Old Fuff, have you heard of bending the last 2" of the mainspring forward and down? I know a few revolver competitors that use this mod. Gotta know springs/heat.
Sure, but I don't favor it very much.
If you try to cold-bend the spring it's likely to break, or at least crack - which means it will fail later. If you heat and bend it you get into tempering issues, unless you have an electric furnace, and even then you're asking for trouble.
For those that are interested in the idea, Brownells (
www.brownells.com) offer a spring that S&W’s shooting ace, Jerry Miculek designed (see item #100-000-223). The spring comes in a kit with a matching rebound slide spring; and the combination comes with a warning,
For Competition Use Only, and a recommendation to use ammunition loaded with
Federal primers. The bend is just below the stirrup hooks rather then lower, and using the kit eliminates any need to do any home-heat treating, which is a very big plus.
All of this is fine for the intended purpose, but should raise a red flag when it comes to fooling with the springs in a defensive weapon.
As for the "other spring," Smith & Wesson doesn't call it a "trigger spring," or "trigger return spring," but rather the "rebound slide spring," which is something that is often either ignored or dismissed. It shouldn't be.
Besides pushing the trigger forward, the spring - acting through the rebound slide - must rebound (retract) the hammer after a round is fired so that the hammer nose or firing pin is pulled back inside the breech face. It must also reset the cylinder stop, and if it doesn't the action will be hopelessly jammed. Last but not least, cutting the original spring or using a lighter aftermarket one will slow the trigger's return stroke - especially when the slide is rebounding the hammer.
So as both Jerry and I point out (or at least try too) so-called spring adjustments are acceptable on big boy toys, but something that should be approached with great care on defensive arms. This is especially true when there is a better way to get most of the desired result.