Defensive Carry banner

Ever get trigger work on your S&W J frame .38?

16K views 32 replies 18 participants last post by  razorblade 
#1 ·
I was curious if any of you had ever had a trigger job done on your .38 S&W J frame. I have the 637 model and like it well enough but the trigger pull is terrible! I thought about having someone lighten and smooth it, and maybe even bob the hammer so it's DAO.

Have any of you ever gone to this trouble with your J frame? Also, at a place called Gemini customs, they talk about cylinder shake, what's that? Is it worth it? If you've ever customized your J frame, I'd love to hear about it so I can get some ideas. I think a lighter trigger pull would help accuracy a lot!

Thanks all.
Gideon
 
#2 ·
I've never customized my J frame, although I've done all of the above and more on my IPSC revolver. Endshake on a cylinder is when there is a bit of side to side wiggle towards the face (the side with the ejector star). It's usually tightened with shims or thin metal inserts. Removing endsake prevents (in theory) the round being deformed when it hits the forcing cone, once it has been discharged. It helps center the primer to the firing pin hole. It also helps prevent excessive/unusual wear on the cylinder stops during lockup. For a CCW gun, it isn't worth it. Also you might not want to lower the weight of your trigger pull. When you begin diving into weights below 7lbs. you are taking a risk of not effictively igniting your primers. My 625 has barely 7lbs and it's like playing russian rulette with anything other than Federal primers. I've got a friend that has slightly over 4 lbs and he can't use anything but Federal.
Keep the weight as it is, bob the hammer (if that is something you desire), smooth out the trigger pull and you are set.
 
#3 ·
No, not yet. I was going to originally but found the trigger had smoothed out quite a bit after 500 rounds so I'm holding off for now. I wouldn't want to lighten the trigger pull any for reasons stated above but smoothing it out wouldn't hurt.
 
#4 ·
A trigger/action job is always a good idea, IMO, on a carry weapon. Speak with a couple of good gunsmiths about pros/cons of trigger work, focusing on 'smiths who value quality carry weaponry. You're betting your life on your ability to strike and stop an aggressive target. Anything you can do to increase the odds of doing this reliably and consistently is a good thing.

The only caveat: hair triggers are a jury's best friend. So, like anything in life, everything in moderation.
 
#5 ·
I had a Colt DS that had a horrible trigger pull. A gunsmith took it apart and found that there were metal shavings in the interior. After he cleaned it out he took the trigger bar and "stoned" it, to say that he smoothed it out. Becasue of this, it now has the smoothest trigger pull of any revolver that I own and without compromising the lbs of trigger pull. I would have a smith look at smoothing it up rather than lightning the trigger pull.
 
#7 ·
I put a set of Wolff reduced power springs in my 637. The reduced hammer spring and trigger return spring gave me a DA pull weight that averaged between 7 and 8 lbs. It's also much smoother now, all the way through the pull. Installation was simple and the spring pack cost only about 15 bucks.

The only caveat is that the single action pull is down to around 2.5 lbs. I'm considering bobbing the hammer to remove the single action pull alltogether. Haven't doen it yet though. I would never cock the hammer in a defensive situation anyway - sound advice whether or not your trigger has been altered.

Reliability is 100% with everything I've tried, including Speer 135 gr +P Gold Dot short barrel, loads from Magtech, Black Hills, CCI, etc. No FTFs because of the lighter spring weight. From everything I've read, FTFs start happenign when you start cutting coils off a stock hammer spring, rather than going with a full-length spring of a lighter weight.

Anyway, if you switch springs and don't like the pull or don't get 100% reliability, you're only out $15 and can replace the factory springs in 10 minutes.
 
#8 ·
Do Not Suffer With A Bad Heavy Trigger On Your Carry

You'll never shoot to the best of your ability with it.

I probably would not bob the hammer unless you intend to carry it around in your pocket.
You may want to have that hammer there some day when the DooDoo Hits The Fan and you need to cock that hammer for an ultra~careful shot.

You probably do not need to be at all concerned about "cylinder end shake" with any new S&W revolver and not for a newer carry gun.

Get a "carry trigger and action job" done which will lighten things up a bit & smooth out the trigger pull without taking things to competition extremes.

You probably will not want to pay for a full blown trigger and action job on a carry firearm.
It's not very necessary.

These (below) might help you out.


S&W Action/Trigger Job Click Here

Also Click Here
 
#9 ·
A Light trigger pull is not as important as a SMOOTH pull.
A good smith can do wonders with a simple trigger polish job.

Fortunately , my only S&W came with a great trigger.



:biggrin:
 
#10 ·
I Would Be Careful...

OMO...on the trigger jobs...
But smoother is always better...

Stay alert...stay safe!

ret:urla9ub:
 
#11 ·
Good thoughts and input. My pull is really hard and makes it hard to place the second round near the first. I found that I did better when I put my finger further through the trigger guard and used the main joint crease on my trigger. Still, I believe I could be far more accurate with a smoother and lighter trigger. I agree I wouldn't want to pay as much for the trigger/action job as a new gun.

