Hair Trigger
Another question about my S&W model 19-4. I got the gun from a friend of mine and it appears to be in very good condition. The only problem is in the single action the hammer will release with very little and I mean VERY little pressure. It works OK in double action mode. Does the 19-4 have a trigger spring or does anyone have a suggestion as to the probkem. Thanks.
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I am not an S&W expert but the 19-4 probably came out in the late 1970s and back then the idea of product liability and suing a firearms manufacturer were still only the dream of ambulance chasing attorneys. Revolvers back then often came with what would now be considered a "Hair trigger" and no one thought a thing about it. If you want to have the SA trigger pull made heavier then a good gunsmith could do that but he will probably be shaking his head as to why. These days trigger are so heavy out of the box that you are lucky to even get a new pistol to fire when using two fingers! 0 -
I had a Mdl 66 made in 1979 that had be "lightened". What had happened was that the sear had been stoned so there was very little friction, however the stoner had angled the sear ever so slightly, so that if it was cocked and then the hammer was pushed forward, it would push the sear out of the way and fall/fire. I disassembled it and re-stoned the sear, sutting the angle back into the hammer so that when pushed, the sear was pushed back into the hammer. It still was very light due to the smoothness, but was much safer. 0 -
On an empty gun if you can push the hammer forward when fully cocked and it falls it's wrong. If it stays cocked enjoy. I have N frames that most people think are 1/4 ounce to 1/4 pound let offs. I can hang the 3.5 pound gun on the trigger in full cocked single action. 0 -
Most of those older S&W's, have great trigger's in single action, which are about 3 pounds, with no take up. Like Mark said, that was before our litigation happy world.
That said, even the newer ones, have decent single action pulls, that should not be expected to be anywhere near the poundage of the double action pull. That is why the double action revolver evolved, so one could have a fast running gun, for close up and personal defense, and also have a very accurate shot too, in single action, for target and hunting.
Your gun is fine, as long as you cannot push the hammer forward, when it is fully cocked in single action.
Also, something to consider...some of those revolver's have a wider, "target" trigger. That means, the percieved force to pull the trigger, seems less, as it is spread out more across a wider surface area, than a thinner trigger. If your gun has a WIDE trigger, you might be able to find a good pistolsmith, who can replace it with a thin trigger.
One last word, about the Model's 19, and 66...if you shoot them a lot on the range, use lower power loads like 38's, and save the heavy 357's for defense, and very little target work. Those are K framed revolver's, and will loosen up, under a steady diet of heavy magnum loads, and have been known to sometimes split forcing cones.
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I have one that I had to send back to the factory. It took so little pressure that the trigger would push your finger forward and the hammer would fall but the gun would not fire. Worked fine in double action, but single action was iffy. I figured I would be unhappy with the trigger pull when I got the gun back, but was pleased with it, still has a light trigger pull but works fine now. This was several years ago, I bought the gun new, so no work had been done on it to cause the problem.
Not sure how it would be these days.0 -
quote:Originally posted by msmalley1227
Does the 19-4 have a trigger spring or does anyone have a suggestion as to the probkem. Thanks.
S&W revolvers have a part known as a rebound spring, which - in addition to other things - moves the trigger back into it's forward position. Shade tree gunsmiths will often clip coils from this spring to decrease pressure required on the trigger to achieve hammer fall.
However, too light of a rebound spring will result in serious action timing problems - often sporadically.
This spring should have 17 coils and on each end it should be ground flat. In other words the end of that coiled stock shouldn't be blunt.
One way or another...
As stated, check for 'push-off' of the hammer. Cock the action, then apply forward/upward pressure against the rearmost edge of hammer spur using your thumbnail. If you can cause the hammer to fall in this manner you have issues which need to be addressed by a competent gunsmith.
EDIT:
quote:Originally posted by iceracerx
There is a screw @ the bottom front of the grip frame (you may have to remove the grips). It is common for people to unscrew this a few turns to lighten the pressure on the main spring which lightens the trigger pull.I agree that the strain screw should be socked down tight, but backing this off primarily effects the DA pull.
In SA mode the mainspring is already fully tensioned and only supplies friction resistance to the sear surface. In addition to overcoming this the trigger is having to compress the rebound spring.0 -
There is a screw @ the bottom front of the grip frame (you may have to remove the grips). It is common for people to unscrew this a few turns to lighten the pressure on the main spring which lightens the trigger pull.
I'd check the screw first. It should be turned in until it's tight, then check the trigger pull. If this doesn't solve the problem, you should take the revolver to a pistol smith that knows S&W revolvers.0 -
If the other suggestions fail and you want to get into the guts of the revolver the hammer of the K-frames (all S&Ws for that matter) has a fly/sear for DA and a cut notch for SA. some Bubbas would go in and stone the SA notch to smooth it and would wind up making it shallower at the same time. If this has been done there is little that can be done to fix it, the case hardening of the surface has been removed and the carbon steel underneath will wear faster than normal hardened hammers. A good S&W 'smith can give you better guidance - maybe there has just been a buildup of crud in the sear notch over the years and a good cleaning will take care of it. 0 -
I have a 629-2, which is mechanically identical to the 19-4. It also has a very light trigger. And I can trace the ownership of this revolver back to the factory. It was never worked on. They came with very light triggers (in SA mode of course). I'd guess mine runs at about 6 oz. or maybe a hair less. It's the lightest trigger of any firearm I own although I do have a rifle here in the house that I'm keeping for a friend that has about a 2 oz. trigger.
There's no pre-travel on that S&W trigger I have either. It's instant on. When you put your finger on it in SA mode, you better be prepared for it to fire.
But that gives the revolver great accuracy out to at least 175 yards with me shooting it (and I'm sure better than that with a real expert behind the wheel.0 -
I checked the pistol in the single action mode and when it is cocked, simply applying light pressure to the hammer wil make it fall forward and fire if loaded. Guess a trip to the local gunsmith is in order. Thanks 0
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