This week I have the opportunity to make a comparison between the Apex Tactical Mass Drive Hammer and the RevUp Action Hammer kit in my 617s.

The Apex hammer is on the left. The RevUp is on the right.



The Apex Mass Drive is advertised to be able to get a 6.5 pound DA pull and works that way with Federal BYOB bullets. Unfortunately I haven’t found any of these for the past year and now my gun is set at 9.9 pounds so that it will ignite CCI Mini Mags as well as a wide variety of .22s. Hammer fall is set to 45 ounces testing on my fishing scale. I tested the DA pull with my Lyman Digital Scale and used an average of 10 pulls.

The kit costs $150 and comes with the hammer, firing pin and three springs so you can get the correct return on your trigger. I use the 11 pound rebound spring and get 100 % reliability in my well broken in 6 inch 617. It’s a big advantage over the stock trigger setup. Mine came with a 14 pound DA pull from the factory.

In my opinion it’s well worth the investment. I was lucky enough to get the first hammer available to the public. The advantage of the heavier hammer is that it will ignite a variety of ammo brands.



I received my RevUp hammer kit two weeks ago and installed it in no time. The kit comes with the hammer, firing pin and spring as well as an 11, 12 and 13 pound rebound spring. I installed the kit in a new 4 inch 617 that has not had any work done to it. I had to use the 12 pound rebound spring to get the trigger to reset properly. I’m sure I’ll be able to lighten the pull once the gun has been broken in.

The price of the RevUp is $250 now but will be going up in the future so buy now. I have the K/L frame hammer kit while they also make one for the N frame Smith & Wessons.

I set the hammer fall at 45 ounces, just like my 6 inch gun so that I can shoot Mini Mags and a wide varity of ammo. I can get away with a lighter pull if I use Remington Bucket Of Bullets. DA pull is also 9.9 pounds averaging on my Lyman Digital Scale.



With the RevUp hammer, accuracy is very good and my times for Steel Challengeare better than my auto. This could be do to the fact that I’ve been primarily a revolver shooter for the past 50 years. The new hammer kit gives me a much smoother trigger pull and makes my sight stay on target better throughout the pull. The gun is very comfortable to shoot. With Remington Bucket Of Bullets I can get away with about 40 ounces of hammer fall and my DA pull will be around 8 ½ pounds. I keep it set for the Mini Mags so that I can pick up any box of ammo I have in the garage and go to the range without worrying about misfires.

This kit is well worth the money for both competitors and hobbyists that want a fantastic DA pull. It does not have a Single Action sear at this time but I understand that one may be available in the future.

Both kits are vast improvements and are worth the investment. Which is better will be up to the shooter. If you like the old style trigger but want it to be much lighter than what comes from the factory, the Apex kit iwill fit your needs. If you want a really different experience with a light smooth DA pull you may the RevUp is well worth the money.