Stiffer spring and shorter screw, or lighter spring longer screw?

[Guitarmageddon]

Just as the title says...

Is there a consensus on what is the best route to achieve a lighter pull? I am unsure which wolff spring to go with, and what is the easiest way to achieve the best results. Do I go with their lighter spring and start with a longer screw, or do I go with their heavier spring and take the screw down more?

Im pretty sure Im at least 12 pounds right now, if not 13 or 14 it feels that heavy. Im shooting for 9 pounds to play it safe and maintain reliability

 

[Mike McLellan]

Installing a ribbed "Reduced Power" main spring is essentially the same as shortening the strain screw by whatever the depth of the rib is. I have had mixed results with changing the spring. I prefer shortening the strain screw. The question is: How much should I shorten it? There are several steps in determining the final length of the screw, if you do it right, and it will take more than a few minutes.

Step 1. Measure the Strain screw. They are not all the same. For arguments sake, let's say your spring is .611" long.

Step 2. Put on some grips that allow access to the strain screw with your screwdriver. Grab a box of your least reliable ammo, and head to the range.

Step 3. Starting with the screw fully seated, start shooting. It makes sense to fire all six rounds in a cylinder. Back the screw out by 1/4 turn, and shoot another six rounds. How is it? Try another 1/4 turn if you want. A full turn will almost always be way too much.

Step 4. Strain screw threads are 8x32. That means that one full turn will be the same as cutting off 1/32" or .031". One half turn equals 1/64" or .0156". One quarter turn equals .0078".

Step 5. Once you've found the ideal setting, subtract that amount from the original length. For example, One half turn would mean: .611" minus .015" = .596" for a new screw length.

Step 6. File or stone the screw to equal the new required length, keeping the end the same shape as it was prior to filing. Some screws have square ends, most have rounded ends. Again, they're not all the same. When you're done, screw it back in tightly, and leave it there.
This might seem like a convoluted method for doing such a simple modification, but trial and error can result in errors that can't be easily undone.

 

[tomcatt51]

Installing a ribbed "Reduced Power" main spring is essentially the same as shortening the strain screw by whatever the depth of the rib is.

That is not correct. The Wolff Reduced Power Mainspring has more arch. It allows running less preload (via the strain screw) without screwing up the link/stirrup geometry. Screwing up the link/stirrup geometry is what happens when you shorten (or un-screw) the strain screw very much using the stock or STD Wolff spring.

Compare a Wolff std and reduced spring, you'll see the only difference is the amount of arch.

 

[Mike McLellan]

That is not correct. The Wolff Reduced Power Mainspring has more arch. It allows running less preload (via the strain screw) without screwing up the link/stirrup geometry. Screwing up the link/stirrup geometry is what happens when you shorten (or un-screw) the strain screw very much using the stock or STD Wolff spring.

Compare a Wolff std and reduced spring, you'll see the only difference is the amount of arch.

You could surely be correct. My observation was based on the design of the rib. I may have entirely missed the boat regarding its arch, or metalurgy, for that matter. I have used Wolff springs, with success, MOST of the time.

 

[Pisgah]

I am firmly in the camp of those who feel that, except for game-playing guns, you should never go to a lighter mainspring set-up, whether with a different spring or a shorter screw. In hunting and defense guns, reliability simply must be my #1 concern.

Instead, I focus on obtaining a smooth DA and an absolutely crisp SA. When you have those, the weight of pull becomes much less relevant, and the gun will always, always go bang when you want it to.

 

[tlay]

If this gun is to be used for a carry gun or home defense gun I would only change to a lighter spring and not shorten the strain screw. Even after changing the spring I would not use it until I ran a box of my carry ammo. thru and ALL of them went off. If you have even 1 misfire change the spring back. My 2 cents worth.

 

[Marksman]

I use the Power rib reduced power mainspring and the 14# reboundspring, never alter the strain screw and always screw it in till tight. Trigger always resets and no ignition issues.

 

[WR Moore]

There are threads on here on how to set the factory mainspring to the optimal factory tension and what those tensions are for K frame revolvers. If you stick with the factory rebound spring and dry/live fire it several hundred times, it'll let down some and you should have a ~8 lb trigger.

I found with a reduced power mainspring, somewhere approaching 100 rounds in a range session, I'd start getting misfires. Now, could have been user error due to fatigue, but didn't have that issue with the factory spring at optimal tension.

 

[kamloops67]

I have had reduced power springs in a couple revolvers
I don't recommend them ,as in my case reliability suffered and I don't want to be obligated to use federal primers only .
I do believe in stoning reciprocating parts slightly and shooting a lot to wear a revolver in well and practice the DA squeeze , after a while the heavy pull becomes normal
Just my own opinion - others have had success and will disagree

 

[Eddietruett]

Just as the title says...

Is there a consensus on what is the best route to achieve a lighter pull? I am unsure which wolff spring to go with, and what is the easiest way to achieve the best results. Do I go with their lighter spring and start with a longer screw, or do I go with their heavier spring and take the screw down more?

Im pretty sure Im at least 12 pounds right now, if not 13 or 14 it feels that heavy. Im shooting for 9 pounds to play it safe and maintain reliability

Try the Wilson Combat spring kit. I've much better and consistent results with the Wilson