SP-101 Trigger Job = S&W Trigger??

G

Gary H

New member
I was all set to have Jack Weigand redo my 686 for my wife and then had lots of unforseen expenses put that one on hold. Now Mr. Weigand is in rejuvenation mode. Best to him.

So, anyone have trigger work done on the 101 to greatly lighten and improve the DA pull? My 686 is far superior. Already have reduced springs. Also, the trigger seems much in need of rounding. I guess that I could do that one myself. Who is the Ruger Smith to do the job?
Thanks
 
I had the action smoothed on my SP101, but did not have the trigger lightened as it is my carry gun. I had it done by Mike LaRocca, who has done work on many of my guns.
 
rugers

I own 2 sp101's and a GP100. I switched out the hammer spring and the trigger return spring for lighter Wolf springs. Another thing I did was to polish the strut that the spring goes over. This made a noticeable difference also. I rounded the edges of the strut also so the spring had a smooth movement. Make sure your gun is 100% reliable after changing out springs. I have used Wolf springs on every handgun I own and never had a problem.
 
I dropped by a smith I know that is local and had him check out my little SP. He showed me his, a 32 H&R version...he tweaked the trigger himself and the springs are stock. It is very close to a S&W trigger...I was amazed. When I can be apart from my gun for that long....it is next on my list. Shoot well
 
Like others, I have been able to come close, but have not been able to get a Ruger trigger equal to the S&W. The S&W "secret" is the way the hammer and trigger change leverage part way through the trigger pull to keep from "stacking".

Jim
 
Bought a sp101 in 22 last weekend to go with the two carry 101s my wife and I have. Took me all of about 2 hours with a dremel tool with only a felt wheel with rouge to smooth it up. Ditto to what xcop said about hammer strut. Smooth of the bearing surface that fits into the back of the hammer. I also super glued some fine emory cloth to a dowel and placed it in my cordless drill to smooth out the portion on the hammer the strut mates to. Otherwise just smooth out the bearing surfaces on the trigger and hammer DA strut also with felt wheel and rouge. I actually love to work on the gp/sp series more than the S&W. The 22 now matches the pull on the 357s. One more thing I also did is take one complete coil off the main spring. Hammer still falls with authority. Good luck.
 
Pete Carber at www.customarms.com smoothed out my 686 Plus and SP101. The S&W is like butter and the Ruger is much improved, but not as perfect as the Smith (not a bad thing, though). One of the more important things on the Ruger is to round out the trigger a little so that it doesn't cut into the finger while firing. Amazing what a little work by a good smith can do.
 
As noted.
With equal work, the Ruger will be very good but the Smith will still be even better.

Same goes for Taurus.

Geometry.

Sam
 
Gary, I am interested in this info as well. I searched for Jerry Kunhausen's book for the SP101 and he only offers one at this time for the speed six series. I took the thing all the way apart the other day without difficulty, I just need to now exactly what to polish now. I had tried a do it yourself spring replacement on my old 342 PD with a noticeable improvement with the hammer spring alone. However, I then went to my local smith and felt a J frame he had smoothed over without any spring change and WOW, what a difference, it really didn't need any spring change at that point. His polish job sounded somewhat intense as he even smoothed the ejector star where the cylinder hand rotates the cylinder! On my 101 I find the trigger way heavy, and at the last bit of return, you can feel the grittiness. Looking at the mating surfaces the one is grotesquely rough, in obvious need of help. I bought mine new and couldn't believe how many sharp burrs there are within the action and how many metal shavings were hanging around loose! Good luck.
 
SP-101 Trigger Job

I had Teddy Jacobson do a trigger job on my 2.25" .357 mag and convert the gun to double action only. The double action is way down in the high 8 pound range. He has a quick turnaround for cash. Mine was gone about 10-12 days. It isn't an S&W with an action job but it is close. I like it a lot better than a Colt Magnum Carry I had tuned.

I recall in Combat Handguns there was a place in Arizona called All Custom Firearms that tuned SP101s. The writer, a Mike Detty, claimed his was like 7 3/4 pounds double action.

When I got my SP101 back from Teddy out of curiousity I tried the Wolff 9 lb. mainspring and there were no misfires with any of the magnum ammo. It took a little weight off the trigger pull.

Cal Bear
 
Sox

If you got it apart you can do the work. any part that mates and moves against another metal part polish with rouge wheel and dremel. This does not take serious metal off nor does it mess up heat treatments. I don't polish pins with exception of hammer pin. especially take the hammer strut, it is stamped and has rough edges. Polish the rounded area that fits into back of hammer. Polish the area at the back of the hammer the strut mates with. For this I took some fine emory and super glued it to a wood dowel and used my cordless drill. Also file the shaft of the strut on the surfaces that are rough and then polish. Before you do all of this. With gun complete, hold trigger back and pull hammer back and forth. You can feel the rough as the spring is compressed. Do it again after your work and feel the difference. Look at your schematic in your manual seeing part relations to get a feel for the way the action works. Also don't forget the area on the trigger and hammer were the DA works. The DA sear on the trigger is the flat at the bottom of the U as you look at he trigger sideways. This surface mates with the hammer as the DA pawl brings them into bearing just as the cylinder locks into place. Also use a good gun grease on these surfaces when putting back together. I've done this work on the three sp101s I own with very satisfactory results. As long as you don't get aggressive and grind sear surfaces, just polish, you won't get in trouble. Good luck and post your results.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top