32 fun at the range

[Bastogne71]

Tuesday evening I installed a 7.5lb hammer spring in my 632 Pro. It really felt light and smooth when I dry fired it. The next morning I’m off to the range to see if it worked. It didn’t. Not a big surprise at all. Back home, I pulled the spring and started to put the original spring back in. But there’s another spring in the TK Custom kit that’s rated at 8lbs. Why not try that one? Thursday back on the range again I put most of a box of my 32 Mag reloads through without any problems. That’s using CCI primers that are said to be the hardest to light off.

So now with confidence, I reloaded with 327 Gold Dots and my little Jen is back to daily carry with an improved trigger. It’s been a great week!

 

[Beju]

With that narrow of a weight difference, I would be concerned about that spring maintaining enough force as you wear it in with cycles of live/dry fire.

That being said, an extended firing pin may address that possible future scenario.

 

[bronco45]

After some deliberation and subsequent experimentation I'm running an 8lb Wolff mainspring and a TK custom extended firing pin with accompanying spring and enjoying 100% reliability.

Ordered a spare setup and keep the original for the day the springs get tired.

 

[familyman357oh]

Have you considered going with a lighter trigger rebound spring as well as/instead of going with a lighter hammer spring?

 

[Bastogne71]

Have you considered going with a lighter trigger rebound spring as well as/instead of going with a lighter hammer spring?

It best to only make one change at a time. I’ll most likely try a lighter rebound spring next and see how that goes. In the meantime, Ive got some reloading to finish.

 

[H Richard]

What the heck is wrong with a Standard equipment mainspring? Practice and putting rounds through the gun along with grips that fit properly make it "reliable" in all circumstances.

 

[familyman357oh]

What the heck is wrong with a Standard equipment mainspring? Practice and putting rounds through the gun along with grips that fit properly make it "reliable" in all circumstances.

What's wrong with a standard hammer spring? Not much, but I suppose there's some room for "improvement": S&W and Lipsey's claim they altered the action geometry somewhat in the Ultimate Carry line, but I think S&W mostly just used some lighter springs. Subjectively, my 432's pull feels lighter than my regular 442 and has also been 100% reliable over a couple hundred rounds so far.

According to Wolff Gunsprings, the standard weight for a hammer spring in a non-rimfire J-frame is 8.5 pounds. They also state that the standard weight for a trigger rebound spring is 18 pounds. I think I'd start with a 14 or 15 pound rebound spring before fiddling with the hammer spring and potentially degrading ignition reliability, especially since it seems like you can only knock about a half a pound off without running into light strikes (although I suppose a TK Custom extended firing pin might be helpful here).

Personally, I haven't done anything to my 442's action since it's a carry gun for me, but my 432UC suggests that reliability might be able to be maintained with somewhat lighter springs. If I do anything, I'd probably limit myself to a lighter rebound spring and see how that feels.

 

[bronco45]

Overall smoothness on the interior parts have an effect on the force of the hammer fall. The cylinder hand and window many times have burrs and hammer, trigger burrs, all these "little things" work against hammer fall speed or force. I shoot a couple of hundred rounds through the weapon to determine where these "drag" factors are at play then stone them out.
Never touch sear or cocking notches. I failed to mention earlier I'm running a 14 pound Rebound spring.