I am a "for fun" shooter -- I just like to go to the range and shoot at either 25 or 30 feet and see how ragged a hole I can produce in the target by shooting my S&W revolvers using double-action. I also train for self-defense for my CCW license. The S&Ws come from the factory with twelve pound triggers -- I measure them with a meter and they are very consistent in this regards. In my experience the factory triggers are smooth -- but brutally heavy. After shooting for an hour, my trigger finger is not infrequently sore and numb. As I get older, I worry about the long term effects of that sort of repetitive abuse to one's body!
Anyway, to make a short story long, I have decided to rotate my S&Ws through a local gunsmith who has an excellent reputation as a Smith & Wesson specialist for trigger jobs. Going to have him get the pulls to about 6-7 lbs. (he says closer to 6). He will be installing Wilson Combat springs and an extended firing pin to ensure consistent ignition of the rounds. Polishing the internals of course. Incidentally, I had this done to my Ruger GP100 many years ago by a different (but very good) gunsmith, and that revolver is now my best trigger for double-action. So I am very hopeful that my S&Ws will be even better.
Once I get the first batch of guns back I will let all of you know how it went. This gunsmith has a very good reputation -- the hard part is the 45 day turnaround. Just not enough gunsmiths out there!

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Army veteran, NRA Life Member

6-7 pounds sounds a little light for reliable ignition. If he sets it that low, you may be confined to using only Federal primers. I'd specifiy to him that you want it to work with all brands of ammo/primers.

Since you have a gauge, please let us know the actual pull weight when you get it back, and the reliability factor.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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NRA Benefactor Member

I have had good luck with Wilson combat springs. Extended firing pins only if necessary.
I use Winchester primers and CCI 300's . So I keep DA pulls at 8.5#s. Any lower and there's a play in reset-depending how fast you shoot. Good rebound slide pressure actually helps the finger reset the trigger back.
I know FT3 doesn't let you shoot more than one shot/second.
My finger just got used to it. The more I learned to shoot DA. I lost the ability to SA shoot worth a darn. I've also had my trigger finger go numb and use my middle finger to shoot. Something I did from shooting trap from the start.

I see you beat me to it by 2 minutes Bob. I was typing and my drinking coffee. Lol!

I set up my guns with a 2 - 2 1/2 pound S/A and 8 - 8 1/2 pound D/A trigger and have 100% reliability. I never modify my carry guns.

I put a spring kit in a 637 and instantly hated it. The reset just felt wrong, and I would short-stroke it without half trying. Back to stock, all better.

Modifying your carry gun is not a great idea. If you are going to do that and at 68 yrs old I understand, I recommend polishing and putting in the Apex DUTY kit.

You may want to read the Cautions under the Wilson spring kit description on the Wilson Combat website. Please do not misunderstand I own a Wilson Combat Professional model 45 and think highly of their work and products.

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SWCA 3417 HF 642 NRA-TC

Personally I would avoid putting extended firing pins in any revolver(unless out of spec) as it increase the potential for pierced primers.
The higher the operating of the cartridge the greater the risk.

be safe
Ruggy

Well, I have had no problems with my Ruger.
As I said, I'll be reporting back on how things go. As soon as I get the first batch back will be hitting the range with several boxes of different brands of ammo. I made it clear to my gunsmith that I wanted 100% reliability with all ammo brands. You cannot just shoot Federal because Federal is often or usually not available, at least not in California.
BTW I do not carry a revolver but I do have one for HD.

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Army veteran, NRA Life Member

I carried smith revolvers and pistols on the job for 31 years. Factory specs were what I had the lockwork set to as my life depended on reliable function. Smith revolvers are set heavy for a reason. Reliable primer ignition. Inserting weaker springs to accommodate shooter physical preference invites unwanted problems even disaster if used for protection.

As rugghy stated longer hammer nose or firing pin can easily pierce primers.

Only agency factory trained armorers or factory personnel worked on my Smith’s.

Just consider what and who performs work on a firearm you may depend on to save your life or lives of others

I think most people agree on a stock gun for duty and self defense use.

What I would like to see for target and competition is a trigger that gets lighter as you pull it, similar to a compound bow, maybe even down to single action pull weight. I think that would make it easier to shoot accurately.

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protocalldesign.com

I just picked up a new 442-1 no lock and was really surprised how nice and smooth the trigger was. I’ve had many J frames over the years but this one felt the best on the newer guns I’ve owned. I gave it a good once over before I bought it and couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Even the cylinder gap was in spec. I took it to the range today and was NOT disappointed

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I tweak my K and L frames to sub 6# pulls in DA for IDPA competition only purposes. They are 100% with Federal primers seated .002 to .005 below flush. I use Brownell ribbed main springs and slightly reduced rebound springs. I carefully true the hammer and trigger while centering them with Powers shims. Turns them into a great game tool!

OTOH I will only true hammers and triggers while shimming as necessary for a carry revolver. Trigger pull will be very smooth while weighing heavier than expected. These will "pop" any factory ammo on the coldest day of the year.

My Ruger GP100 has about a 6Lb trigger pull and I have shot thousands of rounds of every type of 38sp or 357 available without a single misfire or mishap. So I believe that if a trigger is adjusted correctly it can be very reliable. Of course I would not use any self-defense gun without testing it in this fashion, stock or not, frankly.

