686-3 DA trigger pull

[97thSignalman]

I have a couple of very different medium frames. My model 14 has a 3.6 lb SA trigger pull and a DA trigger pull of 9.25 lbs. I noticed that the DA trigger pull on my 686-3 (4-inch barrel) seemed a great dead stiffer so I tried to measure it as well.

The 686 has a nice 3 lb SA trigger pull but I couldn't even measure my DA pull because it was way off the scale for my trigger pull gauge that only goes to 10 lbs. My best guess is that the DA pull is something over 14-15 lbs. It is so difficult that my 71 year old fingers have trouble pulling it all without a great deal of barrel movement.

While I don't do much DA shooting with either of these guns this does concern me because I might need that capability sometime. I can handle DA the pull on the model 14 but the DA pull on the 686 is just too much for me.

Is this normal for 686's? How much of a job is it to have a gunsmith improve the DA pull on my 686? I have done a lot of trigger work on my M&P 9mm semi-autos using APEX kits but I have never opened up my revolvers to do anything to them and I am not confident that I could handle the job myself.

 

[murphydog]

The situation you describe (a measured DA pull of over 10 lb and difficulty using the 686 in this way) sounds to be fixable with a spring change. The most used would be from the Wolff company, but others will have to comment on how difficult it is to perform this work. I think others have commented on trimming the stock springs but I don't know how well this works.

After the work is done, you'll need to verify the gun fires with all the ammo you might use in it. Hope this is helpful.

 

[sarge1967]

It will be very simple for a gunsmith to smooth out and lighten your 686's trigger. Smith and Wesson can do this as well if you are worried about keeping your warranty in tact. S&W has a 1 week turn around service through their Performance Center. You do pay a bit extra for it but you don't have to wait six months. A local smith can do it but most of them in my area are six months out.
Here is a link to the Performance Center page. Master Revolver package. $185.00 for express service.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/...4_750001_750051_775657_-1_757896_757896_image

 

[scooter123]

It's actually very simple to lighten the DA trigger pull on your 686 and if you are a bit careful the only thing you have to remove is the grip. What you do is the same thing that gunsmiths have been doing to tune the S&W leaf spring lockworks since about 1899 when they first came out. That is to shorten the strain screw.

Now, as a "just in case" measure I suggest that you purchase one or two strain screws from Brownell's, Numrich's or similar gunsmith supplier as spares. That way you'll have a spare on hand in the event you get a bit too enthusiastic. If you don't have one I would also suggest the purchase of a cheap digital caliper from Harbor Freight for about 15-19 bucks. Finally set your goal for trigger pull at 9.5 to 10 lbs because if you go below this weight you'll find that you may have to limit yourself to using ammunition that is primed with Federal primers.

Now for the actual process. Start by removing the grips then the strain screw in the lower front of the grip frame. Pay attention to the location of the end of the mainspring and use a small bit of tape to hold it in place while you have the strain screw out of the grip frame. Note, if you let the mainspring fall free you may have to remove the sideplate in order to replace it it's saddle link up by the hammer.

Start out by filing or stoning the tip of the strain screw to shorten it by 0.015 inch. That's right, just 15/1000 ths of an inch. It doesn't take a lot of reduction in the strain screw length to have a large effect on the weight of the DA trigger. That 0.015 inch should result in a DA trigger weight that is now in a range where you can measure it with your gage. At this point go in 0.005 inch increments until you achieve a DA weight in the 9.5 to 10 lbs. range. If you go too far, install one of those new spares and start over.

That is all there is to it. BTW, I'll note that with further tuning involver the rebound spring you may be able to go as much a 1/4 to 1/2 lbs. lower than this and achieve reliable ignition with any brand of primer, however when you try an push the limits you are walking a tightrope. I'll also note that if you can dedicate yourself to shooting ONLY ammunition with Federal primers you can take the DA trigger pull down to the 7.5 to 8 lbs. range. However, as someone who has been looking recently I can tell you that Federal primers are nearly impossible to find and cost a significant premium. I can also report that I haven't seen any 38 spl .Federal ammunition at Walmart since last October. As a result I've now re-tuned my revolvers to the 9.5-10 lbs. range to insure they'll be reliable with the CCI primers I've been able to find.

Finally, I will also tell you that the stainless steel strain screws DO peen over on the tip in use, which effectively make them shorter. This peening will cause a burr to form around the tip and that burr can make the screw harder to remove from the frame. As a routine maintenance measure IMO the strain screw should be removed to clean up this burr after every 1000 rounds of ammunition fired or every 1000 trigger pulls. After about 3000 rounds downrange I would recommend replacing the strain screw in order to stay ahead of misfire issues arising. I've started replacing my strain screws with Blued steel strain screws in the hope they are harder and more resistant to this peening, unfortunately due to the ammo shortage I've curtailed my shooting too much to report if they are actually harder.

 

[KevMc]

Each shooter can decide for themselves....I am not a fan of weakening the main spring or shortening the strain screw as talked about above.....YMMV.
A trigger job basicly boils down to two parts (tho they do affect each other somewhat).
1. Smoothing the trigger pull, this does not actually lighten the pull weight.
2. Adjusting pull weight with the main and rebound springs.

If you are happy with the feel of the trigger pull, just need less pull weight, talk to a gunsmith about just shortening /changing the rebound spring. The rebound spring has the most direct affect on trigger pull. Shortening the original to 15-15 1/2 turns would probably drop your weight to about 10-10.5 #'s. Leaving the main spring as original would ensure that it goes bang when trigger pulled. This shouldn't take more than 5 minutes and you may get it done while you wait...