Question for 1911Tuner. Series 70 Gold Cup Sear options

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

I've recently picked up a series 70 Gold Cup. It shoots great but the trigger is 5 1/2 pounds. I'd like to drop it to 4 pounds for Bullseye competition. If you'd explain the extra parts in a GC (not to be confused with the series 80 non-Gold Cup) for other readers of this thread, that might help.

What are your suggestions for reducing trigger pull? In any 1911, replacing the hammer spring with a lighter version will help a tad. Polishing the sides of trigger bow can help too.

Can the sear bracket and spring be removed?

-Steve

 

[BBBBill]

Obviously I'm not Tuner, but....

The sear depressor plunger and spring may NOT be safely removed without replacing the heavy steel trigger. They were placed in the gun specifically to resist trigger bounce cause by that heavy trigger. There are lightweight aluminum replacement triggers available. King's used to make them. Currently available choices are:
Wilson - http://shopwilsoncombat.com/Triggers/products/97/ See the bottom two, the 190G and the 190G-NH
and EGW - http://www.egwguns.com/index.php?p=product&id=1526

A proper trigger job starts with optimizing the hammer hooks and sear nose angles, polishing out the roughness of the operating parts, and tweaking the left and center legs of the sear spring. Reducing the mainspring will gain you very little. You can probably accomplish what you want just by adjusting the sear spring. Here's an article that Jack Weigand did for Brownells several years ago. Read the whole thing, but what you probably need is in the Sear Spring prep section - http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=10297/guntechdetail/2___lb__Trigger_Pull

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Sear spring prep

I guess I always thought that the Gold Cups already had a lighter Sear spring and I don't want to tweak the leaf and end up with a gun that goes full auto. I'll read the sear prep link. Thanks.

-Steve

 

[BBBBill]

Tuning the sear spring is standard procedure for any 1911 trigger job. You can do it as a stand alone step or as the final step of a premium job. You will get far more effect on the pull with that than you will with a lighter mainspring. Tuning the sear spring should not cause any full auto. If that happens there's something more going on in your gun. The normal safety checks always apply. Follow the article recommendations for technique. The actual weight values given are just for that specific example of a 2-1/2 pound trigger job. You don't need to go that light, so your values will be a bit higher.

 

[Uncle Ken]

BBBBill is right. You can probably get to the 4 lb pull or close to it by only adjusting the sear spring. If you mess it up, it is by far the cheapest of the parts involved in a trigger job to replace (under $10 from Brownells or Wolff). Don't cut the original mainspring, minimal effect on pull weight and may induce misfires. Don't touch the hammer or sear surfaces unless you have the knowledge and proper tools.