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Army veteran, NRA Life Member

In engineering the DA pull weights by
Smith & Wesson and Ruger, reliability
is foremost.

Truth is, though, I don't think the major
DA revolver makers foresaw a time when
hours of range time is consumed along with
hundreds and hundreds of rounds.

Maybe it's just me, but I've always been
satisfied in DA exercises to use up no more
than about 60 rounds. In that time, I
figure I've achieved all I'm going to acvhieve
in both shooting skills and maintaining decent
looking target patterns.

I think it was Askins Jr. who wrote that a
regular routine of a dozen rounds every few
days was enough to stay sharp.

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Ubi Est Mea

I like to do a solid hour of shooting at a time. This usually involves shooting 100-150 rounds. It works for me. Of course, there are lots of opinions out there. Never heard of Askins.

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Army veteran, NRA Life Member

And in those thousands of rounds you've never had a
short stroke where you had to quickly ease off the trigger
to let it return without any finger pressure?

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Ubi Est Mea

I've been shooting and carrying S&W revolvers for almost 50 years for duty and pleasure. I have had to smooth a few actions but have never touched the springs. 12 pounds is not heavy if it's smooth. I've shot shot as many as 400 founds in a day when attending classes with no ill affects.
On the other hand when training with my newly issued Glock back in 2002 the slide cut up the web of my hand so bad I had to stop and tape up to finish training.

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Support your Police, & NRA

Just my personal opinion, but for a self defense/carry gun, if I were going to have any kind of action work done I'd have a gunsmith smooth and polish the internals but retain the factory springs. This will smooth and lighten the DA pull but still retain reliability. It would also be more likely to keep the pull weight within spec for liability reasons. I also like a strong reset for quick DA shooting to minimize the chance of short-stroking the trigger.

I'm not sure I'd be comfortable going below 8 or 9 lbs on a DA pull, and even then it would depend on how I liked the trigger reset.

My 642-1 has a pretty firm trigger pull, but is relatively smooth. There does seem to be just a little hitch towards the end of the pull every once in a while. I would like to have a trigger job to smooth that out for a nice, straight-through pull, set up like I described above. Not a high priority, though.

For a competition and/or range gun, then whatever you feel comfortable doing is fine, so long as safety isn't compromised. I think the lowest I've ever heard of a DA pull going was in the neighborhood of 4 or 5 lbs, but that required special springs and internals (I think roller bearings were involved somehow), as well as careful ammo selection. I want to say it was a dedicated PPC gun.

I do my own trigger work, but never use a rebound slide spring less than 14 Lb. I usually try and get the trigger do about 8-9 lbs, and smooth. The smother it is the heavier it can actually be without noticing it. I want a reliable gun with CCI primers (the hardest).

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

"Just my personal opinion, but for a self defense/carry gun, if I were going to have any kind of action work done I'd have a gunsmith smooth and polish the internals but retain the factory springs. This will smooth and lighten the DA pull but still retain reliability. It would also be more likely to keep the pull weight within spec for liability reasons. I also like a strong reset for quick DA shooting to minimize the chance of short-stroking the trigger."

Just what I did myself. I followed the Jerry Miculek "Trigger Job" DVD, and the action of my 67 is butter smooth, without being too light for dependability or self defense.

Chuck

I recently had trigger jobs and Wolff springs added to my 65-3 and 49. The 65 has a sub-7 pound pull in DA and the 49 is now about 8 pounds. Both are incredibly smooth and clean... As mentioned above, going sub-7 pounds can make for occasional ignition issues with some ammo. Not a big problem to sort out, but certainly something to consider.

I've only had my 686 Plus for a couple of weeks. When I first brought it home I thought "man, that double-action trigger pull is heavy! Smooth as silk, but heavy". So, I ordered the Wolff reduced power kit for it.
But the more I shoot it and dry-fire it, the more I like it. I'm not sure I'll ever put the Wolff kit in it. My DA pull is 11 lbs, 7 1/2 oz, BTW. Single-action is 4 lbs 7 oz., and so crisp I can't imagine ever needing anything any better. That's unusual for me because just about every handgun I get, I try for a lower-weight trigger pull. Which is why I immediately ordered the Wolff reduced spring kit for this one. But man, I'm really startin' to like it just the way it is. I'm concerned that if I lighten the pull, it may negatively impact the smoothness.

After several hundred trigger pulls the trigger always seems lighter. Developing the muscles in your finger makes the job easier.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

***And in those thousands of rounds you've never had a
short stroke where you had to quickly ease off the trigger
to let it return without any finger pressure?***

Not that I recall; no. In fact, I shot half a box of .357 with it recently just to verify that the Ruger was reliable with that caliber, which reputedly can be harder to ignite. No probleme …

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Army veteran, NRA Life Member

What is that bracket/shield looking thing on the side of the frame? I've never seen anything like that.
Thanks!

I assume that you are asking about slabside2's picture - That is a clip so that it can be carried in the pocket or IWB without a holster.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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NRA Benefactor Member

Yep- It's the revo version of a pocket clip for a knife.

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protocalldesign.com

Incidentally, I have used an original Barami(sp?) Hip-Grip off and on with J frames for a very long time with "no hitch in the gidda up".

Very good system for a grab and go to the store.

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SWCA 3417 HF 642 NRA-TC