i went to a store and tried a gun that was easier to pull the trigger than my 2" j-frame. He said it was an H frame, now I am thinking it was a 636, L frame. I am looking for an L frame in a shorter barrel? I just want something I can conceal and that the trigger can be pulled with the arthritic fingers which are not as strong as a mans. the j frame is harder to pull the trigger. Does anyone have any info on this, and know where I can get one. ?

Unfamiliar with an H frame or a 636, Maybe a 686 L frame?
I'm a J hound, have a bunch, carry one daily, J's have the worst triggers of all the Smith centerfire revolvers. It's geometry and leverage, coupled with a wound mainspring as opposed to a flat spring.

Welcome to the forum, best place on the net for all things S&W!

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SWCA #2817

It's good to know there are some gun store folks that still know their stuff....

If it was a 686, or any stainless L frame, technically it is a H frame. Internally the factory uses different frame designations for the different models to 1- describe the frame size, and 2- to distinguish between the metal materials, i.e. carbon steel (blue and nickel) and stainless.

Going from memory here's the letters versus frame sizes:

J-small frame carbon
E-small frame stainless

K-medium frame carbon
F-medium frame stainless

L-medium frame carbon
H-medium frame stainless

N-large frame carbon
G-large frame stainless

Of course, regular gun owners normally know J, K, L and N so all the guns get lumped into these categories...

FWIW

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.............SmithNut

Welcome to the Forum.

The L/H frame revolvers are a bit larger than a K frame and are heavy. The shortest L is a 2 1/2". In my mind, it is too big to pocket carry and would require either an inside the waistband or a over the waistband holster. A 4" barrel in a pancake style holster will conceal better than a 2-2 1/2" because the longer barrel pushes against the hip and pushes the butt inward.

I realize this is the S&W Forum, but for a pocket gun, the Ruger LCR is a J frame size and has a better trigger pull.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

If you like the J frame other than the trigger pull you could look into a lighter rebound spring. Depending on how light you go it might slow the trigger reset but if you don’t mess with the hammer spring it shouldn’t cause you any reliability issues.


(I know modifying carry guns can be controversial in some circles but just tossing out the idea.)

Welcome to the forum

I am a S&W owner and big fan, but if you can find a gun store that has a Kimber K6S revolver you should see if you can try one to assess the trigger pull. I don't have one, but dry fired one in my LGS. The double action trigger pull is very smooth and the cylinder locks in place before you feel a "wall" of heavier resistance to overcome to fire the gun.

Kimber touts it as having a "smooth match grade trigger". It comes with either 2", 3", or 4" barrel and with a hammer (single action/double action) or without a hammer (double action only). American Rifleman magazine tested a 4" Combat K6S that had a 9 lb. 10 oz. double action pull and 3 lb. 6 oz. single action pull.

It's not as compact as a J frame S&W, but the extra weight is a big help in taming the recoil of a .357 mag. or .38 Special +P.

George

PS: I have a Ruger LCR in .327 Federal magnum and it's light weight makes it much too uncomfortable for me to shoot factory loads. I carry it only with .32 H&R magnum loads.

Just a suggestion. Since you already own a J-frame, why not look for a different style grip and possibly lighten the trigger by replacing some springs, or pay someone who knows what they're doing to that or possibly perform an action job, if you can afford it, and there's someone local who's qualified?

Buying a new gun can be time-consuming and costly, especially in the current market, and the size of the J-frame is about as good as it gets for a small, realistically usable, revolver. For as little as $25, you can buy an aftermarket grip that will completely change the feel of the gun, the distance to the trigger, a grip length that'll accommodate all fingers, and quite possibly enable you to pull the trigger with greater ease, in addition to lessening the effects of the recoil.

Search for pics of J-frames on this site and/or the internet, and you will see the myriad of grip options available for the J-frame. My favorite grips for shooting revolvers are rubber grips made by Hogue. The one that's the most comfortable for me is very similar to the one found on the factory gun linked below. You may even find someone selling a pair of the factory grips for cheap on ebay or elsewhere.

Model 60 | Smith & Wesson

Good luck!

At the CCW class I assisted with we had a device called Lawnmower Man.
Basically a target stand with a motor base that came toward the student at nearly running speed.
Trust me, a hard j frame trigger is barely recognizable when trying to defend your life.
If you are inclined, an Apex spring kit will improve that pull or some very gentle 1500 grit stoning of the sear surfaces.

I would like a shot at lawnmower Man. Sounds like a good practice deal.

Welcome to the FORUM from Michigan! Have you ever looked at a 2" 10, or 64? I could not shoot J frames well at all. Sold them. Pucrhased a 2" round butt, 10-5 from 1975. Did the trick for me! We are all different though! Bob

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Take what you have to a qualified gunsmith and have a trigger job done .
Here in Louisiana I would take and have had trigger jobs done by Clak Custom Guns . They have 3 different - Target Action Job , Service Action Job and basic Action Job ...beats buying another gun ...unless you want to buy another gun .
I would take my "paid for" revolver and see what kind of magic a good gunsmith could work . The fellows at Clark Custom do excellant work .
Check them out at Clark Custom Guns | Established 1950 | Princeton Louisiana
I can honestly give them a 5 gold star rating.
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

Like was mentioned
Have a gunsmith install a Apex kit.

Yeah. I saw two posts after mine someone else mentioned working on the trigger and the third post after mine the Apex kit was brought up.

Nobody mentioned an Apex kit before I posted so not sure why you quoted me to mention Apex.

The 2nd 942 I bought had an extremely heavy pull, way heavier than gun #1. I installed a Wolff standard mainspring in #2, now it's the same as #1 and id perfectly usable. I've noticed the same thing with larger S&W revolvers, there seems to be great variations in trigger pull from gun to gun. My 629 even hangs at the beginning of the pull in D/A. Poor quality control all the way across, if they fire when the trigger is pulled they ship them.

I have 5 or 6 J frame revolvers. I have taken all of them to a Gunsmith and had action jobs done on all of them. The action job makes the action smooth and the trigger pull feel lighter. I also have a S&W 686 that has had a action job done on it and it is perfect. Check in your area for a Gunsmith that does action jobs. I think that will solve your problem

What happens if you miss?????

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

If you like the J-frames, you can make them a lot smoother by polishing the internals with an Arkansas stone (do not polish the sear). A spring kit can lighten the action with an appropriate choice of springs. The two grips that I like best are the old Herrett Shooting Star Conversion Grips (which can still be found used on Ebay) and the Altamont Combat grips. Note though that the Altamont grip hurts my thumb when I'm using my 9mm conversion cylinders (I have converted three of my Airweight J-frames to 9mm with titanium cylinders to further reduce the weight).

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If you have a J-Frame already and like it, you may want to talk to a Gun Smith about smoothing the internals and “possibly” lightening the trigger. A professional smoothing of the internal action might just work.

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Two Handguns every day

There might be a reason they call it the lawnmower Man.