[Orange Boy]

I don't have a trigger gauge and I'm not very experienced at judging trigger pull weights. I have two firearms. A Smith & Wesson 642 and a Kahr CW9. Can anyone give me an idea of what the stock factory trigger pull weights are? I'm guessing the Smith might be 9 or 10 and the Kahr somewhat less...but I'm not really sure.

 

[Ram Rod]

http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulletin/defensive-carry-guns/55408-s-w-model-642-trigger-job.html
CW9 trigger pull

 

[gasmitty]

I took a look at some vintage test reports in Gun Tests magazine. For S+W J-frame snubs two DAOs had trigger pulls of 12 and 14 pounds. Six others had DA trigger pulls of 13-16 pounds and SA pulls of 3-5 pounds.

The Kahr P9 (same trigger as the CW9) measured 8.5 pounds in the GT test.

All those are measured right out of the box. I think a 12-pound pull on a 20-ounce gun is a lot!

But remember - trigger weight by itself is insufficient to judge how "good" a trigger is. The length of the trigger stroke, creep, crispness of letoff, overtravel, stacking - all those characteristics need to be considered as well, and many are subjective.

 

[Orange Boy]

Thanks for the info gasmitty. The 642 is fairly new and I dry fired it about 1000 times to smooth the spring out. As it's a EDC for me, I'm not overly concerned about the hefty pull, but I do wish it wasn't quite as long of a stroke until it fired.

 

[mr surveyor]

my 637 has been shot little, carried a lot, a dry fired a lot. When I first got it about 18 months ago, the trigger was terrible...gritty and probably around that 8 pound mark. After working it, it's now down to around 6.2 pounds DA, and 3.2 pounds SA, and smooth as silk. My CW9 purchased about 3 months ago, has had only about 500 rounds through it, and as many dry fires, and the trigger now breaks at a very smooth 6 pounds. These are the guns I carry most, and having triggers on different platforms with the same general feel is pretty nice. Both have wonderful DA triggers now.

surv

 

[Orange Boy]

Ram Rod...thanks...got a chuckle out of the 642 link. The only mod I made was a square spot of fluorescent orange paint on the front sight blade. I did it the same day I bought it. Guess the old eyes ain't what they used to be for a lot of us. :wink:

 

[LenS]

My 642 was ~14#. I had a local gunsmith smooth it out and at 9# with a smooth pull it's a lot better shooter.

 

[cj]

My recent model 442 started out at about 14#. I dry-fired a bunch and dropped a Wolff spring kit in, resulting in a smoother 12# or so pull.

My measuring method isn't fancy, either. I got a cheap Chinese 'hanging scale' (the type with a metal hook), make a paracord loop around the trigger inside the guard, attach the scale to the other end and pull straight back. After a few pulls, I get an idea of roughly how much the max is before the break. Not perfect or high end, but cost less than $10. And I can use it to weigh my carryon when traveling .