease is used to pull the trigger. Most here don't seek to break Miculek's record and you can be fast and accurate using the crease, but when you're trying to chisel precious hundredths of a second off your split times, even the slightest variation of technique is of great importance.

Dave Sinko

I appreciate the response. That explanation was what I was looking for.
Have recently become very enamored with revolvers. Been shooting mostly Glocks the last 15 years. Found this forum and will mine some of the excellent content as time permits.
Thanks, again.
Sid
g

I like medium-wide, smooth triggers with no sharp edges for all purposes. Jerry Miculek is certainly impressive, but his mindset and muscle memory are so strongly imprinted that if he were in a defensive scenario, I'd think he'd have to "dumb it down"! I was fortunate enough to take some double-action revolver shooting training with Jim Cirillo at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. I'll always remember his mantra: "Roll the trigger, roll the trigger...".

I'm not working with a timer or actually shooting live rounds, but just dry-firing I can see no difference in the elapsed time using the pad of my finger vs the joint. FWIW I use the pad of my finger for SA shooting, but shooting DA (at least with j-frames) I use the joint (or crease, as David puts it).

A while back, I had a 1985-ish no-dash model 60, and it came with a .312" wide smooth combat trigger. If S&W put that on a plain-jane (stainless) Chief, I suspect that "narrow service triggers" were on their way out by then.

Though, you can still buy that trigger and fit it to your gun, I've done that on 3 or 4 of my revolvers.

I mostly shoot N frames, but I do have J, K & L.

I don't often shoot double action unless I'm practicing, single action is my default.

Wide smooth triggers for me.

I saw Mr. Miculek put on a shooting Demo at the S&W factory range in 2005. One of the questions asked was about the serrated trigger. He said, a smooth trigger really messed his shooting up and that he liked a serrated trigger.

Don't know if he was talking about accuracy or speed or both.

I very recently had the wide smooth trigger on my 629-1 polished along with an action job. I prefer to shoot my d/a revolvers in d/a mode and for ME this type of trigger is best.

Hi Eric. The narrow triggers in the early/earlier model J-frames has never bothered me. What did were the sharp edges on both the trigger and hammer! We used to think sharp edges on these parts were factory spec. These guns also had mainsprings that seemed to be measured in tons, not pounds. If you think shooting a modern-day J is a chore, try the same course of fire with an older Chief. Loads and loads of fun from an otherwise delightful gun. Trigger shoes on Js (which I don't advocate) were not uncommon back then.

What really needed changing out were the full-width target triggers on the Ns: 25, 27, 29, 57 if you wanted to fire DA. Had all mine changed out to narrow service triggers.

I picked up a nice Model 49 but I hate the serrated trigger on it. It didn't take me long to figure out it had to be replaced with a smooth one. I would like a little wider one too. I see Numrich has several sizes .240,.312 and .347. The gun is a no dash and was made in 1972 but I don't know what the width is of the trigger in it. Should I go with the smooth .312 or .347?

All three of my J-frames, which are my carry preference, have smooth triggers and I use the pad of my finger for SA and DA shooting. 90% of my revolver shooting is done DA. I really don't have a preference for smooth over grooved, but I would not want to shoot a lot of .357 with a grooved hammer.

I prefer smooth and narrow for DA shooting with a K-frame. Almost never shoot an N-frame DA. For a Chief or Centennial, they are so small and the reach is so short that I can use about anything but prefer smooth, whatever it is.

I'm a wide and smooth kinda guy! Last year I acquired a 4",65-1 and it had a case harden smooth.400 trigger! I think it's called a wide combat target? It's my favorite. Byw the hammer is narrow.
SEMPER PARATUS

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NRA Life Member
CPO

My old 29-3 6" was my hunting gun for a number of years. Saw an article on Spokaneguns way back then. They ground off the outer serrations on the trigger and left some in the middle. I copied it on that old 44 and still really like it. It's good when you're drippin sweat and need a good SA break with D/A follow-ups in the bush huntin "Pig" in Hawaii.
I haven't done it to any of my others.