S&W double action trigger pull

[m41]

Does S&W make a J frame revolver with a 8-9 lb double action trigger pull from the factory. Looking for one for my wife.

 

[H Richard]

Very doubtful. I'm pretty sure they consider 10-12 lb as minimum reliable trigger pull. You could inquire of the Performance Center if they would do a custom trigger job, or have a qualified gunsmith work on it.

 

[m41]

I had a gunsmith put in a Apex kit and it is still over 12 lbs

 

[StrawHat]

A J frame works from smaller geometry one a coil spring rather than a leaf spring. The coil spring is a lot trickier to manipulate to a lighter pull.

Kevin

 

[Invictus357]

An LCR has an easy pull. Has she ever tried one of those?

 

[ContinentalOp]

My understanding is that even the limited edition Performance Center models can be hit or miss with regard to their trigger pulls.

Just my opinion, but I think your best bet would be to find a J-frame that suits your wife's needs that has a decent trigger to begin with, and have a gunsmith do a trigger job on it, preferably while retaining the factory springs. A good gunsmith should be able to get an 8-9lb DA trigger pull with 100% reliability. Karl Sokol at Chestnut Mountain Sports is a well-regarded gunsmith who works on S&W revolvers.

Also, pull weight by itself is not the most important factor. A smooth DA pull will feel lighter than its poundage might suggest. A really smooth 10lb pull may end up feeling lighter and be easier to manage than a not-so-smooth 8lb pull.

And I hope I'm not stating the obvious, but the gun should be one your wife likes and chooses. I apologize if that is the case here, but we sometimes get posts from guys who want to get guns for their wives without consulting them.

 

[ContinentalOp]

An LCR has an easy pull. Has she ever tried one of those?

That's a good option. The downside, though, is that the lighter pull also has a lighter reset, which could potentially lead to short-stroking the trigger when firing quickly. It's the reason I passed on the LCR when I was looking for a snub revolver. But it works for a lot of people, so worthy of consideration.

You may also want to consider the Kimber K6S. I have not tried one yet, but from what I've read they generally have very good trigger pulls from the factory.

 

[Eddietruett]

An LCR has an easy pull. Has she ever tried one of those?

Great suggestion. While I’m not a fan of the LCR because of the way it looks, everyone I’ve tried had a fantastic trigger

 

[RGNewell]

My EDC is a 640 Pro Series. Alex Hamilton owner of Ten Ring Precision performed an action / accuracy package and DA trigger pull is 8.5 lbs.
Love the gun.

 

[3rdgeargrndrr]

I had a gunsmith put in a Apex kit and it is still over 12 lbs

Yikes, does not sound like its just the springs you needed.
Mine w/ polished internals, went from 11ish to 8 ish with the Apex duty swap.
You probably have a dragging part or a burr somewhere.
Apex has been very reliable for me

Edit: I believe 1.5 coils removed from the rebound spring as well.
YMMV

 

[DRJ]

I haven’t weighed it but I have a 642 performance center that has a great trigger. It is much lighter and smoother than my 640 pro.

 

[cremaley]

My S&W 327 is a Performance Center gun and it has an outstanding trigger. Double action on my Lyman Digital scale is a very smooth 8.133 pounds and single is 3.166. Could not be happier with the Performance Center action job on this gun.

 

[NYlakesider]

Great suggestion. While I’m not a fan of the LCR because of the way it looks, everyone I’ve tried had a fantastic trigger

Well my carry LCR.38 has a decent trigger and I have never had a reset problem. Of course I have thousands of rounds fired with revolvers over the decades and for the most part its all double action..

 

[KSDrifter]

Also, pull weight by itself is not the most important factor. A smooth DA pull will feel lighter than its poundage might suggest. A really smooth 10lb pull may end up feeling lighter and be easier to manage than a not-so-smooth 8lb pull.

And I hope I'm not stating the obvious, but the gun should be one your wife likes and chooses.

I agree 100%. If she wants a J-Frame, let her pick the one she wants. The biggest debate should be how heavy, and how expensive she’s willing to go - fix the trigger afterwards.

