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Polishing the rebound slide to improve double action pull?

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karotipir12

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Anyone ever polish the rebound slide to improve double action pull?

I've already polished the DA hammer fly and the DA trigger sear, but there's still uneven pressure/lack of smoothness in the trigger (5-screw K frame).

It's not cylinder/hand related because the grittiness is still there with the cylinder removed. And since I polished the DA sear engagement, the only thing logically remaining is the rebound slide.

Anyone ever polish the rebound slide to improve the DA pull?


And no, it's not a spring pressure/weight issue, i'm not concerned about heavy springs, i just don't like how uneven the trigger pull feels compared to a Colt
 
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I smooth the parts including the rebound slide. I use a DMT diamond plate to remove the least amount of metal I need to remove. I also smooth the “channel” on which the slide moves. Usually, I try to smooth the high spots of both. I don’t polish them mirror bright, merely smooth. Yes, it does make a difference.

Kevin
 
40 some years ago when I started “ getting interested in”S&Ws I was taught by a master armorer for the US Coast Guard who was also a RVN Veteran.We used to shoot a lot at the range I managed. He taught me his time proven methods of improving triggers on N,K and J frames. One of the First processes he did was stone the bottom of the rebound bar and bearing surface in frame. One needs certain small stones and quite a bit of time. “ Adjusting the rebound spring and trigger springs were next. Moving internal parts were deburred and stoned if needed. My 70s Mdl. 19 6” has one of the smoothest triggers everyone has tried. I mainly shoot 38 Spl. wadcutters these days.
 
OK, the rebound slide doesn't have to have a mirror polish. You don't want to remove material or interfere with critical surfaces like the bump on the top of the slide that rebounds the hammer. Stoning it to remove burrs/slick up the surface on the bottom and the back surface (that's up against the frame when you pull the side plate) does help, as does breaking the sharp corner on the inside lower corner and the outer edges where the spring goes.

Take a look at the top surface of the bolt. Is it below the surface of the frame? If not, break out the file. Break any sharp corners there too. Sharp edges on the hammer/trigger should VERY lightly broken too. Just a stroke or 2 with minimal pressure.

One of the things I did was to remove ALL parts from the frame. I then used Dupont rubbing compound and a small wire brush (like a pencil eraser) in a Dremel to remove burrs from the frame/side plate. DO NOT work on the flat bearing surfaces around the holes for the hammer/trigger pins. Make double darn sure all that abrasive is removed before reassembly.
 
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Also check how the rebound spring feels in the slide. There are Cratex rods the correct size to polish up the hole for the spring and 'sometimes' that really helps the DA trigger pull smoothness if everything else is polished. I use fine and extra fine in a hand held drill to polish that. Be sure to put a drop of oil on the rebound spring on assembly.

Stu
 
I would only polish the part of it had a sharp edge, bur or nick. They made it to the size it is for a reason and would take off only the minimum needed to eliminate a hindering defect.

Just shooting a revolver that has been properly cleaned and oiled will polish the the part as much as it needs to be. I suspect those who comment on the vast improvement of polishing it are referring to either new revolvers or ones with a sharp, burred part. In my experience most are just fine as is or will quickly break in to slide smoothly.

For what it's worth, I'd also refrain from doing a trigger job until firing 1,000 rounds or so - but that's me. YMMV.
 
Lightly polish the rebound spring itself,,the outsides of the coils can sometimes use a quick going over with (Gasp!) a buffer to slick them up.
This goes along with the same type of polishing of the inside of the hole in the Rebound slide mentioned above that the Spring rides in.

When the Spring is compressed during trigger pull, you don't want it to grab & chatter it's way along the walls of that hole.

Polish the ball end of the lever on the trigger that bears against the Rebound Slide. Same for the Socket in the forward end of the Rebound slide for that.
This is more of a burnishing operation than anything else. You don't want to remove any metal at all. Just smooth the surfaces.

You might check and see if the Trigger is being clamped a bit too tightly betw the Side Plate and the Frame when the Side Plate is screwed down in position.

Everything fits very closely, sometimes just a bit too close and the Trigger is rubbing against those raised bosses on the frame and plate.

Put the trigger in the gun w/o any rebound slide or springs.
Then put the Side Plate back on and screw it down as tight as you would normally.
See if the Trigger moves back and forth with no resistance at all.
That's good if it does that.

Now install the rebound slide w/spring and try the same thing.
Of course there will be the spring resistance in play no, but if you also feel the gritty, bumpy feel in the DA trigger pull, most likely the Trigger is being pushed slightly sideways on it's axle pin by the forwrd spring tension.
Pulling the trigger through the DA pull has you then experiencing the uneven feel of the slight off center trigger on it's axle pin rubbing against the frame and sideplate bosses.

If there is enough room in there, shim washers can be used to keep the Trigger in alignment on the axle.

Making a remarkably smooth mechanism is usually the result of a multitude of small adjustments and fine polishing to certain parts.
Don't try and elliminate all the machine and tool marks. You'll create sloppy specs where parts don't really fit well anymore.
 
Several years ago I altered the rebound slide by grinding shallow slots on the bottom and back surface of the rebound slide. The slots leave two narrow rails that contact the inside of the frame, width of the rails is about 1/16". The objective being to lessen what engineers call the coefficient of sliding friction. This alteration and the installation of a Wolff reduced pull spring kit, I use the middle power rebound spring. I no longer do all the polishing that I learned at the S & W Armorer's School. Action jobs done using my simplified method yield smooth reliable results. PM me if you'd like a sketch of my rebound slide alteration.
 
stu1ritter said:
Also check how the rebound spring feels in the slide. There are Cratex rods the correct size to polish up the hole for the spring and 'sometimes' that really helps the DA trigger pull smoothness if everything else is polished. I use fine and extra fine in a hand held drill to polish that. Be sure to put a drop of oil on the rebound spring on assembly.

Stu
Click to expand...

^^^ Yes do this. A common source of the gritty trigger feeling.
 
The side plate on my registered magnum is polished where the rebound slide contacts it. Needless to say it has a very smooth action.
 
Also check out the triangle hole on the bottom of the hammer block. Those are made in a punch press die and have a broken edge all the way around. That doesn't matter, but it's the same broken edge in the hole, too. That hole rides on the rebound slide pin. The thing to do is to use a needle file to smooth out the 2 long sides. That makes the hammer block and rebound slide move effortlessly. A lot of gun tuners just threw those away because they didn't know how to fix them.
 
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