Ive got a hitch in my 66-8 trigger thats driving me mad. SOLVED!

[chase45]

I bought this 66 new a few years ago. I feel like I faintly remember it also having this little catch but thought it would work itself out. The catch in particular is in the area of timing of the first 1/8th of the trigger pull. It feels like the gun is having a hard time popping over and clearing the cylinder stop. When going really slow it feels like you are coming up against a wall until enough pressure builds that it finally releases into a smooth trigger pull the rest of the way. If you work the double action quickly you dont feel it so much. Manually cocking the hammer I do not feel it at all.

Few years later and several thousands of rounds and many more dry fires and its still present.

First time I popped it open to have a look I noticed that the trigger had cut a spot into the cylinder stop where it pops over. Figured this was for sure what I was feeling.

Replaced the cylinder stop. Still no joy and I still have the little catch.

I then polished a few spots like the trigger slide and its contact areas.

The catch remains.

I have now replaced the trigger( as I thought it maybe out of spec since it wore a hole in the originally cylinder stop), the hand, another cylinder stop, the mainspring and the cylinder stop spring

This catch is still there.

I have some hammer shims showing up today as I did note some heavy wear on the top side of the hammer where it would rub against the frame. It does have a little side to side play.

If the shims dont fix this then Im honestly at a loss. Nothing is sticking out as the obvious issue.

I probably have 6 or 7 smiths now and this is the only one that has this little catch in the trigger pull. All the rest are smooth the entire way through.

Any ideas?

 

[Protocall_Design]

It might be that the DA sear on the hammer is not sliding smoothly across the top of the trigger at the beginning. It's hard to say without seeing the gun.

 

[wproct]

Could it be a timing issue where the cylinder pawl is starting to try to rotate the cylinder before the cylinder locking bolt has been pulled down to free the cylinder up?

 

[Nightowl]

Slide a credit card under the cylinder holding the cylinder stop down and cycle the same way you are getting the hitch. If no hitch, it is the cylinder stop. If your hitch is still there, you know its not the cylinder stop.

Next, open the cylinder, hold the thumbpiece back, and cycle the internals. If no hitch in either, it is something between the hand and the cylinder. If it is the hand, ratchet interface, for me that is the hardest to fix. I'd be interested in what you find!

 

[chase45]

Could it be a timing issue where the cylinder pawl is starting to try to rotate the cylinder before the cylinder locking bolt has been pulled down to free the cylinder up?

I dont believe so

The timing seems right and it drops/unlocks before the hitch comes about

Now I feel like Ive been chasing my tail around but I feel its either hammer drag or something to do with the trigger popping clear of the cylinder stop

With one of the older cylinder stops I actually filed down that little ledge to see if it would help clean up the pull. It did a little but not a lot so Im leaning towards hammer drag now hence the shims.

But I wont be surprised if I put it all together tonight and the hitch is still present.

I will also grab some pics of the internals

Here are some old pics of it from when I was trying to diagnose months ago

This is right where I encounter the wall in the trigger to sort of help show the timing of everything. The cylinder stop has dropped and everything is starting to spin and then I hit the hitch. Its enough of one that itll throw the sights a little once you finally give it enough pressure to push past. But if running the trigger fast you dont notice it too much

The other pics is the gun stripped of parts but the cylinder stop. This is when I discovered the trigger eating a hole in the cylinder stop

Im fairly mechanically inclined and this thing has me stumped

 

[Dave686]

Replaced the cylinder stop. I then polished a few spots like the trigger slide and its contact areas. I have now replaced the trigger, the hand, another cylinder stop, the mainspring and the cylinder stop spring

Is the "catch" there when you operate the trigger with the side plate off?

 

[chase45]

Is the "catch" there when you operate the trigger with the side plate off?

I do not notice it so much with the plate off and no mainspring tension

At one point I did polish the areas where the trigger sort of come into contact with the side plate. No love

I think one of the previous replies asked about working the trigger with the cylinder out and it does still present itself when under full spring pressure from memory but I will give it another look

I even threw a new mainspring at it just in case the original had something wonky going on but nothing. Checked the slide for internal burrs, notta.

