I lost the pigtail spring. Duh.

I was going to try the trigger mod to see how much difference there is but after looking at it I decided that removing a spring will not work, not unless I get a softer spring to replace it.

When I put it back together I had trouble with the pigtail spring. It was really stiff and I almost got it in place when it popped off my screwdriver. I heard it hit something on my desk but I couldn't find it. I called SW and they're sending me one.

What's funny is that in the video he said leave it out. SW said it's there for a reason and that the gun will not work without it. After I put it back together I dry fired it a few times and it seems to work.

What am I missing? What's the spring for?

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_It was love at first shot_

I took my pigtail out a long time ago. The trigger pull lightened up and I haven't had any issues with it since. That was about 400 rounds ago. I'm not Smith & Wesson though, so you probably shouldn't listen to me.

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Dem's fightin' words wabbit!!!

Same here, it did lighten the trigger pull. No problems of any kind without the pigtail. S&W will never tell you to leave something out of your gun and everything is there for a purpose. Try it you might like it, if not put it back in.

The way to find that spring is to take your shoes off and walk around in your socks. It will be stuck in your foot before you know it.

True, the trigger is smoother but I don't know about lighter. I did a search about the spring and found some old posts (04-06) that their Sigmas failed to reset the sear. They said the failure was something like 14% of the time. I think that's with the early models that was affected. I don't know what design changes were for the latest models if any.

The way the pig spring is installed it looks like it keeps the assembly against the housing.

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_It was love at first shot_

The pigtail spring was added because of reset concerns when using +P+ ammo. And in fact people who have removed it and then shot +P+ ammo have had issue with the trigger not resetting. But since I do not shoot +P+ ammo in my SW9E and do not intend to, the spring serves no purpose for me. I have shot a few thousand rounds of standard pressure and +P ammo through my no-pigtail Sigma without any issues.

I believe when I did the same thing to my old SW9VE the trigger weight dropped <1lb. Losing the outter spring did a lot more to reduce trigger pull weight.

mines been gone for awhile now too, no problems here. i was about to tell ya id send ya mine if you couldnt get one, thats until i read the whole post...

When I looked at the springs I noticed that the inner spring fit in the hole (the other end's in the tab) So removing it would make the outer spring unstable. I didn't want to remove the outer spring because then it would be too light and too risky. So everything's back together except the pigtail spring. I noticed that with the pigtail spring out the grit was gone.

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_It was love at first shot_

Go for it.

Is the Sigma actually capable of shooting +P+?

I thought that was a nono.

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_It was love at first shot_

+P+ is always considered a no-no. But that always comes with the caveat that "some +P+ probably won't hurt your gun, just don't make a steady diet of it". It does however generally void your warranty.

I found this interesting. I was wondering why the pigtail spring is needed so I pulled the slide off and played with the trigger. I see the assembly move so I pushed down on the trigger release and the assembly snapped back. It has some spring tension in there alright. The pigtail spring just makes it snap back harder.

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_It was love at first shot_

Since we know that the +P+ is a nono. What about the +P? Ok for the Sigma?

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_It was love at first shot_

Halfstack I have had the pigtail removed for years, with no issues. I urge you not to remove the inner spring that's a nono. I have also removed the outer spring with no issues. You can leave the outer spring if you like, or remove the outer spring and replace it with a spring from a bic pen cut to the length of the factory outer spring. If you replace the outer factory spring with a cut down bic pen spring it will lighten the trigger another 1-2lbs., and keep the inner spring stable.

I knew the inner spring had to stay to be stable as it's seated on both ends. Also I didn't want to remove the outer spring and make the trigger too light so the only thing that's gone is the pigtail spring. I noticed the improvement on the trigger already.

I have to wait til next month to go shoot and then I'll see how it goes.

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_It was love at first shot_

I have also removed that outer spring with no issues. Mine is a 40 so the whole +P thing is a moot point. Definitely smoothed and lightened the trigger, but not enough to be concerned over safety. It's probably still in the 7-8 pound range.

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Dem's fightin' words wabbit!!!

S&W sticks to industry standards for its firearms
there is no industry standard for +p+ ammunition.
it regards pressure +p 9mm is saami speced for 37,500 psi
standard p is 35,000 psi
+p+ could range from 37,501 to well over 40,000psi.
sigma,sd and m&p are okay for 9mm +p as for +p+ who knows
is no saami spec for +p in 40sw though been a couple companies selling supposed 40sw +p ammo.
saami=sporting arms and ammunition manufacture institute
feel free to visit SAAMI | Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute

My experience worked out to just removing the pigtail to lighten the trigger pull enough to make it easier to shoot.
I don't use +p ammo ever, so the reset issue doesn't arise.

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USN WWII Korea
NRA

I just picked up three boxes of Win PDX1 124 +Ps. Now am I going to have problem with 'em since my pigtail spring is out?

SW is sending me a new spring and I aim to put it back in.

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_It was love at first shot_

The pigtail spring was for +P+ pressures. I have a few hundred rounds of +P ammo through my SW9E sans spring without any issues. I only recall one or two guys here ever trying +P+ ammo in their Sigmas and both had reset issues (w/o the spring) but even then it was like 3-4 times per 100 rounds. You have nothing to be concerned about with normal +P ammo.

Glad to hear that.

So SW put in the pigtail spring so we can shoot +P+? I thought they don't want you to use 'em ??

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_It was love at first shot_

Gun design and production decisions are made up using the following people; gun designers, engineers, lawyers and accountants. Sometimes it makes sense, sometime it doesn't. When it doesn't, I point my fingers at the lawyers.

Ah, how sweet it is. I shot my Sigma 9 without the pigtail spring today. 31 Champs and 20 PDX1 +Ps went without an issue. The trigger feels a lot better, a lot smoother. The trigger didn't have trouble resetting, not even a hesitate.

It's made well for a value gun. I love it.

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_It was love at first shot_

What mlk said.

I bought some Winchester Ranger T ammo, 115gr +P+ a while ago, it's my carry stuff and have shot a box or two through the gun with no problems. The 'pigtail' has been gone since I first bought the gun, I'm probably close to 2K through it including +P occasionally, never a problem. BTW, the +P+ Ranger Ts WILL go through both sides of a Ford Aerostar van, I got to find that out during a weekend class that included carjacking scenarios, at the end of the class, just fer grins, we got to 'test' different ammos on the car, handguns, rifles, shot guns, yeah, it was FUN!

Another 100 round of Champs down range today. Getting better with it that the majority hits where I aimed, head, torso and chest at 21 feet.

Just sweet.

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_It was love at first shot_

Holy thread resurrection, Batman!

After several years has anyone had problems after removing the pigtail spring?

Update, Update!

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Professional Trainer