Occasional Hard Single Action Trigger pull.

[Rambler42]

I have a Regulation Police in .38 S&W, and when firing in single action occasionally has a very hard trigger pull. When I pull back the hammer there is no additional resistance and the cylinder turns freely, it just that every 6th or 7th shot It takes an extra-large effort to squeeze the trigger. Since the cylinder is already rotated and the hammer cocked, I guess it must have something to do with the sear. I really don’t want to touch that. Anyone have any other ideas?

 

[armorer951]

After a good, thorough cleaning, (inside and out) I would try to determine if the hard trigger pull is experienced on just one chamber, or it is random. (mark the offending chamber)
If it occurs on just one chamber, I would suspect a damaged ratchet tooth on that chamber.

Could also be debris under the extractor, old shooting debris in the hand slot in the breechface, and a variety of other things, including an out of spec rear gauge (headspace) on the cylinder, and too tight a barrel cylinder gap. (resulting in contact of the cylinder and barrel extension) Many other possibilities.

 

[Hondo44]

What vintage, flat or coil mainspring?

Clean thoroughly and test.