Smooth Trigger for 18-3?

[Gearhead Jim]

I have an 18-3 with the normal narrow grooved trigger. When firing double action, especially a lot of rounds or fast rate, the grooving gets uncomfortable on my finger. Even with a reduced hammer spring and rebound spring to lighten the pull a bit.

The Target trigger from those days looks like it was wider but still had the grooves.

I'm thinking about having the grooves on my original trigger ground off and polished. S&W makes a smooth Combat Trigger now but I'm not sure how much fitting might be required.

Comments and suggestions?
Thanks.

 

[mmande]

I have a .300" wide, smooth, color case hardened one that I would sell. PM me if you are interested.
Mike

 

[k22fan]

Any smooth trigger from the short action time period probably will drop right in without fitting but there's no guarantee they will. Technically that includes modern MIM triggers if you do not mind looking at one. Please put the original trigger in its box and temporarily install a smooth one. The smooth Combat Trigger was standard in L frames from their introduction so there are a lot of them around.

You probably already know but the same triggers fit K, L and N frames.

 

[minconrevo]

I put a SS .312" wide smooth in my 18. The tolerance gods smiled and gave me a wonderful DA stroke with 100% dependability. I stored the original .265" wide serrated trigger in the box for the 18. The 18 does look a little weird with the SS trigger but I can look past that, in light of the results.

 

[GaryHK]

What about a trigger shoe? Not for everyone's liking pull-wise and a hazard for a holstered weapon but if you aren't carrying it maybe it's an option for you.

 

[pantannojack]

Way back I acquired a new 66-4 with the hammer spur so sharp in the cross hatch it hurt. I took a mild stone to the peaks just softly. It might be cheaper or more practical to just toughen up your finger with some spring yard work.

 

[cndrdk]

40+ years ago (for good reason) I took a Mod 66 2.5" and filed the grooved trigger and hammer spur smooth. I then polished the areas, and to this day they still have a mirror finish. Of course, they were stainless (not flash chromed) but on the Mod 18 you could always cold blue and keep oiled. BTW, for cold bluing, I find that Brownell's Oxpho Blue works extremely well for me.

 

[Muley Gil]

I have an 18-3 with the normal narrow grooved trigger. When firing double action, especially a lot of rounds or fast rate, the grooving gets uncomfortable on my finger. Even with a reduced hammer spring and rebound spring to lighten the pull a bit.

The Target trigger from those days looks like it was wider but still had the grooves.

I'm thinking about having the grooves on my original trigger ground off and polished. S&W makes a smooth Combat Trigger now but I'm not sure how much fitting might be required.

Comments and suggestions?
Thanks.

I have done many a smooth trigger job, starting with the standard .265" grooved one. I use a Dremel to remove the serrations and to round it. I then polish with several grades of emery cloth. You can use cold blue and spot it on to create a fax color case look. Darker in one place, lighter in another.

 

[chief38]

I prefer smooth medium width triggers to the narrow grooved ones myself. It's rare I change one because I tend to adapt to what ever is on the gun the way it came - unless annoyingly uncomfortable.

Many times triggers will drop in and sometimes they need some minor fitting - one never knows!

 

[GM4spd]

Interesting discussion. I'm still looking for a wide .400" smooth
case hardened trigger for my M53. Way back over 30 plus year
they were available but that was long ago. Would still like to find
one. Pete

 

[H Richard]

It is not difficult to smooth out those serrations. Remove trigger, use dremmel to grind out the serrations, then use cloth backed emery paper cut in strips to polish out any grind marks and polish. You can contour the edges then also.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

I have a .300" wide, smooth, color case hardened one that I would sell. PM me if you are interested.
Mike

PM's exchanged with Mike, money is in the mail to him.
Thanks to all for your advice.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Years ago I put a S&W "Ranger" trigger in my 18. That trigger came smooth faced. Case hardened and about 7/16" wide. On one of my 24's I just removed the trigger. Ground off the grooves and polished the face back to mirror smooth. Been that way for lots of years.

 

[Grayfox]

I agree with pantannojack. Quite often all that's really needed is to dull those sharp edges.
I have a 18-3 that the previous owner did some work on. Red Ramp, smooth trigger and a nice action job. I give this gun full credit for teaching me how to shoot a revolver in DA mode. I shoot it more than any other revolver I own.

 

[paplinker]

PM's exchanged with Mike, money is in the mail to him.
Thanks to all for your advice.

You are going to really like that trigger. My favorite to use.

I had a full smooth target trigger on my 19-3 texas ranger but it was just a bit too much,my finger placement varied too much.
The semi wide corrected that.

 

[k22fan]

There is no reason why any other members' taste would match mine, but, like Jerry Miculek, my favorite trigger for DA is the .265" serrated service trigger that Gearhead Jim wants out of his 18-3. Now if I was going to focus on SA accuracy I'd want a wide serrated trigger but their benefit in SA is minimal compared to the service trigger's benefit in DA.

This illustrates why it's smart to keep original parts unaltered. For every owner that wants customization there's always many more potential owners that would rather have the gun in its original condition.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

I have a .300" wide, smooth, color case hardened one that I would sell. PM me if you are interested.
Mike

I bought the trigger from Mike, it's exactly what I wanted and he shipped it quickly.
Currently being installed by the local 'smith, along with some other minor work.

 

[Engine49guy]

I too prefer the . 400 smooth Combat trigger, a few years back bought a finish challenged 15-2 with 3 Ts, the action was so nice I dremelled and narrowed the .500 wide tt.
fealt guilty for a little bit...got over it.