tools for a S&W trigger job?
- Thread starter M1911
- Start date
After the many Smiths I've slicked I find that about all I ever use is 300 grit,600 grit,a fine 1/4 x 1/4 X 3 inch stone AND a 1/16 x 1" X 3/4 inch Very fine stone. I'd like to put in my 2 cents worth, unless you have a spare hammer and trigger PLEASE don't mess with the sears much. DON't touch 'em with sandpapper for sure. I start uour using the 300 on the hammer return slide and finsh w/600 and Xfine stone. I like to use the end of the course stone to knock the crap off the frame where the slide rides and finish w/fine stone. K's book is a greay place to start.. ****CAREFUL with his instructions for sear angle stoneing....................dewey
FWIW,
I would not touch the single action sear. Period. No matter who says what.
You will need a means of reducing spring tension a bit. On the rebound slide spring, cutting a coil or coil and a half off works, but go slow. On a J frame, reducing the mainspring very much is not a good idea because of the light hammer. You can ease things a bit by rolling the mainspring on a belt sander.
On the K frame, take the mainspring down by grinding the sides (not the flats). Again, take it slow and easy. You want to lighten the pull, not produce a non-firing revolver.
All guns are built with a margin of error for adverse conditions, like cold, dirt, dust, etc. When you "do a trigger job" you will usually be removing some of that extra margin and the gun will be more subject to malfunction in a bad environment or if not maintained properly.
Jim
I would not touch the single action sear. Period. No matter who says what.
You will need a means of reducing spring tension a bit. On the rebound slide spring, cutting a coil or coil and a half off works, but go slow. On a J frame, reducing the mainspring very much is not a good idea because of the light hammer. You can ease things a bit by rolling the mainspring on a belt sander.
On the K frame, take the mainspring down by grinding the sides (not the flats). Again, take it slow and easy. You want to lighten the pull, not produce a non-firing revolver.
All guns are built with a margin of error for adverse conditions, like cold, dirt, dust, etc. When you "do a trigger job" you will usually be removing some of that extra margin and the gun will be more subject to malfunction in a bad environment or if not maintained properly.
Jim
There is no better book than Kuhnhausen's. For K and L frames, I recommend the Wolf reduced power ribbed mainspring. I have played around with mainsprings and I think their strike power is exactly where you want it (about 40% stronger than it takes to fire decent ammo, about 30% below standard). I cut down the rebound spring gradually to match the hammer spring (don't go too far) but with the RP hammer spring, you can reduce the rebound spring a lot. It's possible to get the DA pull down to about 6.5#. I would say never cut any of the sear faces at all, just lube them with Tetra lube. Polishing the rebound slide is a good idea as well. As to what tool to get: buy the rebound spring installer for SW from Brownells. Definitely the only way to go.
Actually, the guns that I have that need it the most are all J-frames. My most recent 317, in particular, has a very, very heavy DA pull. I'm not particularly worried about the SA pulls. But I've had several 60-year-old women students who 1) can't manage the DA trigger on my model 60, and 2) even have trouble cocking the hammer on the gun. So I'm looking to reduce the weight of the DA pull. If I could also reduce the effort to cock the hammer, that would be useful as well.
May also chamfer the cylinders.
I've got 3 J-frames and 1 N-frame that I want to improve. Both my K-frames have pretty decent triggers as is, so I won't be messing with them.
M1911
May also chamfer the cylinders.
I've got 3 J-frames and 1 N-frame that I want to improve. Both my K-frames have pretty decent triggers as is, so I won't be messing with them.
M1911
Sling Shot
New member
Jerry's book, a S&W screw driver set from Brownells so you do not buger the screws, and a rebound spring tool also available from Brownells. Sling Shot
Success
Thanks guys. I put a spring kit into my S&W 317 today and went off to the range. Seems to function ok and the trigger pull is now much, much lighter. The trigger pull from the factory seemed like it was designed by a lawyer :barf:
I purchased this gun because some of my students (particularly some older women) were rather recoil shy when it came to .38 revolvers. I think they will have much less problem with the .22lr revolver. But the trigger pull on the 317 would have been too much for them, so I had to lighten it.
