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S&W Revolvers: 1980 to the Present All NON-PINNED Barrels, the L-Frames, and the New Era Revolvers


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Old 05-15-2017, 03:22 PM
ScottN ScottN is offline
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Trigger Question on New-to-Me Model 60-15 Trigger Question on New-to-Me Model 60-15 Trigger Question on New-to-Me Model 60-15 Trigger Question on New-to-Me Model 60-15 Trigger Question on New-to-Me Model 60-15  
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Default Trigger Question on New-to-Me Model 60-15

I picked up a used 60-15 3" a few weeks ago at a LGS. The store owner, who is a good guy, said the guy who traded it in claimed it had never been fired. I didn't really care about whether it had been fired or not because it was exactly what I was looking for, the trigger pull seemed nice, the price wasn't inflated, and...it was going to be fired quite a bit by me.

I put 30 rounds through it to verify function and determine I didn't like the grips. I bought crimson trace grips for it and did a thorough cleaning while installing the grips.

All is going well until I decided to measure the trigger pulls. DA weighed in right at 10 lbs. and SA was just a tick below 2 lbs.

I'd never experienced a revolver with that much of a discrepancy between DA and SA. I knew the SA was light but that was lighter than expected. The trigger return also seems a little sluggish compared to a new M&P R8 i picked up last week (yes, it's been a nice few weeks on the revolver front for me!).

Does that sound normal? Or, do you think the previous owner played around with the trigger? I'm new to S&W revolvers so I'd appreciate any suggestions on what might have done to the trigger and what to check (cut coils, etc.).

Thanks!
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Old 05-15-2017, 03:35 PM
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Kernel Crittenden Kernel Crittenden is offline
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What are you using to measure the trigger pull, and is it known to be accurate?

The numbers do seem low for a stock gun.
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Old 05-15-2017, 03:41 PM
Dale53 Dale53 is offline
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Scott;
Those trigger weights certainly suggest to me that someone has "fiddled" with the trigger. It's relatively easy to change the trigger return spring. They are available in various weights from Brownell's.

However, this procedure requires a person with mechanical aptitude and some experience. A pistolsmith can do it in a few minutes. I have done a number of them, but there WAS a learning curve.

Jerry Kuhnhausen's book is VERY helpful, but it is out of print and is now a bit pricy:



Dale53

Last edited by Dale53; 05-15-2017 at 03:47 PM.
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Old 05-15-2017, 03:42 PM
Wise_A Wise_A is offline
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The DA is a bit lighter than expected but within the realm of normal. The SA is perfectly normal. The gap between the two is entirely normal.
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Old 05-15-2017, 05:17 PM
gnystrom gnystrom is offline
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^^ What he/she said.^^
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Old 05-15-2017, 06:56 PM
ScottN ScottN is offline
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Thanks for the feedback.

The trigger pulls were checked with my Timney gauge. It seems to be pretty accurate. I've used it a lot with seemingly consistent results.

I have used Wolff springs with good success on a GP100 and SP101 so I have a J frame spring kit on order. I think I will install the mainspring that Wolff markets as stock weight, with the 15 lb returnspring, and then go from there. A 10 lb DA is very acceptable but I would prefer to get the DA down to 9 lbs but don't want the SA to go any lower, in fact, I would prefer the SA increased a little. I'll play with the springs until I find the right combo for me that is still reliable.

Any other suggestions on things to look for when I have it broken down to change the springs?
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Old 05-15-2017, 07:36 PM
ontargetagain ontargetagain is offline
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I would also check for 'push off' on the hammer with the break being at only 2lbs to be safe.
If you ever hand you gun to someone else that is going to shoot it make sure they dry fire first because they most likely are not accustomed to a 2lb trigger! You will get a bit spoiled with it
Karl
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Old 05-15-2017, 08:23 PM
Bill In Texas Bill In Texas is offline
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I don't know about the sluggishness of the trigger return, but the trigger pull weights seem similar to the Apex Duty Carry spring kit I put in my 60-15. The SA sounds about right and the DA might be a little higher than mine, which is between 8 and 9 lbs. Hope this helps!
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Old 05-15-2017, 09:13 PM
ScottN ScottN is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill In Texas View Post
I don't know about the sluggishness of the trigger return, but the trigger pull weights seem similar to the Apex Duty Carry spring kit I put in my 60-15. The SA sounds about right and the DA might be a little higher than mine, which is between 8 and 9 lbs. Hope this helps!
That's an interesting thought. The apex kit comes with a different firing pin if I remember correctly. Is there a way to visibly tell the difference?
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Old 05-16-2017, 08:41 PM
Bill In Texas Bill In Texas is offline
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Quote:
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That's an interesting thought. The apex kit comes with a different firing pin if I remember correctly. Is there a way to visibly tell the difference?
The Apex firing pin is longer than stock to prevent light primer strikes. If you have another j frame you could do a comparsion.
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Old 05-16-2017, 10:00 PM
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It's my one and only j frame. I practiced breaking down the revolver last night in preparation for the arrival of the spring kit. I'll experiment with changing the springs and see what happens.
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Old 05-16-2017, 10:25 PM
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10 pound trigger pull in DA and sluggish return? I bet you have a lighter rebound spring installed. The stock rebound spring is 18 pounds, I believe, and has a bluish paint on it. SA of 2 pounds seems in the normal range.

With some work I've gotten my 640 Pro down to about a 9.5 pound trigger pull with a 12 pound rebound spring, and I have a 642 with a 9 pound trigger pull with an 11 pound rebound spring and 8 pound hammer spring. 100% reliable.

To overcome the sluggishness one often needs to polish the return surface of the cylinder star that the hammer slides down over during the trigger return. Also some polishing where the cylinder stop engages the nose of the trigger may be needed as well.

If you don't want to do all that, it can be a challenge to get a consistent DA pull well below 10 pounds without having a sluggish trigger return. At least in my experience...
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Old 05-19-2017, 09:50 AM
ScottN ScottN is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pef View Post
To overcome the sluggishness one often needs to polish the return surface of the cylinder star that the hammer slides down over during the trigger return. Also some polishing where the cylinder stop engages the nose of the trigger may be needed as well.

If you don't want to do all that, it can be a challenge to get a consistent DA pull well below 10 pounds without having a sluggish trigger return. At least in my experience...
I believe you hit the nail on the head!

I had some fun experimenting with the Wolff springs last night. I tried about every combination of 8 and 8.5 lb hammer springs with 13-16 lb return springs. I ended up going with the hammer spring that was in place when I bought it...guessing it's a 8.0 or well broken in 8.5 pounder. My guess is an 11 or 12 lb return spring was installed.

I ended up liking the feel of the trigger best with 14 lb Wolff return spring but it upped the trigger pull weight quite a bit to the tune of just over 3 lbs SA and probably 12 lbs DA (my gauge stops at 10). So, I compromised and went with the 13 lb Wolff return spring, which resulted in 2.5 SA and just over 10 DA pulls with a much better trigger return feel.

I believe polishing will definitely be required to get close to a 9 lb pull without a sluggish feel to the trigger return. I'll need to do some reading and video viewing to see if I want to go that route. For now, I'm gonna try smoothing it out through range time.

All in all it was a nice evening with my model 60. I learned a few things. I found a small Philips screwdriver that made for an excellent tool to install return springs as the Jerry Miculek method of using a ballpoint pen did not work for me. Several broken pens ended up in the trash can. I also learned the sear can fall out pretty easily...I was extremely fortunate to find that tiny sear spring.

I think I'm really going to enjoy this revolver. I'll post a picture at some point.

Last edited by ScottN; 05-19-2017 at 09:55 AM.
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