Model 317 trigger pull

[chasmatic]

I recently picked up a 317. Nice little 22 but the trigger pull is awful. It takes a man and a boy to cycle the action.

I am thinking of letting my wife have it for in home defense but as it is now, she wouldn't be able to use it reliably. I have a hard time myself. We've tried some of my other revolvers, 38s. The trigger pull she likes, but the recoil of 38s is too much for her, too much gun for a 74 yr old gal.

Is there any way to smooth the action and reduce the pull weight without sacrificing positive ignition?

 

[scooter123]

Smooth the action YES. Lighten the trigger pull, QUESTIONABLE. Rimfires are rather notorious for requiring a good solid strike from the firing pin and the 317 is a J frame. As a result the only tuning option possible is by installing a weaker mainspring and that will make it difficult to find the lightest RELIABLE mainspring because there aren't a lot of options out there. You can try but you may face the fact that "you can't get theyuh from heah".

Can your wife use a HEAVIER revolver? Recoil forces are directly linked to the mass of a handgun so it's quite possible that your wife would find a moderate 38 spl. to be easy shooting in a revolver such as a 4 inch 686 or 627. If so, by using Federal ammunition you can tune the trigger down to an 8.5 lbs. without any reliability issues. Yeah, it's a much heavier handgun, so what we are talking Home Defense here, not trekking up Everest with it.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Lighten the trigger pull, QUESTIONABLE.

I say it is not just "questionable," but an absolute no-no. Reliability trumps everything. A gun that will not shoot has no other good use. It is certainly not an effective impact weapon if it will not shoot.

Rimfires require a particularly sharp blow to have reliable ignition. The purpose of the 317 is an understudy for a J frame OR as a self-defense revolver for someone who is recoil sensitive. Thus, use it "as-is" to make sure it is reliable, and if you cannot use the DA mode, then cock the hammer.

 

[chasmatic]

scooter, she's 74. A heavier choice like the 686 is not an option. She likes my 640 and other J frames but objects to the recoil. I had a hunch there would be nothing I could do with the 317 trigger pull. I have already used a lighter rebound spring and I honed the hammer strut. If we go with the 317 we'll have to deal with it as is. If she must she would use a J frame 38 and take the consequences. Self-defense is the priority, not range time. She can hit with the 317 as well as with a Buckmark or Ruger MKII. She's mechanically challenged so a semi-auto is NG, especially if there's a misfire. You know, rack the slide, clear the round, proceed. Won't happen.

The ideal choice would be a model 34 but they are hard to find without hocking one of my grandkids.

 

[cochise]

Chasmatic.... I bought my wife a "Lady Smith" 2 1/2" 317. the trigger pull was / is better than my 3 " 317. Perhaps you can find one and see if it is better for her. As suggested, can she cock the hammer? Sounds like a good alternative. Too bad we are so far apart, you could shoot mine ( hers). I'm an old guy in God's waiting room. [ Florida]

 

[chasmatic]

Jim, the LS sounds like it might work; I should spend some time finding a revolver that will provide some defense and be one that she can operate with confidence: 22, 22WMR, 32/327, something that doesn't have strong recoil. We all know that if the shooter anticipates recoil shot placement is overcome by the flinch. She has good control - pop cans at ten paces - but the semi-autos won't do. As I mentioned, if she encounters a misfire or jam, she's not able to clear them. What would be ideal is the sweet S&W trigger pull in a revolver she can handle without being afraid of it. She says of my other revolvers, "Yeah the trigger is nice but the gun's heavy" or "Wow, that thing kicks". Sigh. She's only seventy-four, and a woman, she oughta be able, kick my butt, right?

 

[adwjc]

Chasmatic,


I have a 2" 34 (not for sale) and its not much better, double action about 14 lbs and single action about 9.

However, I did shoot a friend's Ruger LCR, and I hate to admit it but the trigger was damn good. They come in .22, .22 mag, .38 and .357 mag.

 

[jack the toad]

The 317 I have (-1 no lock 3") has had the spring swap with definite improvement but still not anywhere near the action of the K-frames.
Although I've not tried all that many different ammo brands, the Fed bulk-pack has yet to misfire due to light primer strikes.

 

[chasmatic]

This is going to take some time but with the advice you guys offer I'll make a good decision. Thanks.

 

[Mister_Smith]

Chasmatic, though I don't know where to find the link to show you, I have read one among many very convincing articles that say to leave the trigger pull weight of the 317 unaltered as this WILL cause light strikes.

