Fixing a bad trigger job

S

Super Sneaky Steve

New member
If you're like me, you've got a lot of used guns. A lot of the times I end up buying things online and I don't get the chance to really check them out.

Some of those guns have been made unreliable by Bubba. Fortunately most are easy to fix if you can find the right parts.

Springs are easy. Wolf can sell you stock spring weights. Usually they are color coded so it's easy to tell if someone put lighter springs in. Stock weight is best in most but not all firearms.

Most of the other interactions happen between the trigger and hammer. In the case of my 642, which I paid to have a trigger job done years ago was never really to my liking. Sure it was smooth, but almost impossible to stack the trigger as I like to do while shooting double action.

The cure was a used trigger on Ebay. Popped right in and all was well. I had a new/used hammer too in case it was needed.
 
So did the trigger that you didn't like have *no* stacking?

I have a M&P340 that has negative stacking. The trigger pull gets lighter right before the break and boy that makes it a little harder to hold steady as things give way. I just tell myself it's like a dwarf. Deadly at short distances.
 
I guess you could say it got very light at the end like you were describing. It was hard to hold just before the break and if I didn't have the gun held just right it would tend to pull to the right. Now I can keep it on target even if my grip and finger aren't in a perfect position.

I know it's preference but I'm much happier with a predictable break even if that makes it a little heavier.
 
I used to try stacking my revolvers when I first started shooting DA. Drove me nuts. Then I started just using a nice even trigger pull straight through and just like that it started working for me. Now I almost exclusively shoot DA because most of my shooting is aimed are self defense distances and I can keep all my shots within a six inch circle out to twelve yds as fast as I can pull the trigger.
 
I guess you could say it got very light at the end like you were describing.
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I don't stage a DA revolver, but I like a level trigger pull.
Those that roll over a high point and then pull through lighter - I call that a Staple Gun Trigger - are hard for me to shoot. I have seldom seen a revolver like that but have a couple of DAO autos that do.
 
I guess you could say it got very light at the end like you were describing. It was hard to hold just before the break and if I didn't have the gun held just right it would tend to pull to the right. Now I can keep it on target even if my grip and finger aren't in a perfect position.
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That is the incorrect way to shoot a double action revolver. The hitch you talk about is not stacking.

With a DA revolver the trigger pull should be one continues press. Smooth is the key.
 
Nanuk said:
That is the incorrect way to shoot a double action revolver. The hitch you talk about is not stacking.

With a DA revolver the trigger pull should be one continues press. Smooth is the key.
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^^^This.

Stacking would only be advantageous when trying to target shoot with a DA only gun. As for a SD/HD gun, if you practice using the stacking, come the time when you need to shoot fast for SD/HD, having done so, will be only a hindrance. Sounds to me like the OP's gunsmith got it right the first time and was not, in reality, a "bad" trigger job.
 
I've encountered some questionable S&W triggers, but I don't know the history of the guns or whether or not they'd been worked on, but I doubt if they had been. Two in particular come to mind.

One was a '90s J frame that felt like it had a speed bump a little over half way through the trigger pull. It would take enough extra force to get over the speed bump that the muzzle should move during the process. I'll be quick to admit that I'm not a good shot, but there was something funny with that gun. Changing the rebound spring to a 13 lb, and the hammer (main) spring to a 8 lb, helped, but the speed bump was still there, just not as bad. I think I even tried to smooth the guide rod for the hammer spring.

The other one was a L frame which had a wall at the end of the DA pull. Once you hit the wall it took a lot more effort to get it to drop the hammer. Enough to get off target. Much more than shooting it SA. I'm sure part of that was operator error, but something wasn't right with that one. I don't know if it just needed to be dry fired to smooth it out or what, but it was annoying. I never removed the sideplate from it, not that I'd know what what to look for if I did.
 
With a DA revolver the trigger pull should be one continues press. Smooth is the key.
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Plus one to Nanuk's excellent point...a straight pull through is the secret to good DA scores. While I no longer have the hand and trigger finger strength to use a good S&W for Bullseye competiton (read real precision of the SA type), I found long ago my two-handed six gun work, DA only, rivaled my scores with a Smith's industry standard SA trigger. YMMv, Rod
 
In a bygone day, Paul Weston advocated staging the double action. He even designed grips with a "pressure point" you could feel as you reached the last little bit of travel.

Ed McGivern favored the straight through smooth roll AND a controlled smooth rebound.
Not everybody remembers that second part.
 
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