Diamondback trigger..uuhhhhh

M

mr. pitiful

New member
I have an old Diamondback with a 4' barrel, and wanted to try it in SSR class in IDPA, I will buy another gun for this as well, but here is the problem. The gun shoots GREAT, but the trigger is at about 17 lbs. Is it possible to actully make it good with the right action/trigger job, or is that about all she's capable of. I have heard people say that even wth an action job, it will still suck. Anyon have any knowledge on this one?
Thanks.

mr. pitiful.
 
Whoa! I stupidly let my Diamondback go 'bout 15 years ago, but it had a very nice, smooth trigger. Don't remember the weight precisecly, but I doubt it was over 8 lbs. It was a sweet piece.

I never heard of one being that heavy before.

:confused:
 
Yes, the trigger can be improved. The D frames can easily be smoothed and the trigger pull weight brought to 9 lbs. or so as I had one. Down below 8 1/4 lbs. ignition was dicey, though. Colts do stack towards the end of the pull, though. This can be rectified, too at a cost. Cylinder and Slide has a deluxe action job to get a straight thru pull. Reeves Jungkind the Python king was reputed to have worked on some D frames and he could eliminate the stacking, also. From what I gather if one went to one of the "masters" the double action should be down around 7 1/2 lbs. with a straight through pull. The latter action jobs will be about as twice as expensive, though. Compared to a S&W an old Colt model will have a longer lock time due to the greater hammer arc. Gumsmiths knowledgeable in the workings of the older Colt models are getting rare though as they are a bit more involved than a Smith or Ruger.

Jim T.
 
I just got my diamondback back from colt. I think the trigger is pretty smooth and pretty light, actually a bit to light. I was having a bit of mi-fire problem on reloads in DA mode. I think a combination of not completely seating the primers and stacking was my problem. Every one went in SA mode.

I am going to get Teddy at Actions-by-T to work on mine very quickly. If you want to email me in a few months I will let you know what the results are. He takes about a month or so to do the work and he has my python right now so I will let you know.

The python was used and pretty gritty. I asked him to smooth it up and clean it out. We should see the results this week.
 
yipes!!! 17lbs is way over acceptable, even for a D-frame.

the d-frame will not smooth up quite as well as the python (my big snake pulls right below 8lbs without mis-fires) but you should expect a pull well below 10lbs after a tune...it might feel heavier due to the narrow trigger.

i don't think jungkind will work on the d-frame, but i've heard good stuff about both cylinder& slide and actions by T
 
17 lbs is extremely heavy and I would suggest having the mainspring looked at. Perhaps it was tweaked by some well intentioned but misguided individual. It may require some bending to reduce the trigger pull.

BTW, is that 17 lbs a smooth trigger pull? That is, the transition from its position of rest to where the hammer drops a nice, even increase or does it spike somewhere along the way? If it spikes, the gun may have been monkeyed with by the same fellow and it will require more than mere bending of the mainspring. It needs the loving care of a qualified smith.
 
it is fairly smooth, stacks at the end though. I can still get good splits (for a new double action guy anyway) I am used to the 2.5 lb trigger on myWilson 45acp, so this is quite a change. My splits are in the mid to high twenties, but after praticing double taps for a short time, the strength in my finger is gone and those times go WAY up. I dont know if the 17 lbs is right on, I used my digital fish scale, and the last # I kept seeing was just over 17 lbs, so I don't know if that is considered accurate or not. I checked Cylider and Slides web site, and they have a standard action job for $105.00 and a deluxe action job for two something, is it worth going for the deluxe, or should the standard do it?

Thanks for all the help and advise.

mr. pitiful
 
Gunfighter D frame grips

He guys I am a 67 year old antique and since my Fitz Pistol grip company was founded in 1924 well I was the replacement grip company when the CV and D frames were invented. I have thought of throwing them away but never did. Now here is a discussion on D frame and do I have a few Cherry wood gunfighter or target grips for that old pistol so contact me at fitz_grips, fitz_grips@hotmail.com to see them and good shooting.
 
You might want to clean the innards of that Colt thoroughly and see if that helps. Sometimes dried lube will gunk up a trigger pull something awful. I suggest Gun Scrubber or equivalent before going to work with the blacksmith tools.

HTH
 
Sounds like the hand (the thingy that rotates the cylinder) needs adjusting. It sounds like the first stage of the hand rotates the cylinder easily enough, but at the second stage for lockup the hand is struggling against the ratchet. So, either the first shelf of the hand is engaging too soon or the second stage shelf is too late.

Go to the Smithy Forum and do a search under my name for Python. You'll find both a description of the internal lockwork for the Python and how to disassemble same. The Diamondback is a first cousin in terms of lockwork differs only slightly.
 
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