Super stiff triggers on today's handguns

M

Montana Pete

Guest
I have been shopping for a handgun for my wife, who surprised me by indicating she would like to go with me to the range with her own handgun.

Today I checked out several handguns in a display case at a gun shop.

Both the two guns I click-fired had godawful hard triggers. I don't know the weight of pull, but it was 5 lb. minimum, maybe more.

The counter clerk says that some of these gun companies are worried about liability, and want to create the impression for the courts that their pistols are "safe." So they set up handguns with the most stiff triggers you could imagine. My son got a Redhawk .44 Magnum recently, and the trigger was a terrific hard pull. I told him I would not own such a handgun, unless a gunsmith could cut that trigger pull significantly. When firing his gun at the range, the pull was so hard my hand trembled trying to get the gun to let go.

Can a gunsmith lighten and crisp up the trigger on some of these handguns? Are some brands easier to do this work-over than others? I tried one Charter and one Taurus. And as I mentioned, my son's pride an joy is a Redhawk.

Thanks for any info you can give me. I won't buy a handgun with such a stiff trigger. Unlike some out there, for me, hitting something is important.

Thanks for any advice you can give me--
 
crb--

With all due respect, if the trigger was horrendous, I wonder if it was wise to purchase the gun at all.

I am sure there have to be some handguns out there with decent triggers.

No hard feelings, I hope--
 
Pete,
Are you looking to buy an auto or revolver? Smiths who work on Smith and Wessons should be able to correct the trigger pull on a Taurus revolver. Better yet just look for an older used model Colt Python, they had great triggers right out of the box in double action or single action mode. They cost a bit though. Most of the Kimber Gold MAtch .45 auto's I've tried had decent trigger pulls, around 4 pounds I'd guess, but very crisp.
 
id personally not buy a taurus or charter arms gun. the vast majority of handguns on the market need some trigger work as they come from the box.
 
Handgun trigger jobs

Pete,
A decent pistolsmith can perform a great trigger job but be wary of people who advertise as such because there are many butchers. For Smith & Wesson revolvers a careful posish of sear/hammer contact surfaces along with rebound slide spring and hammer spring replacement will satisfy most people. To go further, polishing the sides of the rebound slide, hammer and trigger along with nylon shims on the hammer and trigger pin will improve pull weight even more. It's critical that the cylinder hand indexes the recess in the cylinder before the hammer is all the way rearward in the cocked mode; otherwise known as timing. Some people who claim to know what they are doing will clip spring coils and stone the critical geometry on the hammer/trigger engagement, which can lead to an unsafe trigger. The trick is to not go too far and only polish, not remove. If you really want to get more info., pick up any of the Jerry Kuhnhausen (spelling?) books on handguns. They are excellent, well illustrated technical drawings and can provide information on what is required. He has books on Colt, Ruger and S&W revolvers along with the 1911 ACP. Most any revolver or semi auto is a variant of one of these designs. If a person claiming to be a reputable pistolsmith is not familiar with the above, I would avoid them like a 'skunked' dog on a rainy day.

Any of the name brand revolvers or autos can have safe trigger jobs that break cleanly and crisply provided the person doing the work knows the work. Any hack can lighten a trigger but the safety aspect may not be there.

Lou Baccino
 
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