Revolver Trigger Lightening

[Abraham]

I have a Ruger SP 101 in .357 magnum.

While I don't have any problem pulling the trigger, my wife does.

I've no clue what it's trigger pull weight is, but I'm going to guess +12 lbs.

Can a good gun smith lower it to say 3.5 lbs or slightly less or is there a threshold a revolver simply can be lowered...?

Thanks!

P.S. Is doing such a thing a major undertaking for a gun smith thus requiring a big buck expenditure or is it a simple uncomplicated undertaking?

[JustSomeOldGuy]

I have a Ruger SP 101 in .357 magnum.

While I don't have any problem pulling the trigger, my wife does.

I've no clue what it's trigger pull weight is, but I'm going to guess +12 lbs.

Can a good gun smith lower it to say 3.5 lbs or slightly less or is there a threshold a revolver simply can be lowered...?

Thanks!

P.S. Is doing such a thing a major undertaking for a gun smith thus requiring a big buck expenditure or is it a simple uncomplicated undertaking?

Single action pull - maybe
Double action pull - No Way Jose. Best you will get is maybe 8 pounds.

Google "trigger spring kit ruger sp101"

Ruger revolvers are pretty modular, so dropping in a spring kit will take a smith less time than the 1/2 hour minimum he will charge you labor for .....
If he does a bunch of stoning and polishing, time and price go up.

Lastly, test the revised ruger thoroughly to make sure it still touches off the carry ammo you use.

[Soccerdad1995]

I have the same gun. (Actually my second of the model. The first was lost in a divorce).

I'm assuming you are referencing the DA trigger pull as the SA pull is pretty light out of the box. Personally, I would not want the DA pull to be that low on a revolver for safety reasons. That said, you can lighten the pull quite a bit by switching out the hammer spring and the trigger return spring. There are spring kits available from all of the usual sources.

I switched the springs on mine and polished up the internal contact surfaces, along with installing some hammer shims. That, plus just pulling the trigger (a lot) gave me a nice smooth, and light trigger in both SA and DA. It is now my 16 year old daughter's favorite gun. Although she still finds the DA pull too hard and always cocks it first at the range.

I found this gun easy to work on (about on par with switching out parts on a Glock), so you might well be able to make this a DIY job if you want. One word of warning, with the lightest springs installed, I was getting light primer strikes on my .357 range ammo, so I moved to the next higher springs.

[RPBrown]

I am seeing factory trigger pulls from 11.5 to 13. As was stated above, on DA, about 7.5-8 would be a good day with a new spring kit

[Abraham]

Thanks all!

I neglected to mention this is a spurless hammer model, so it's strictly DA only.

[Soccerdad1995]

Thanks all!

I neglected to mention this is a spurless hammer model, so it's strictly DA only.

Ahh, that makes more sense. The problem is that you don't want to go too low on the DA pull with a revolver, even if it were possible. I'm thinking a new SP101 with exposed hammer might fit the bill nicely (just in case you are looking for an excuse to buy another gun)

Seriously though, I loved the gun before, but I really love it now that I have worked on the trigger. Taking it apart and seeing how solid every part was just made me love it all the more. There is something nice about seeing nothing but solid metal parts in this age of plastic guns.

[Abraham]

Soccerdad1995 ,

I bought this revolver a bit before getting my first CHL (many, many moons ago) thinking it would be my EDC gun. I wanted a spur-less for smooth extraction out of a holster, that is, it wouldn't get caught on clothing. At the time of purchase, I didn't think about it's limited ammo capacity or weight...though not a rookie to firearms, my overall handgun knowledge at that time was limited...

Now, I rather wish I'd not purchased the spur-less model. I'd now prefer a standard hammer I could pull back. And, as time passed and my handgun knowledge evolved, I found I wouldn't carry it as an EDC as I passed through a couple of semi-autos of various calibers and eventually found my EDC to be a Glock 19. The SP 101 is now a house gun. A 5 round revolver doesn't have the capacity I like...but it has a place in the rotation. It's quite a beautiful piece of equipment and isn't to be sniffed at, but I recognize it's a limited capacity firearm...

At one point, I changed out the grips for Hogue nylon monogrips which are far superior to the factory grips it came with and are quite inexpensive too. $20.00 or so.

All of that aside, I'd like the trigger pull weight reduced and if that's only to 8 lbs that'll be better than it currently is...unless it's going to cost an arm an a leg, in which case I'll live with it as is...

Alas, doing it myself, nah.

I can do a few minor things and have, most recently, removing the rear sight from my Browning Buckmark, then installing a Tactical Solutions Picatinny Rail, after which I mounted a Red Dot Sight, then zeroing to great effect, and other minor efforts, but fine tuning a trigger is beyond my ability unless someone far more knowledgeable than me is looking over my shoulder giving me directions.

[txhighlander]

You could always trade for one with a hammer spur, there are a few people myself included that likes a spur- less hammer.

[Soccerdad1995]

A trade might make sense. I'm also thinking that you might be able to swap out the hammer. It's a pretty modular gun.

Brownells lists the hammer assembly for $31. They also have the spring kits I mentioned earlier for $9 - $10 depending on manufacturer. Believe me, if I can work on this gun without screwing it up, then it should be really easy for any qualified gunsmith. And they have to remove the hammer to replace the springs, so changing the hammer would be zero incremental effort, unless it needed some fitting or something.

I'd recommend a visit to a good gunsmith for a quote.

Brownells page:

http://www.brownells.com/search/index.h ... &ksubmit=y

[hawk44]

Something I didn't see suggested was have her try it using both index fingers to pull the trigger. Remember that hard trigger pull is your safety on a wheel gun.
Hope this helps

[Abraham]

Thanks everyone for your help!

I really appreciate it!