Trigger job vs. reliability
Ok, so i have decided to possibly get a trigger job for my 1911a1. I have done some research, found a general price, and found a reputable gunsmith who specializes in 1911s.
question is....Will a trigger job effect reliabilty of the pistol?
I ask because I know that in general, the tighter the tolerances on parts, the more inclined they are to jamming in harsh conditions (i.e. Sand, mudd)
question is....Will a trigger job effect reliabilty of the pistol?
I ask because I know that in general, the tighter the tolerances on parts, the more inclined they are to jamming in harsh conditions (i.e. Sand, mudd)
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A trigger job shouldn't affect reliability.
Basically all you're doing is smoothing the sear/hammer interface and *maybe* slightly changing its angle or contact area.
These changes should have no effect whatever on how reliable the gun is at extracting cartridges, loading new ones, or resisting dirt, etc.
The downside to a BAD trigger job is decreased SAFETY of the gun. If the angles are filed wrong, you can end up with a gun that can go off if jarred, fire more than one round with a trigger pull, etc.0 -
The key is to start with quality parts IMHO you want the rockwell hardness to be close to the same on hammer as the sear . Then you want trigger to be fitted to slide freely in the frame cuts then you want proper angles on the sear nose and correct length of the hammer hooks .018 MIN.. Plus the correct diameter pins and that the frame holes are in the correct place and parallel I have the same Trigger Hammer and Sear on one of my match pistols That I installed over 200,000 rounds ago . I did put in a 4 leaf flat spring but still have a semi roll trigger that will pick up 3&1/2 pounds but hammer will drop at 3&3/4 pounds 100 % of the time. I drilled and tapped the mainspring housing to install a allen screw to adjust trigger pull I check at least once a year to make sure it is legal weight for NRA Bull-Eye matches. a trigger job is a function of parts and the pistol smith . 0 -
Thanks for the replies, glad to know that a quality trigger job will not decrease the reliability of the pistol.
I will not be doing this job myself, so im no to worried about angles or anything like that. I will tell my gunsmith to make sure and use quality parts. Of course based on this guys reputation, I would not expect him to use anything but high quality parts.[:D]0 -
I am not sure what you exactly mean by reliability? Could you define that a little better/
One might gather that you cold be worried of an AD(accidental discharge), in a heated defensive situation. One where you didn't mean for the gun to go off, but are not sure if you pulled the trigger. If this might be the case, I would stay away from any trigger upgrades. It will not cause any functional disorders with your pistol by having a competant pistolsmith do the work for you though.
Best
EDIT:
My Wilson Combat, Protector has a sear break at 3.5 Lbs. I would not hesitate to use it to protect myself from any predators, either for legged, or two. It boils down to a matter of what one is comfortable with. But by no means do you want to do any work on a defensive weapon yourself, and you do not want to shoot your own handloads for anything other than practice.0 -
I'm with tsr....I wouldn't do a "trigger job" on a defensive pistol....that just opens up another area of liability in the event you use it in a defensive shooting....
Now if its a target/comp gun that's different...0 -
quote:Originally posted by shilowar
I'm with tsr....I wouldn't do a "trigger job" on a defensive pistol....that just opens up another area of liability in the event you use it in a defensive shooting....
Now if its a target/comp gun that's different...
Well, I'd say this depends a lot on what you are starting with. [Edit, and what you are ending with too!]
Its possible to have a stock gun with a heavy and gritty pull around 10 lbs, and in a case like that, I wouldn't be too reluctant to improve it even in a defensive gun.
But I definitely would NOT go less than 4-5 lbs on any "defensive" gun.
That's probably a practical real world minimum compromise between trigger comfort and resistance to negligent discharge. In fact 6 pounds (or even a bit more) with a CRISP action is absolutely fine, and if that's what I had, I wouldn't try to change it.
With respect to liability, that depends on the nature of the shooting incident in question. If the shooting is otherwise "clean", it shouldn't make any difference if you have a 10 lb trigger pull or a 2.5 pound one. (In fact you could have BOTH in the very same gun, eg a Smith and Wesson revolver!).
The problem potentially arises in any case of "accidental/negligent" discharge. In any case where a gun goes off "by accident" a lightened trigger pull is potentially an area of serious legal exposure. Don't do that!
And the fact is, that really light triggers *DO* increase the risk of accidental/negligent discharge because of "startle" effect or other causes. So keep it smart, and don't push things with a defensive gun.
Edit:
quote:TSR1965
My Wilson Combat, Protector has a sear break at 3.5 Lbs. I would not hesitate to use it to protect myself from any predators, either for legged, or two. It boils down to a matter of what one is comfortable with. But by no means do you want to do any work on a defensive weapon yourself, and you do not want to shoot your own handloads for anything other than practice
I wouldn't hesitate to use that gun that way either, but to be clear, I think there would be a real-world legal difference between using a stock gun with a light trigger marketed as a "Protector" (ie a defensive gun) for defensive use, and taking a stock gun and modifying it to make a lighter trigger.
If there were an accidental "startle" discharge, for example, and it could be shown that you deliberately lightened the trigger pull on your gun to less than the "standard" on such guns, you wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on.
Its not just that trigger was light, in a case that revolved around your personal negligence, that YOU made things worse by making the trigger lighter would look REALLY bad.
The plaintiff/prosecutor would say that you reduced the trigger pull below the level that most authorities consider safe, contributing to the discharge. He could probably find several experts to testify to the same, namely that virtually all police and military guns with 3.5 lb triggers would be considered "out of spec" and unsafe for service use, and that in their professional opinions, 3.5lb triggers are "too light", for exactly the reasons that led to your negligent discharge.
The term "hair trigger" would get used, and the jury would intuitively understand the concept. In a case revolving around your personal negligence, this would be an absolute disaster. The plantiffs could even make a "but for" argument: "If only this irreponsible lunatic hadn't deliberately put an unsafe hair trigger in his gun, he wouldn't have fired it negligently and my client's wife wouldn't be a widow, etc".
Conversely, if you bought a gun from a reputable manufacturer labelled explicitly as a "defense" gun, and left it absolutely stock, even if the trigger were a little on the light side, it couldn't be argued that *YOU* made the situation worse by defeating an intrinsic safety measure of the gun. In a civil case that way, the plantiffs could (and might try to) bring in the gun manufacturer for contributory negligence.
In terms of handloads that's a different issue. Handloads for hunting, competition, or target shooting are fine.
Handloads for defensive use are controversial, but I have yet to see or hear of ANY documented case where someone actually got in trouble for an otherwise clean shooting because they used handloads.
If the handloads themselves were otherwise "normal" (ie they're not crazy overpressure rounds or exotic "buckshot" rounds or such), it would be difficult to make an argument that using them was negligent "stick".
That said, its *so* easy and relatively inexpensive to just leave one magazine of commercially manufactured "personal protection" ammo for carry purposes, that you might as well just do it, not give the lawyers anymore "ammunition" and not worry about this further.0
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