How can I reduce the trigger pull on my 66-8?

[Tennessee Jed]

Call Denny Reichard @SAND BURR GUN RANCH (574-223-3316). Tell him you want the Deluxe Action job performed on it. When you get it back it will be 20-25% less and smooth as snot on a brass doorknob and still retain the stock springs. He test fires every revolver and records what the trigger pull ends up at. I've had three done by him and I COMPLETELY SATISFIED!!!!!

I agree 100%. He did an amazing trigger job on a 65-8 for me and the results were awesome.

 

[jtcarm]

Changing the trigger rebound spring will help reduce the double action trigger pull. You can also turn the mainspring strain screw out a turn or so and that will help reduce the pull and shouldn’t cause light strikes. A new lighter mainspring can also reduce the pull.

Don’t fool with the strain screw. It needs to be in all the way and locked with compound.

If you want lighter but able to pop any primer, ship it to a reputable specialist for a duty action job.

I’ve been DIYing my actions for 30 years. Most of my guns have lightened mainsprings (no carry guns) that I did the old school way by careful filing/grinding of the factory spring. None have failed to light off any primer, including CCI, which I used exclusively for decades.

I have, however, had many FTFs, even with full strength mainsprings, when the strain screw wasn’t completely tight.

 

[HamHands]

I've had good results with the Apex spring kits, as well as the Wolff kits.

This is my vote/experience... Short of polishing the trigger/hammer/sear contact surfaces to a mirror finish the Apex or Wolff spring kits are going to be your best bet. Notice I said "Polish..." That means taking no material off, just a polish job. A lot of times dry firing with snap cap and/or honest range time will smooth out a trigger to my liking enough to leave the springs alone.

 

[HamHands]

The easiest way, that I learned from a youtube video by a retired S&W armorer, is to trim two coils off the trigger return spring. I've done this several times and it works well.

That said, I also always dry fire my guns a whole lot to smoothe the trigger surfaces. I find that about 1000 trigger pulls is the right number.

Finally, I have had very good luck with the Wilson spring kit and Apex XP firing pin.

As usual, I agree with your post DocM… Solid advice here! I did my first trigger job 10 years ago with the help of YouTube. Watching Jerry Miculek video's are extremely helpful too with moderate, still reliable trigger jobs. I prefer to clean and dab Purple Loc-Tite on the yoke, side plate screws, strain, and cylinder release screws as opposed to the Blue Loc-Tite but that is just a personal preference after trigger work. I have yet to have one screw back out under recoil in any of mine or my friends revolvers after a spring replacement or action job. When anyone asks me about doing trigger work I first ask... "How many rounds and/or dry fires do you think you have on the trigger?" I always recommend a thousand pulls before considering any trigger work. 90% of the time the 1K of pulls makes for a nice trigger because the mating surfaces become self meshed/polished. YMMV...

 

[mikesal34744]

How can I reduce the trigger pull weight on my model 66-8 without having failure to fires?

Have you shot it much ? I got mine and really didn’t like the trigger compared to my 686. After some rounds down range it is amazing now. Go shoot it a lot if you haven’t.


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[lbm]

I have fired between 2,500 and 3,000 rounds through the gun at this point. The rebound spring has been replaced with a Miculek reduced power spring. All internal moving parts were polished with a mild polishing compound. The main spring is stock at this point but I did try the Miculek. I also installed the Apex extended firing pin and spring.

The trigger pull still has to be in the 6.75 area to insure no failure to fires. I reload using Federal primers and they are completely set.
lbm

 

[ken158]

Changing the trigger rebound spring will help reduce the double action trigger pull. You can also turn the mainspring strain screw out a turn or so and that will help reduce the pull and shouldn’t cause light strikes. A new lighter mainspring can also reduce the pull.

The strain screw should never be turned out as an adjustment - it is designed to be tight as vibration from a loose screw will cause it to continue out causing your revolver to have a potential malfunction.

 

[lbm]

The strain screw on my gun has a drilled and tapped allen screw installed that is tightened against the strain screw to insure that it can not move. This was installed by a professional smith.

 

[gman51]

I went against what most say. I watched a Jerry Miculik doing a trigger job and I figured if adjusting the trigger screw was good enough for him then I would try it. My new 627-5 trigger out of the box was very disappointing in DA to me. I adjusted out my tension screw just a very little bit and it made a huge difference in the DA pull. It isn't like the screw was turned out to being loose. This gun has the best trigger of any of my guns now and I have had no problems with the screw backing out or light strikes. I have read numerous reports of people changing out springs and had light strikes or trigger fail to reset problems. Danged if you do danged if you don't.

 

[notsofast]

The grips on my 627 have the thru screw interfering with the torsion spring. I had to back off the strain screw a turn and a quarter to get the spring clear of the grip screw and secured it with blue loctite, no issues and it slightly lightened the trigger pull. I wouldn’t use loctite on any other screws but the strain screws’ female threads are easily accessible for cleaning if needed