I'm also intrigued by the idea of just changing the springs. If that would lighten the pull, that would be great.

thanks for all of the advise. I think I'll just check around so see if I can find someone local who can do this for me and I won't worry about it past that point.
Thanks and God Bless
Gideon
 
#12 ·
Just remember, S&W's trigger weight is set high to guarentee successful ignition of any round put into the gun. The lighter the trigger pull, the less of a guarentee you begin to have, and this is not limited to clipped springs. Any light trigger pull will decrease the odds. The hammer spring of a S&W revolver is different than that of any semiautomatic. It's a leaf spring, not coil. When you begin to decrease tention on the spring (by turning the spring tentioning screw), you will begin to effect the way the spring can properly stack weight. Also, the spring must be at a certain arch (or degree of bend) to properly work. This will be the difference between smacking the firing pin, and actually driving the pin into the primer. If want to reduce your trigger weight, you're going to have to buy aftermarket reduced power springs. They were heat tempered to work properly (to get that degree of bend) at that specific weight.
If you can get the gun to discharge using a sub 4lbs weight, more power to you. My carry 66 has factory weight. I just began squeezing a tennis ball to develop finger/hand strength.
 
#25 ·
The hammer spring of a S&W revolver is different than that of any semiautomatic. It's a leaf spring, not coil.
Sorry mate, but the S&W 637 in question (and I believe all j-frames - could be wrong) have coil hammer springs. Makes the switch that much easier.

And, as far as the reliability issue goes, I have to restate that the Wolff reduced-power spring pack only has 1 hammer spring, and several trigger return springs. Since the hammer spring is what sends the hammer into the primer, and there's only 1 in the kit, it's pretty foolproof. I put in the medium trigger return spring which suited me just fine. Like I said, 100% ignition with every factory load I've tried since the change.

Now, bobbing the hammer will reduce its mass and therefore momentum, so after I bob the hammer i will have to do a complete retest (again) to ensure reliability. That's why I've put it off so far.
 
#13 ·
No, but I've done trigger work on 3 of my J-frames.

It isn't hard to put in a spring kit and lightly (emphasis: LIGHTLY) polish the rebound slide.

Any light trigger pull will decrease the odds.
I've significantly reduced the weight on mine, but they are still reliable even with CCI and Winchester primers.

Yes, you can cut the springs too much, to the point where only Federal primers will work. But you don't have to go that far and you can significantly lighten the pull but still maintain reliability. These days, the factory trigger pulls are not what they used to be (or should be).
 
#16 · (Edited)
No, but I've done trigger work on 3 of my J-frames.

It isn't hard to put in a spring kit and lightly (emphasis: LIGHTLY) polish the rebound slide.

I've significantly reduced the weight on mine, but they are still reliable even with CCI and Winchester primers.

Yes, you can cut the springs too much, to the point where only Federal primers will work. But you don't have to go that far and you can significantly lighten the pull but still maintain reliability. These days, the factory trigger pulls are not what they used to be (or should be).
You're right about installing the spring kit, it isn't hard at all. You just need a few minutes and some simple hand tools. Perhaps I've become jaded from shooting ICORE and IPSC revolver, and seeing people have lowered down their trigger pull to to the point the gun becomes ineffective. Bang, Bang, Click, Bang, Click, Click. I know, because I used to be one of them.
I don't doubt that you have lowered the pull, and that's great if it works for you.
I for one, would not want to take a chance like that. With my CCW revolvers, I don't plan on making head shots at Bianchi Cup, 50 yard distances.
If I'm in a confrontation at that distance, the last thing the BG will see are the souls of my Converse Chucks as I run out of there. I do agree with polishing and smoothing out the action.
However, I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree about everything else.
 
#14 ·
A Few Harmless Things To Try

BEFORE you send your pistol off & spend $$$.

Buy a replacment spring kit from Brownell's.

Use a Spray Contact Cleaner/Degreaser and strip the firearm of all traces of internal lubrication and then Dry Fire the revolver about 200 times & then re~lubricate.

If you do that (and it will NOT hurt a S&W revolver in the least) the internal parts will often friction polish themselves in the most critical "metal to metal" contact areas.
It's an old, safe, gunsmith trick and it usually always helps a bit and with a Smith & Wesson it never hurts the firearm. It's an "ages ago" S&W approved technique for smoothing the internals up a bit.
 
#15 ·
I've had my gunsmith do the job he recommends, which is a spring kit that helps reduce pull a bit, plus his polishing work. The outcome was favorable, it's a bit lighter and much smooter.

It cost me $42 total for parts and labor.

Find someone who has experience and that you trust.
 
#17 ·
+1 to shooting a few hundreds rounds through it.

On my 442 this smoothed the pull tremendously and lightened somewhat.

Worried about the recoil on this little monster with hundreds of rounds? I imagine the same could be done with snap caps in place or empty shell casings and just keep pulling the trigger. Not as much fun, though... ;-)
 
#18 ·
All of my revolvers have visited with Terry Baylor at the Nowlin Gun Company in Claremore, OK. With the exception of one that is stock, he has removed the single action notch and bobbed the hammer. Trigger pull is about 8#s DAO and VERY smooth. He does good work and I'll keep him in my roladex.
 
