I seem to recall reading somewhere that storing a coil mainspring revolver with the hammer cocked will help lighten the DA trigger pull. If that's true, even with occasional use, would it be a matter of years before any significant lightening occurred?

IMO, it is good to read such things from time to time, both on the internet and in print. It is a reminder that one of the facts of life is that just because a person writes something doesn't necessarily mean that it has any value. ANY value.

Now, I'm going to let the engineers tell you whether the advertised effect is minuscule or non-existent, since I don't actually KNOW which, but I suspect that it is the latter.

Lightening DA pull is not just about springs, of course. When you do start messing with springs (probably best by replacing with a known Wolff spring), you need to test for reliability. You probably already knew that.

Good luck!

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Formerly Model520Fan

Quality springs do not fatigue from long term compression. It is cycling that will eventually cause a spring to lose strength.

Shoot the gun several thousand times, and the spring will moderate some, plus the hammer and trigger surfaces will smooth out a touch.

Not knowing the details of how the gun was designed, my considered opinion is "Maybe, but it shouldn't".

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VIVERE MILITARE EST

I understand that a leaf spring will weaken under tension but that a coil spring will weaken only by being worked.

I'd be more concerned about leaving a load on my single-action sear with the gun cocked than any effect on a $4 spring I can change in 10 minutes with only a paper clip as a tool.
If you really want a lighter spring in your J-frame (S&W with coil mainspring), then buy one from Brownells and put it in. Take off the grips, cock the hammer, put the paper clip in the strut, lower the hammer and remove the strut.

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Science plus Art

Well, I guess that settles that :-)

Thanks, all.