J frame trigger pull

[LedFowl]

I bought this Model 36 a few months ago. I've got a couple of K frames, and I'd say the trigger pull on this M36 is a few pounds heavier. Is this typical? This is my only J frame.

This revolver is from the early 70's. I think it was stored improperly for a long time. There's some pitting in the barrel and a couple of the charge holes. I haven't had the side plate off.

 

[Gunsnwater]

Primers are primers so the hammer has to hit just as hard. Smaller parts on a j means less leverage. With some work the j can equall the k or l but don't give up reliability in a self defense tool.

 

[Hapworth]

Based on your description of the 36's storage and pitting issues, it's certainly possible that the lockwork is gunked up or worse, accounting for the heavier trigger pull.

Gunsnwater is quite correct, though -- because of the smaller lockwork in the J-frames, there's less leverage overall, making for a slightly heavier trigger pull on average compared to the K, L and N frames.

If you're comfortable, open the plate, inspect for rust and pitting (burrs, too), clean and lube -- or have a qualified revolversmith do it. Gentle stoning of a few specific contact points can slightly lighten pull, too, without the risk to reliability that spring changes brings; this is a task for someone who knows what they're doing or is willing to learn first.

A word on pitting: light pitting in the barrel usually isn't an issue provided you determine at the range that the revolver shoots straight. Any pitting in the charge holes can be a real problem, though, especially if this is to be a defensive weapon. The loss of metal causes subtle dimensional changes in the charge hole that can cause brass (expanding under ignition) to "stick" to the ridges of the pitting, causing difficult ejection, or impossible ejection for several seconds until the brass has cooled.

The issue is obvious if it's a revolver you're betting your life on -- you need to be able to empty and reload immediately and stuck brass inhibits this, and if the pitting is significant enough, there's no fix save fitting a new cylinder.

Take that 36, clean and inspect it well, then run many rounds (including your chosen defensive rounds, if applicable) through it at the range to determine proper function, with special attention paid to fast, easy ejection of still-hot empties.

 

[redlevel]

I would get a can of disc brake cleaner. Then, I would remove the stocks (grips) and spray the brake cleaner into every orifice on the revolver until it runs out clear. Then, I would let the gun dry, spray some kind of lube into the same orifices, replace the stocks, and dry fire the gun 100 times. I would dry fire as many times as my old arthritic hands would stand every day for a month.

J-frames are naturally a little stiffer with the trigger pull. However, in 40 years of using them, I have found that they tend to lighten up a little with use. Also, the dry-firing helps develop a little muscle memory and maybe even strengthens your hand a little.

Of course, removing the side-plate and cleaning would alleviate the need for the use of the brake cleaner I described above.

I have replaced the trigger return spring with a lighter spring in a few j-frames, but never the mainspring. As an experiment, I recently replaced the stock mainspring in a Model 651 .22 magnum. As I expected, this resulted in several misfires in the first three cylinders full of ammo. I put the stock mainspring back in the gun very quickly.

When I bought my daughter a 442 a few years back, she had trouble with 2nd and 3rd shots, because the effort was causing her to twist the gun. I replaced the trigger return spring, and very lightly stoned the bearing surfaces on the rebound slide and the groove it travels in. I mean VERY, VERY, lightly.

After replacing the rebound spring, I dry fired the gun, trying my best to "outrun" the rebound slide. Couldn't do it. Maybe Jerry Miculek could. We (my daughter and I) fired a few hundred rounds in it and declared it reliable. She said the trigger pull was much improved.

 

[hotrod150]

I would pull that sideplate & give everything a good cleaning, reassemble, and see how the pull is before doing anything else. FWIW I have installed a 13# rebound (trigger return) spring in all of my j-frames, as well as arkansas-stoning the rebound slide and the adjacent frame surfaces as described by redlevel. Double-action trigger pull on all of them is very nice. They all also have bobbed hammers & smoothed narrow service triggers.

 

[Pisgah]

The advice to clean and re-lube is golden, as well as the advice to, essentially, "get used to it" -- by it's very nature, a J-frame is going to feel a bit stiffer. Whatever you do, shy away from replacing the mainspring with something lighter. That heavy spring is essential to reliable ignition with any ammo, and that reliability is absolutely critical in any defensive handgun. Any action work should concentrate on smoothing, not lightening, the action.

 

[eyegots2no]

I had a good gunsmith do my snubbie---gave it a real pleasant DA pull w/o it being unreliable (you have to find a non-bubba that has worked on Smith's for a living)--he'll be cleaning it up inside as he does action job. Mine has some pitting in barrel---sweat will get in the bbl eventually especially if you wait too long between a patch. Had to go swimming with it once----couldn't remove the plate for two days, but the inside wasn't bad---cleaned right up nicely. As for the pitting in the barrel--for what a two inch is for...so what. These snubbies have there place----just wish they were near nuclear

---or nukeyourler as we say it here.

 

[LedFowl]

Thanks, guys. Good replies.

It's an accurate shooter and ejects casings easily, BTW.

 

[Chukar60]

I took my 60-10 to my pistol smith to have the DA worked. He had done an outstanding job on my 686 and I was hoping to duplicate the results. When asked, he said the he could not duplicate the results because of the to coil spring. What I got back was much improved, but did not compare to the 686 and 629 he had done for me.

 

[shouldazagged]

The smith who did the most amazing trigger job I've ever experienced on a 15-3 for me did some smoothing of the action of my EDC 640. It's still about an 8-8.5 pound DAO, but slick and completely reliable. That's all I hoped for, and I was well pleased. The J's are just different little critters.