I'm going to write something sacrilegious, please, nobody crucify me, Chasmatic, you may want to consider buying your wife an old model Beretta 86 Cheetah. The beauty of this gun, though it is a semi-auto, is that you do not need to work the slide to load the chamber. It is a tip up barrel design, push a lever, the barrel's chamber end pops up, drop a round in, pop the barrel closed, and it's ready to fire with a fairly light, smooth double action pull, or you can cock the hammer for a single action shot.

Meanwhile, it's chambered for .380, which is really not that much less potent than a standard velocity .38 Special (standard pressure loading, non +P) out of a snub.

The downside, it won't come cheap, I believe sellers are getting about $600 on up for the Beretta 86. I've always wanted one of these, but do not own one. I have had my hands on them before, they are light, the perfect size for nearly everyone, they're beautiful, and have decent power, you also get 9 shots.

My next suggestion likely won't be cheap either, buy a K frame Smith & Wesson chambered for .22, I'd suggest a pencil barrel but they are known as the "postal model" or something like that and they are crazy priced at around $3000, so some other .22 caliber K frame may be a good idea, they are still fairly light and the double action trigger pulls are definitely lighter than the J frames.

Finally, unrelated to your question but always a good idea for me to say this, never dry fire .22 caliber revolvers and maybe not even autos, but I do know it's bad for the .22 Smith, the factory advises against this. Additionally, the .22 dummy rounds sold by AZOOM, those are not snap caps, I bought a set and THEN read on the package that they are not to be used as snap caps and will not protect the firing pin from damage. I've read that dry firing a .22 revolver will eventually damage the firing pin. Just thought I'd mention it!

 

[CWH44300]

For what its worth, I picked a 317 KG last year and the DA pull was hard to say the least. It smoothed out quite a bit with use and by the third brick it had a great DA pull for a jframe rim fire.

 

[Fred_Ziffel]

Lighten recoil

Have you considered .38 cal 148 grain target velocity wadcutters? Their recoil in a K frame might work.

Kent

 

[sqhead]

try a 32 caliber,center fire,not a lot of kick,and the trigger may be better,also a bit more stopping power.

 

[chasmatic]

I've come to the conclusion that the 22 caliber is limiting me. I'm barkin' up the wrong tree. I 've had more FTF with 22 than with all the other calibers I shoot combined. That includes any factory ammo and whatever I reload. 22 is pretty much "cheap and cheery" so a percentage of duds is acceptable; it requires a sharp hammer strike to ignite the primer and no getting around that. For a home defense pistol for my wife I am going to look at some choices in larger calibers. Seems that anything center fire will allow for smoother action and lighter trigger pull. Revolver is a must: "front sight, hold on tight, pull the trigger" is all she's gotta do.

Now, sigh, get some money together and find something.

 

[snubbiefan]

You CAN make the 317 shootable for small hands. I installed an 8-pound hammer and 14-pound rebound and my wife can shoot your eyes out with it and I don't remember any FTF issues. Don't forget that you can also get spring kits with lengthened firing pins to help the FTF issue. You can also clip-a-coil off the FP spring as well. Not saying you will ever achieve the TP of a large frame, but you can make it a lot better.

I have performed this trick on several revolvers with hammer springs. Bop down to the ACE Hardware and get some #1 springs. They cost less than a buck each. You "experiment" with these cheap springs. Cut one back until it doesn't fire and then cut-n-install one a little longer that will.

 

[Mister_Smith]

Chasmatic, how about a lightweight K frame, the model 12 which is the .38 Special K frame with an alloy frame. They are still affordable, very light in weight, they have the K frame trigger pull which is a definite improvement over the J frame, and you can use light target loads for minimal recoil and still have more power than a .22 long rifle. They are out of production but you can always find a nice used example.

 

[Abbynormal]

I clipped 1-1/2 or 2 turns of the rebound spring off of my 317 ten years ago when I got it and the trigger pull then became quite good

 

[chasmatic]

Chasmatic, how about a lightweight K frame, the model 12 which is the .38 Special K frame with an alloy frame. They are still affordable, very light in weight, they have the K frame trigger pull which is a definitely improvement over the J frame, and you can use light target loads for minimal recoil and still have more power than a .22 long rifle. They are out of production but you can always find a nice used example.

Yeah, that's where I'm gonna go with this. Center fire .32 or .38, alloy frame would be nice.

Thanks guys for chiming in. I'll use the 317s for trading value and find a K frame like mentioned above. Anybody interested? I live in New Mexico so a hand-to hand deal is possible.