Wheelgun Wednesday: Tune that Trigger! -The Firearm Blog

One of the biggest negatives of double action (and some single action) revolvers can be a long, heavy or gritty trigger pull. The good thing is, you don’t have to live with these conditions forever. Do you have to send your sixgun in for an expensive trigger tuning job? Not necessarily.

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For more technically and mechanically advanced wheelgunners, smoothing and tuning an action can be a relaxing way to pass the time while vastly improving one’s trigger pull. For others, there are relatively easy drop-in upgrades that can help make that old sixgun feel like a new firearm in regards to the trigger pull and action feel. Today, we will be looking at a few options for common revolver platforms.

Note – most of these mods are simple, but involve removing the side plate and replacing factory parts. If you’re more wary about your warranty than your trigger pull, no need to read on.

The Springs are the thing

For many revolvers, the main hangups in your trigger pull, especially in regards to weight, can be the springs. Fortunately, there are companies like Brownells, Apex Tactical, Wolff, and Galloway Precision that offer spring kits for a wide variety of revolvers, including single actions. Though removing the stock springs take some finagling (Galloway sells a tool kit to speed things up a little) swap-out can take as little as half an hour and can reduce your trigger pull by 15-20%. This is the easiest and most cost-effective way to upgrade your trigger pull.

Wolff Springs for Taurus at Brownells

Brownells Spring Kit for S&W Revolvers

Triggers and Hammers

A lot of firearms parts these days are made out of MIM (metal injection molding) or parts that have been machined, but not necessarily polished. While this can keep costs down on production guns, it can also contribute to sub-optimal trigger pulls. There are plenty of aftermarket hammer, hammer nose, and trigger kits available from companies such as Power Custom, Apex Tactical, and others. Some of these feature pinned sears and stirrups which are typically “Performance Center” level upgrades.

Apex Tactical Trigger at Brownells

Be aware, however, that some of these aftermarket hammers do not have a single action step, and may convert your revolver into DAO. Also be aware that while many drop-in hammers do not require fitting, quite a few aftermarket revolver triggers do require some form or another of fitting.

Power Custom Hammer Kit at Brownells

That’s it for this week, but keep tuned to TFB’s Wheelgun Wednesday for more historic, new, or just plain cool revolvers and revolver shooting tips.

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