Trigger pull wieghts

4

4DIR

New member
A few weeks ago, I got into a discussion with a CWP instructor about trigger pull weights on revolvers. It was his contention, being an instructor and law enforcement officer of 20+ years that custom trigger pulls can lead to trouble in the courtroom if the pistol is involved in a shooting, justified or not. He stated that the normal procedure post shooting is for the pistol in question to be taken and examined by the lab, which then provides a report to the solicitor or other attorney describing the make and model, condition, etc and trigger pull weights. A light pull weight can make you look like someone looking for a fight or in the case of an accidental shooting, cause you alot of grief. Even in a justified shooting, whereby you walk away from criminal proceedings, a civil trial lawyer can make alot of your custom gun with the hair trigger. My question is this:
What is the standard DA/SA pull weight on Smith and Wesson revolvers and what do you consider the minimum acceptable DA/SA pull weights for liability concerns.
 
Revolvers usually run around 10-12 pounds DA and 2 1/2-4 pounds SA. I don't recommend anything very light for carry, partly because of the concerns mentioned, but mainly because a high level of adrenaline and a light trigger can have unintended results. Very light, target type triggers should be confined to the target range.

The only case I know of where a light trigger pull was involved was a police officer who had worked over his service revolver and that was made much of in a civil suit after a shooting. I forget the outcome. In most cases, I would think that in a justified shooting, the trigger pull would be pretty irrelevant. But if the shooting were accidental, such as a shot that killed an innocent person when the gun went off while being drawn, the situation could be different.

Jim
 
Since the gun in question will be part of the evidence in a trial, the prosecutor could allow the jury to inspect it. If the trigger is so light that an inexperienced juror "just touching it" causes the hammer to fall, the jury could regard the gunowner as having "reckless disregard for human life" which is the definition of manslaughter. The same goes for disabling those annoying magazine safeties on autoloaders, etc.

For a DA (and especially DAO) revolver, unless you really had a hair trigger, I don't think it would be an issue.
 
DAO Always!

Mas Ayoob makes a big deal out of this. Best sugestion, as a PDW, a revolver should be DAO. NEVER cock your revolver in a defence situation!

As for DA/SA semi-autos, I don't think that they're such a good idea as a PDW due to the much lighter trigger pull, once the action is cocked. Better a single action (1911, BHP, CZ-75 in SA mode, etc.) with a consistant light trigger pull, or a DAO semiauto with a consistant heavy trigger pull, than the veriable trigger pull of a SA/DA.

Revolvers are always the best choice for the relatively untrained.


Yr. Obt. Svnt.
 
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