Different handspring in early model 1950 .357 magnum

[Nightowl]

Long story short, I was cleaning my .357 magnum from April 1950, serial number S759xx, and discovered that the trigger has a lever instead of a captured spring. I have never seen one like it. The section that rides on the hand is flat, and the other end has a little teat that fits inside of a short spring that provides the tension. The spring is visible from an open area in the front of the trigger. I’ll try uploading the photos, but the lever is hard to see. Anyone seen this before?

 

[Alk8944]

That is the way S&W did it until sometime post WWII, a lever driven by a small, stiff coil spring within the trigger. The current "mouse trap" spring is cheaper and just as effective, as well as resulting in fewer parts.

 

[Nightowl]

Thanks! I figured something like that, but haven't had occasion to notice the hand tension on pre war Smiths.