Do trigger jobs on J-frames help?
- Thread starter jeremiah
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obiwan1
Member
A little help. You'd probably do as well dry firing about a thousand times. You're looking for smooth, not necessarily light.
It really depends on the individual gun as to how big of a gain you get. Some guns are pretty smooth and some aren't. I just did a 'trigger job' on a '65-'66 vintage M36 and it helped a TON!. I polished the rebound slide where it contacts the frame, the surfaces of the frame where the rebound slide touches, the mainspring strut and the strut pin. The actual weight of the pull changed only slightly for the most part, but it registers a full 3 pounds lower on the scale simply because it is not gritty and grabby. The pull weight is within a couple ounces though of what it was in the smooth sections though. Overall the feel is vastly improved and it hits a lot better for me now.
It only takes an hour or so to do and is worth it for sure on a gritty gun. Also keep in mind that if you have a burr or something on one part and you just shoot and dryfire until it smooths out you now have at least 2 parts that are damaged from the burr. If the gun is relatively smooth you can shoot them into fine shape, but it takes forever. Just to give you an idea of the timeframe, I just did a K-frame that had 20K+ through it and quite a bit of dryfire too, it showed a nice noticeable improvement but it wasn't drastic. It went from 'very very good' to 'glass'. Most people will never get enough rounds through them to help much at all.
I don't see how it could cost more than $75 to have it done by a professional gunsmith, and I think it should cost in the neighborhood of $50 if the gunsmith is fair about it.
It only takes an hour or so to do and is worth it for sure on a gritty gun. Also keep in mind that if you have a burr or something on one part and you just shoot and dryfire until it smooths out you now have at least 2 parts that are damaged from the burr. If the gun is relatively smooth you can shoot them into fine shape, but it takes forever. Just to give you an idea of the timeframe, I just did a K-frame that had 20K+ through it and quite a bit of dryfire too, it showed a nice noticeable improvement but it wasn't drastic. It went from 'very very good' to 'glass'. Most people will never get enough rounds through them to help much at all.
I don't see how it could cost more than $75 to have it done by a professional gunsmith, and I think it should cost in the neighborhood of $50 if the gunsmith is fair about it.
Standing Wolf
Member in memoriam
I've never owned a revolver that didn't benefit—or at least, couldn't have benefitted—from an action job.
All I did to my pre-agreement Smith & Wesson model 60 was replace the trigger rebound and main springs, polish the rebound slide, and clean everything within a sixteenth of an inch of its life. Some revolvers require major surgery, sometimes including stoning the hammer-sear connection, sometimes including replacing worn parts, sometimes costing hundreds of dollars.
I believe it all depends on what you start with and what you want to end up with. My 1951 K-22, for example, already had a wonderful single action trigger, so all I had to do was replace the rebound spring and polish the rebound slide. It doesn't have a truly excellent double action pull, but there's not much chance I'll ever shoot it that way, so I gave it a bare bones job. I have a Python that needed the works, and since I don't still work on Colt revolvers, the job was expensive and time-consuming, and included the extra cost of shipping it across the country and back.
If your J frame were mine, I'd start with stripping it down to the frame, cleaning it thoroughly, lubricating it well, and taking it to the range. If that didn't take it the whole distance, I'd contact the good folks at http://www.gunsprings.com about replacement springs, and I'd polish the rebound slide, too: ten minutes' worth of polishing can make a measurable difference. Replacing springs in a carry gun necessitates putting a fair amount of ammunition through the gun to make sure it's 100% reliable. Not all springs work right in all guns. If that still didn't give me the trigger I wanted, I'd either turn it over to a professional gunsmith or work on the sear and hammer myself—but I wouldn't even consider doing the latter without Kuhnhausen's book nearby.
As far as I'm concerned, every gun ought to have a good trigger. For myself, that means a very light, crisp single action and smooth double action. There are people who hate light triggers and don't mind uneven double action pulls. Only you can decide.
All I did to my pre-agreement Smith & Wesson model 60 was replace the trigger rebound and main springs, polish the rebound slide, and clean everything within a sixteenth of an inch of its life. Some revolvers require major surgery, sometimes including stoning the hammer-sear connection, sometimes including replacing worn parts, sometimes costing hundreds of dollars.
I believe it all depends on what you start with and what you want to end up with. My 1951 K-22, for example, already had a wonderful single action trigger, so all I had to do was replace the rebound spring and polish the rebound slide. It doesn't have a truly excellent double action pull, but there's not much chance I'll ever shoot it that way, so I gave it a bare bones job. I have a Python that needed the works, and since I don't still work on Colt revolvers, the job was expensive and time-consuming, and included the extra cost of shipping it across the country and back.
If your J frame were mine, I'd start with stripping it down to the frame, cleaning it thoroughly, lubricating it well, and taking it to the range. If that didn't take it the whole distance, I'd contact the good folks at http://www.gunsprings.com about replacement springs, and I'd polish the rebound slide, too: ten minutes' worth of polishing can make a measurable difference. Replacing springs in a carry gun necessitates putting a fair amount of ammunition through the gun to make sure it's 100% reliable. Not all springs work right in all guns. If that still didn't give me the trigger I wanted, I'd either turn it over to a professional gunsmith or work on the sear and hammer myself—but I wouldn't even consider doing the latter without Kuhnhausen's book nearby.
As far as I'm concerned, every gun ought to have a good trigger. For myself, that means a very light, crisp single action and smooth double action. There are people who hate light triggers and don't mind uneven double action pulls. Only you can decide.
Ala Dan
Member in memoriam
I know a fellow who had an action job put on a S&W
old model 60 "Chief's Special" back in 1998. I looked
the weapon over, and felt the DA trigger pull. Quite
nice I thought; but now that I have one myself, I
doubt that I could tell the difference cuz mine is very
smooth its-self.
Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
old model 60 "Chief's Special" back in 1998. I looked
the weapon over, and felt the DA trigger pull. Quite
nice I thought; but now that I have one myself, I
doubt that I could tell the difference cuz mine is very
smooth its-self.
Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
"trigger jobs" range from a good cleanup to a complete action tune.
my current 642 came with a pretty clean DA trigger stroke, but a trained finger could feel the "rough spots" and the drag in the action.
a trip to my gunsmith brought back a completely changed pistol. the action is now butter smooth with a stoke that glides from beginning to break without hesitation. the cylinder, when open, spinns is if on bearings.
an action tune includes aglining/truing all moving parts, including the cylinder, hand and rachet
my current 642 came with a pretty clean DA trigger stroke, but a trained finger could feel the "rough spots" and the drag in the action.
a trip to my gunsmith brought back a completely changed pistol. the action is now butter smooth with a stoke that glides from beginning to break without hesitation. the cylinder, when open, spinns is if on bearings.
an action tune includes aglining/truing all moving parts, including the cylinder, hand and rachet
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