929 hammer face lug reduced???

[Marke]

At the moment I have the double action on my 929 down to 7lbs being able to fire all rounds with no miss fires. I have tried other shooters S&W revolvers which have the double action down to feels like 3 lbs or so.
To make the double action on the 929 lighter, (I would like to have it down to 5lbs) I have changed the firing pin to the extra long one and have smoothed/polished all the parts that rub together without touching the sear. My question is as I have an Apex hammer as an extra hammer which has the same lug on the bottom of the face of the hammer, could you reduce the height of just the lug by 5 to 8 thousand of an inch to get the double action lighter? If done this way the hammer would need less force to fire the primer which would allow the strain screw to be lightened up on the mainspring making the double action lighter? Or would this mess up the gun, firing action?? Or is this a hair brained scheme?

Marke.

 

[Ignatz]

Having a couple of 929's, I'll give you my thoughts on a light trigger action.
Mine is about 6.5 lbs and our spare 929 is about 7 lbs. With these actions the trigger release (going backwards) is more positive and never a thought.
My wife's 929 with an Apex hammer is more like 5.5 lbs. When they start getting lighter, "I" feel you have to train yourself to move your finger front to reset the action. But in my heavier actions the trigger resets without a thought.
I'm sure a lot of top shooters have light actions, but I'm happy with a 6.5 to 7 lb action.
Our 929's have 11 lb Wolff rebound springs with maybe a coil cut off and then adjust the (after market) main spring to positively light off Federal primers.
They work great and don't have light strikes.

 

[Protocall_Design]

That won't help any. You have already done all that can be done in that department with the extended firing pin. The lug on the hammer stops the hammer on a solid part of the frame made for that purpose. It keeps the part that hits the firing pin from peening the firing pin hole around the edges, which would keep the firing pin from rebounding.

With a proper action job, you can have the DA trigger pull around 5 to 5.5 lbs. with good reliability on firmly seated Federal primers. For all light action revos it's a good idea to train yourself to move the trigger finger in both directions. I have a couple of guns in the 5 lb. range. They are not for rapid fire use, though. Most all of mine are in the 6 to 6.5 lb. DA because it's easier (for me) to control the gun and trigger at that weight. Ignatz gives good advice.

 

[Marke]

Thanks for the reply,
"With a proper action job, you can have the DA trigger pull around 5 to 5.5 lbs. "
I see both Ignatz and Protcall Design both say DA trigger pull is around the 5.5 Lb mark, can either of you explain how to do that? I would like the DA to be around the 5Lb mark.

Regards
Marke

 

[Protocall_Design]

All of the following is for target and competition guns only, and should never be done on a duty or carry gun. The duty or carry gun should remain factory stock, for many reasons.

The bottom line is that you have to have enough tension on the mainspring to fire the primer. Everything else must be adjusted to accommodate this. Every gun is a unique entity due to the tolerance stackup of the sum of all the individual parts and how they interact with every other part. Therefore, no 2 actions will be identical, though they can be close enough that any differences don't matter.

You can get to around 6 lb. fairly easy with a factory hammer. It is easier to get to 5 lb. with the Apex hammer because it is lighter in weight. The lighter hammer can be brought up to speed faster with a lightly tensioned mainspring than a heavier hammer. Hammer speed is the most critical factor. That said, there are limits and parameters that must be maintained.

For the mainspring, I like to use a headless setscrew with blue Loctite, as that combination is finely adjustable and will stay where you put it, if done correctly. Install the Apex hammer and tension the mainspring to where the hammer pull is around 30 oz. with a trigger pull gage, just as the hook of the gage lifts off the frame. At the range with live ammo, fire and check for misfires. Tension the mainspring upward in 1/8 turn increments until you have no misfire in 3 cylinder loads. Add another 1/8 turn for insurance. Then measure the hammer tension and record it for future reference. This takes care of the hammer part.

Next, let's look at the rebound slide. You will notice that there are sharp corners on both the bottom of the hammer and the top of the rebound slide where they interact as the hammer is rebounded. Both of these corners should be given a generous radius and a high polish. This makes it easier for the rebound slide to go forward under the hammer. Once this is done, find the lightest rebound spring that gives a quick, positive trigger return.

This will give you the lightest action that will be reliable and usable. If you want to go lighter, you will need to become a S&W revo gunsmith.

 

[Marke]

Thanks Protocall Design I will look at my gun as you have suggested, and as you say all the parts interact with each other so don't do any rash things that will make the gun unsafe.
Thanks again.

 

[Protocall_Design]

You're welcome. Let us know how it goes.