The new trigger displays a little wear on the frame side but not a lot. The hammer does display a good little bit of wear on its frame side as well but its been there the life of the gun.

 

[chase45]

Played with the shims a bit. Putting two on the frame side of the hammer seems to alleviate a lot of the hitch. Putting a single one there and another on the other side still left the hitch.

It's not 100% gone but boy it's way more manageable now

So I guess that means it is dragging somewhere along the frame side of the hammer

The wear appears it would be from maybe the locking bolt. I pulled that out and polished it a bit too

Feels a lot better and I think this is the true issue point

 

[ken158]

Im thinking hand contact on the ratchet may be your issue

 

[Nightowl]

Here is another thought that I have encountered, since you have eliminated the cylinder stop. Check for an interface between the hammer and trigger where the foot of the hammer enters the u shaped are of the trigger just as the seer finishes its contact.

I have a 627-2 that had a small hitch in the trigger pull like you described that I had the devils own time trying to find. Not sure I ever did, actually, but I changed hammer and trigger until it went away. The gun is out of my reach at the moment, so I can't go check to see if I actually completely fixed it.

 

[Pisgah]

Either your mainspring tension screw is backed out, or a previous owner has shortened it to "improve" the trigger pull.

 

[chief38]

One of the suggestions above might be the ticket, however like Protocol Design states above, without the gun sitting in front if me I will not guess on this one. Too many possibilities.

 

[chase45]

The hammer shims do seem to help. I have two sitting on the frame side of the hammer now and it has alleviated a lot of the hitch.

I yanked the locking bolt and polished it

Worked the action awhile and I believe I can see where the hammer is rubbing

I relieved the bolt a little bit with a file and then polished it back up.

Also polished the hammer where it seems to be rubbing. There is a flat spot on the top of the frame side hammer like the hammer is canting and rubbing. Manually cocking the gun I dont feel anything rubbing. But I have to wonder if its canting a tiny bit under the double action pull

The trigger feels much better but its still not 100%. I would say it has improved as much as 60-70% though.

Heres a pic with the side cover off

And another of the hammer wear. Note the flat spot on the top back right most part of the hammer

 

[chase45]

Im thinking hand contact on the ratchet may be your issue

I dont believe so

The hitch is still present with the cylinder rolled out

It only seems to rear itself when the hammer is installed and the mainspring at tension

 

[chase45]

Either your mainspring tension screw is backed out, or a previous owner has shortened it to "improve" the trigger pull.

I am the only owner of this gun

The tension screw is not backing out nor has it been shortened

 

[pokey074]

Did you try taking the lock out?

 

[SG-688]

As suggested above, the red circle indicates a possible point of interference causing the hitch.

The picture shows a slightly older revolver.

 

[chase45]

I put this gun down for a little bit to make sure I wasnt obsessing. The trigger pull is vastly improved by the shims. I did some playing around and it seems like 2 on the frame side of the hammer works the best. I do feel the hitch to a much lessened degree every now and again.

I popped it open to check the above post but it looks good to go there. Im not seeing anymore rubbing anywhere that I have polished to indicate that something is touching.

When I feel the little hitch trying to rear its head I can apply pressure to the trigger and hammer as if trying to push them to one side. They dont seem to move but it will make the rearing of this hitch disappear for a handful of trigger pulls

Even when present now it is much lessened

I think I may try some trigger shims at this point.

But honestly I could accept how this thing has turned out as Im not sure the regular person would notice it. I think part of my problem is I know exactly where it is to be extremely critical of it.

With all the polishing and such its honestly a pretty nice pull now

 

[Vtgw938]

That looks like a lot of wear on the hammer since there should only be contact with the bosses around the stud. I've only messed with vintage revolvers but I assume it is the same. I've played with trigger & hammer shims but have found that if the bosses haven't been messed with the gun will bind up when the side plate screws are tightened down.

 

[scruffy]

I had this exact problem with a 629 I bought new. Read through this post. It fixed my problem perfectly without needing any further cleaning, polishing, etc. Post #5 was the right answer for me. Good luck. M629 Hitch in S/A Pull update FIXED