The Apex kit does a great job of lightening the pull, and it’s easy to do yourself! But the real magic comes after installing the springs and then pulling the trigger a thousand times to smooth it out.

A smooth trigger is a light trigger.

J-Frames are fantastic little “always” guns.

 

[ggibson511960]

Test It

Years ago I tried modifying my M-60 with Wolfe springs that purported to be lighter with the additional benefit of being stainless rather than Cr-Mo. I really wanted stainless springs, even though I doubt the long term durability of stainless coil springs. Didn't work. 5 to 10 light strike misfires per 50 round box. I didn't do any smoothing up of internal sliding surfaces, but replaced the originals. Gun returned to 100% reliable. Clipping off a coil or two of the spring doesn't change spring rate, only pre-load, so test if you go that route. A smooth trigger instead of grooved might help the perceived trigger pull.

 

[Execpro]

I have owned a few J frame revolvers in my time. The Lady Smith 60 series seems to have the best trigger pull of any I’ve had.
Go to your LGS and try different ones, bet you’ll like the LS the best. JMO

Be SAFE and Shoot Often!

 

[Injunbro]

It seems like I've said this countless times but the last resort of an action job is springs. Many swap springs 1st because it's easy but still wrong. S&W doesn't put too strong springs in, they put in reliable ones. In the 30+ years I owned a gunsmithing business (now retired) & did countless action jobs I can only recall 1 that needed spring replacement (replace w/ a different factory spring). Polishing out the insides & eliminating friction is what does the trick. The hardest to get a good action is a .22MRF & scandium frame, to make a point I worked the action of my 351PD down to 1 3/4lbs SA & 5 1/4DA... it has factory springs. Buy your wife the she wants & get a gunsmith to polish it up.

 

[Bullseye Smith]

I built a 686 with 9mm cylinder and a 3.5 pound trigger pull, got to know where and how to polish. To much polish and you can buy all new parts. All of my Smith's are under 9 pounds. First you need to buy it for her, and get a hammer less model, and let her learn to use it. If she needs to use it - it could be 15 pound and she won't pay attention to it. Then have a guy that shoot matches will know someone that does a "GOOD" trigger job.

 

[cremaley]

So with more rounds down range and daily dry firing, my 327 double action trigger weigh is down to 7.126 and single action 2.391 based on an average of 5 pulls on my Lyman Digital scale. I had thought about letting my gunsmith do an action job but based on the numbers above I decided not to but to use the 100 bucks I was going to pay him to buy ammunition.

 

[scooter123]

I have a 1958 vintage model 36 and based on appearance it was a Sock Drawer Special. First time I took it out to shoot I found out why it appeared to have never been fired. DA trigger pull I can only estimate at somewhere around 16 lbs. Tried using my Lyman digital to test it but at 12.5 lbs the hammer hadn't moved at all and this gage is limited to nothing more than 12.5 lbs. Combine that heavy DA trigger with S&W's bundle of razor blades trigger serrations and I was bleeding after 15 rounds fired.

Now, since this particular model 36 has 5 tiny rust speckles on the sideplate it's not a collectable, it's a shooter. So I felt no guilt at all about removing the trigger and using a Dremel to unsharpen those serrations. When the mood hits me and I have some time to do it I'll rust blue the trigger to hide the polish job I did on those serrations. At the same time I ordered in a Wolff Spring kit. Changed the rebound spring to a 14 lbs. spring that I shortened to match the length of the factory rebound spring. Then I swapped in the reduced power Wolff mainspring. Final DA trigger weight is 9 lbs. 14 ounces and I'm not going to try and take it any lighter. Because it has proven to be 100% reliable with about 150 rounds fired and it's very comfortable to shoot. However at some point I will replace that tiny original grip for something a bit larger. Not found of bulking up the model 36 because it's very easy to hide but with that tiny grip it is an absolute certainty that the grip needs to be re-established after every shot fired. BTW, I've tried all the crossthumb and other small frame grips out there and it doesn't matter how much I try and squeeze my hand onto that tiny splinter my hand is just too large to get that small. Frankly I suspect that S&W's designers back in the 50's must have been Santa's Elves working a spare job. Because they are about the only folks who would find those grips comfortable to shoot with.