How to best round radius a trigger?

For my non-serrated double action revolvers I really like a highly polished round-radius trigger. I've had several nicely done by gunsmiths but would like to start doing a few of my own. Any advise from those who have done it? What specific shaped file works best? Is sand paper or emory cloth better for the final polish? Thanks in advance.

trigger

I have done several using a dremel grinder with a sanding drum, and a cratex tip for the final polish.
what I was doing was narrowing target triggers some and making them smooth. cold blue afterwards.

If you have the time, patience, and hands for it - I can no longer do this because of arthritis in my hands - you can do a good job with crocus cloth. Tear the cloth in strips and use it like you were buffing (shining) a pair of shoes along the edges of the trigger. It will take some time, but it's pretty hard to take off enough metal to damage your trigger.

Best of luck,

Dave

Try it first with a trigger that belongs to one of your buddies.
That's what buddies are for!

Double-O-Dave said:

If you have the time, patience, and hands for it - I can no longer do this because of arthritis in my hands - you can do a good job with crocus cloth. Tear the cloth in strips and use it like you were buffing (shining) a pair of shoes along the edges of the trigger. It will take some time, but it's pretty hard to take off enough metal to damage your trigger.

Best of luck,

Dave

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Sorry for my ignorance, but what is crocus cloth and where do you find it?

Crocus cloth is nothing more than a fine emery cloth and can be found in any Hardware Store, Auto Body Supply, Home Depot or Lowes.

Before working on the trigger, remove it from the gun and mount it in a vise using "soft jaws" to avoid any damage. Use progressively finer emery and finish with the very fine Crocus Cloth.

If the trigger is case hardened like a S&W trigger, a file won't cut the surface.
Either the dreaded Dremel tool used carefully to sculpt the shape which will also cut through the thin hard 'case' on the surface. Or you will have to stone the hard case off, cut it off with an abrasive cloth, or use another mechanical means (grinder). Don't anneal the surface as you may also soften the sear surface of the trigger as well.

Afterwards you can shape it up with a fine cut 1/2 round file and finish it off shoe-shine polishing the surface with progressively finer grades of grit cloth torn into narrow strips.
#180 grit is a good start,,it'll remove file marks rather quickly and even up the surface nicely. The grit cloth will also cut through the case hardened surface so the process will make a nice transition from the now softer surface of the trigger to the harder sides.
Switch to a finer grade/grit when the 180 has done it's job. 220 is good. Then maybe 280 or even jump to 320. Finish off with 400grit. Go higher (600, 800, ect) depending on how high of a polish you want or need to match existing metal finish.
Stopping at 320 or 400 and lightly wire-wheel finishing with oil on the surface leaves a nice burnished look. It'll reveal any missed file marks or polish grit lines that you can go back and remove too.

If the trigger is hardened, but drawn to a tough state & can still be filed,,skip the Dremel and it's inherent tendencys to drive around surfaces where you don't want it to. Go right with the files to shape the face then finish up with grit polishing cloth.

Aloxite is a common brand of grit cloth sold in 50ft rolls and 1 and 2 inch widths. It's aluminum oxide grit,,dark red in color and pretty much a standard on the polishing bench. It's very flexible, & used dry. Auto finishing wet-or-dry paper is commonly used too but isn't flexable unless used with oil or water. Even then it breaks apart on edges and corners.
But the latter is still quite often used in hand polishing gun parts.
Lots of man-made abrasive cloths and papers out now that are way ahead of some of the old stuff.

I still like wood sanding garnet paper in 280 or 320 grit for a go-over polishing on metal when doing SxS bbls getting them ready for rust blue. Holds up well and puts a nice soft shine on the metal..
ScotchBrite in different grades is very useful in putting the final polish on metal too.

Thanks to all...great info

Aloxite is a common brand of grit cloth sold in 50ft rolls and 1 and 2 inch widths. It's aluminum oxide grit,,dark red in color and pretty much a standard on the polishing bench. It's very flexible, & used dry.

After you have used the "dremel" to take the corners off the trigger, and the trigger placed in a padded vice with just the finger portion showing, tear about a 1/2" strip of the Aloxite and just like you are using a buffing rag on your shoe, polish the trigger surface. Start with a coarser grit and work up to at least 400 or finer. You can contour the edges and slick up the pad very well in just about an hour.

I am of the Dremel sanding drum/polishing tip school. Did a few by hand with crocus and about wore out my fingers.

A small swiveling vise is good to hold the trigger at the angles you need.