Anyone have any input on polishing the trigger for DAO guns. If you have done it has it proved to be a benefit or not? I have very dry skin and the semi smooth finish on S&W’s MIM triggers become irritating before I’d like to end my shooting sessions. Mostly notable with the heavyweight Rimfire trigger pulls.

I've polished an MIM trigger for my 625. It does take the roughness out.

Did it make a noticeable difference in comfort?

Hi REP, I've also polished triggers on revolvers, particularly older, grooved service triggers because they did (and still do) irritate my finger. The polishing made them 100% better, IMO. I have never polished any of the smooth combat triggers because I like them as-is. Nothing wrong with polishing further if you want, though. They do still have an "edge," even though it's not all that sharp, that might benefit from some rounding.

Can't tell you I've actually done it because I never have - but try one and see! They are not hard to get if you decide you don't like it - or you could just rough it up again with course emery paper if you decide you want it rougher again.

I polished the trigger on my Ruger LCR that’s MIM with a Dremel and it turned out bright and and shiny almost mirror like.

Never polished a MIM trigger. Back when PPC was popular many a standard K frame trigger was smoothed and rounded for DA work. It permitted a hooked pull on the trigger and allowed your finger to slide over the trigger. You might smooth and thin the width of you trigger and see if it improves your comfort.

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I guess if you should never polish a MIM trigger there must be a reason why.
Do you happen to know why not to do it?

Another problem for me in terms of the smoothness of the combat triggers is the edge of the face at the bottom of the front profile.....and the side edges and bottom corners. These areas are often quite sharp, and can cause irritation during the trigger pull and during recoil.

These sharp edges can be crowned slightly, either with an India stone or ceramic stone, and then polished by hand with wet/dry paper or a Dremel buffing pad with some jeweler's rouge or stainless buffing polish imbedded in the pad. This takes away these very sharp edges at the bottom, corners and edges of the trigger face, and makes for a much more comfortable trigger pull with less impact on the finger.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

I think you might have misread Old Cop's post. He didn't suggest you not polish an MIM trigger; rather he said that he had never done it.

Ed

I have rounded and polished many a S&W trigger, both the forged and the MIM. To me, the polishing is an upgrade, I do it to all my revolvers. I can tell a slight difference between the old forged trigger and the MIM trigger, but it is in the length of pull, the MIM just seems to sit a bit further forward in the frame than the forged.
As far as the actual polishing process is concerned, it is the same.

I replaced a serrated trigger. JM model with a MIM color case hardened one. Then I tried to match the hammer by giving it a light polish with some 1000 grit paper.
It matched the hammer better, but it did make the trigger, just a smudge slippery for my finger.
I think next time, I'd err on the more coarser side. And not fully mirror polish it.

Puzzle me this. Why is it that it's just not possible to find a Smooth Combat Trigger for a 1911 pistol. Every single trigger on the market is serrated. Since I loathe serrated triggers I have a lot of practice smoothing out serrated triggers so they don't leave me bleeding.

BTW, the trigger on my 625 JM was a bundle of razor blades that had me bleeding after just 3 cylinders of 45 ACP sent downrange. That beast was tamed by installing a smooth combat trigger in blue mim along with a matching hammer. Once I got into the 1911 and found that smooth triggers don't exist for that platform I started using a Dremel to smooth things out. BTW, I don't remove the serrations I just knock the sharp edges off them.

Tools used are a fine grit composite mounted point followed up with a Scotchbrite mounting finishing point. If the trigger is blued steel you can remove that white steel by Rust Bluing the trigger. Note, google Rust Bluing and you'll find it's actually very easy to do for small parts and everything you need is in your kitchen or medicine cabinet.

I think polishing can help. I used to have a 3" 65 that was DAO and I had the trigger radiused and polished. Along with a trigger job, it made the trigger pull very comfortable.



I've thought about having a trigger job done on my 642, and I would probably also have the trigger polished and the edges "broken."

Because you haven't looked hard enough? The Harrison Design 1911 trigger is smooth-faced.

Harrison Design & Consulting, LLC. HD-102-N Extreme Service 1911 trigger

I tore down my 351C and worked on all the sharp corners first with 400 emery backed with some balsa wood and using some light oil and then moved on to 600 emery. After that I went to 800 and then 1200 and did the face along with the corners. At this point I buffed it up with some rouge (baby poop rusty brown). It’s not bright but matches the sides nice. It feels great on the finger. While I had it all apart I polished the return spring housing some more, stayed a little safe last time. It’s nice to have this little 22Mag come around and still have the relatability that was built into it.

I have done a couple of them, for double action shoting I prefer the smooth shiny surface. For single action, it doesn't make any difference to me.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Boy did I blow that one. My apologies “Old Cop”.