I used the Wilson spring kit and installed the 13 lb rebound spring. Oddly, the Wilson spring was a good 1/4 in. longer than the factory spring. The factory spring had 15 turns, while the Wilson spring had 17 turns. There was just no way I could get the Wilson spring installed as is -- it was long enough that it was just too floppy to compress into the rebound slide, so I cut off two turns. I was then able to get it in place using Brownells rebound slide spring tool and a few choice words.
I lightly polished the bottom, front and back of the rebound slide with a fine stone. I probably could have polished it more, but I figure it is better to take of too little than too much (I suspect rebound slide stretchers don't work any better than lumber stretchers
).
I would have liked to have polished the inside of the frame that the rebound slide moves on, but it was hard to get my stone in there (and a lot cheaper to replace a part than a frame...).
I didn't touch the sear faces at all.
I installed the Wilson reduced power mainspring. The Brownells mainspring compressor tool made that a snap. I can see that I would probably have been cursing without it.
I don't have a spring guage so I don't know how heavy it was before and how much lighter it is now. But it's reasonable now and certainly wasn't before.
1 J-frame down, 2 to go.
Thanks again for the help and advice.
M1911
Thanks guys. I put a spring kit into my S&W 317 today and went off to the range. Seems to function ok and the trigger pull is now much, much lighter. The trigger pull from the factory seemed like it was designed by a lawyer :barf:
I purchased this gun because some of my students (particularly some older women) were rather recoil shy when it came to .38 revolvers. I think they will have much less problem with the .22lr revolver. But the trigger pull on the 317 would have been too much for them, so I had to lighten it.
I used the Wilson spring kit and installed the 13 lb rebound spring. Oddly, the Wilson spring was a good 1/4 in. longer than the factory spring. The factory spring had 15 turns, while the Wilson spring had 17 turns. There was just no way I could get the Wilson spring installed as is -- it was long enough that it was just too floppy to compress into the rebound slide, so I cut off two turns. I was then able to get it in place using Brownells rebound slide spring tool and a few choice words.
I lightly polished the bottom, front and back of the rebound slide with a fine stone. I probably could have polished it more, but I figure it is better to take of too little than too much (I suspect rebound slide stretchers don't work any better than lumber stretchers
).I would have liked to have polished the inside of the frame that the rebound slide moves on, but it was hard to get my stone in there (and a lot cheaper to replace a part than a frame...).
I didn't touch the sear faces at all.
I installed the Wilson reduced power mainspring. The Brownells mainspring compressor tool made that a snap. I can see that I would probably have been cursing without it.
I don't have a spring guage so I don't know how heavy it was before and how much lighter it is now. But it's reasonable now and certainly wasn't before.
1 J-frame down, 2 to go.
Thanks again for the help and advice.
M1911
Mike Irwin
Staff
I second the "Don't muck with the sears" advice.
I'm currently in the process of repairing the single action sear on a friend's .44 Mag. Someone who didn't know what he was doing got in there and started cutting on the sear seat. He cut through the case hardening, with the expected results -- the sear rounded off and now the hammer no longer stays back in single action.
I'm recutting the sear seat using very fine stones, and then I'm going to reharden the sear seat using Brownell's Kasenit.
The only reason I feel confident in doing this is because I've done trigger jobs, to varying degrees, on about 30 S&W revolvers -- both my own and those belonging to my friends.
Kuhnhausen's book is an absolute NECESSITY if you want to work on your own guns.
I'm currently in the process of repairing the single action sear on a friend's .44 Mag. Someone who didn't know what he was doing got in there and started cutting on the sear seat. He cut through the case hardening, with the expected results -- the sear rounded off and now the hammer no longer stays back in single action.
I'm recutting the sear seat using very fine stones, and then I'm going to reharden the sear seat using Brownell's Kasenit.
The only reason I feel confident in doing this is because I've done trigger jobs, to varying degrees, on about 30 S&W revolvers -- both my own and those belonging to my friends.
Kuhnhausen's book is an absolute NECESSITY if you want to work on your own guns.