#20 ·
I had a trigger job done on my S&W620.

The smith made sure what I wanted and warned me of what the result would be.

I wanted a competition gun with a real light trigger pull. He moved it down to about 7 or 8 lbs. When cocked, it will discharge if you think about it hard.

He told me in advance that I would have to use Federal primers to make sure that it functioned properly. He was right. With other ammo, I get the bang, bang, click referred to earlier.

With any ammo I have used that uses Federal primers, its bang every time.

I don't plan to have anything done with my S&W640 because I want a heavy trigger pull for a pocket gun. Using slow aimed fire, I can hit steel plates at 40 feet every time.

Now if I can just do that firing at speed. *sigh*
 
#21 ·
S&W Hint Hint

A lot of the "roughness" associated with a S&W revolver is inside the trigger rebound slide...as the trigger return spring compresses against the machine marks inside the rebound slide - and as the slide moves along that little upright post.

Also the trigger return spring is way heavier than it needs to be to move the trigger forward.

Polishing the hammer strut will do some good also.

So it's really "not so much" a "too heavy" hammer spring that causes Grit/Roughness.

If you buy a VID and watch it you can EASILY do most (if not all) of the work at home without spending any great amount of money for tools.

Let's just say that you can safely get your personal Smith 75 to 80% better/smoother at home without being a gunsmith.
 
#22 ·
my wife s&w m36 pinned barrel has a trigger job and a bob hammer. she loves it and i do all so. my model 60 also has a trigger job and a bob hammer. hard to beat a good trigger job and bob hammer on a j-frame. we both still have the s&w wood grips on the guns that came on them.
 
#23 ·
You're right about installing the spring kit, it isn't hard at all. You just need a few minutes and some simple hand tools. Perhaps I've become jaded from shooting ICORE and IPSC revolver, and seeing people have lowered down their trigger pull to to the point the gun becomes ineffective. Bang, Bang, Click, Bang, Click, Click. I know, because I used to be one of them. I don't doubt that you have lowered the pull, and if it works for you that's great.
I for one, would not want to take a chance like that. With my CCW revolvers, I don't plan on making head shots at Bianchi Cup, 50 yard distances. If I'm in a confrontation at that distance, the last thing the BG will see are the souls of my Converse Chucks as I run out of there. I do agree with polishing and smoothing out the action.
If you've installed a standard spring kit with the first spring below factory tension, then you know it is reliable. And you also know that it becomes unreliable when you 1) install the lightest spring and/or 2) start cutting springs. Furthermore, once you've done that, you can easily test reliability, simply by taking the gun and ammo to the range. Go through a few hundred rounds and you'll know whether you put in too light a spring. If you're not getting reliable ignition, put in a heavier spring and test again. Repeat until it works all the time.

With the DA trigger on my 642 and the narrow gutter for a rear sight, I need every advantage I can get. The factory 12-pound trigger is a big impediment to me.
 
#24 ·
Got a trigger job on wifes J Frame. Like night and day difference in how smooth the trigger pull is. Remember unless you have a good Gunsmith do the work they can ruin any gun doing a trigger job
 
#28 ·
I emailed Teddy and this is what he said:

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Teddy
Date: Dec 4, 2006 7:47 AM
Subject: Re: S&W 340PD .357
To: Weller Photography

I have done quite a few of these 340 revolvers.
I can give you a DA of 8 3/4 lbs.

NOW you have about 14 lbs.

action work is $150.
Chrome silicone Hammer spring = $8.00
" " trigger spring = 5.00

Return shipping is approx. $48.00 depending where you are and weight of package and insur. it must go over nite. I only ship fed ex.

If you send me green cash, no checks, i will do it in 1 week.

All my info' is still on my website include price list and shipping info... www.actionsbyt.com

You can call me at

Teddy

Teddy Jacobson - Pistolsmith

www.actionsbyt.com

www.actionsbyt.blogspot.com

www.tacticalknives.blogspot.com

www.actionsbyt.typepad.com

www.actionsbyt.wordpress.com

www.truthaboutparts.blogspot.com

www.commentsbyt.blogspot.com

www.tjofsugarland.blogspot.com
 
#29 ·
Well I continue to hear some interesting thoughts....

One problem I have around here is the lack of gunsmiths, good, bad or otherwise. Most retired and I'm not aware of a single new guy starting out in this part of Missouri.

As for my 637, I've listened to what's being said and I still think a little lighter and smoother pull in DA would make my first shot better unless we're talking near point blank range. I've decided to keep the hammer. If I was going to have it bobbed, I'd send the gun to someone like Gemini customs who know how to re-set up the gun no matter what they do. But again, that's a lot of money and today I actually got to handle a Ruger GP100 4" stainless .357 :image035:

I just have to have that for, well...I'm not sure but I have to have it!

Back to the 637, I might try the spring replacement route at some point but I had to tear into my guns since I have little time and little experience.

thanks all for the inputs!

Gideon
 
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