S&W Short Action Trigger

[pgh george]

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to shoot a 5 Screw 38 S&W at a Steel Match.

The gun was modified with a Douglass Slab side Barrel, a Bobbed hammer etc.

I dry fired this double action only revolver before shooting the rack of Steel,

and I fell in

I didn't know why but the trigger stroke was much shorter than any revolver I

had ever shot. I had to find out why this trigger was so sweet.

The gun's owner filled me in on the mystery.

This S&W had a short action trigger, the arc of the hammer travel is 40 degrees,

vs 60 degrees of a normal S&W hammer travel arc. He went on to explain that this short action trigger,

was a S&W factory option and was only available on 4 and 5 screw guns,

and has not been produced in 50 years.

I asked him if anyone has made an aftermarket Short Action Trigger for later model

S&W revolvers, and his reply was not that he was aware of.

If you know of anyone producing the parts, or a Smith that can duplicate this I would love to hear about it.

Thanks

Edited August 24, 2010 by pgh george

[MrBorland]

Aren't all Smiths since 1950 (and all K Masterpieces) short action? There was a rare factory Very Short Action? If so, I bet S&W purists would howl at the thought of cutting that hammer (I assume you meant the gun was double action only). Sounded like a nice gun, though.

Maybe naive, but couldn't the action on any revolver be shortened by trimming back the DA sear a wee bit?

But what's the advantage to a shorter action? Quicker, theoretically, but does it make that much difference in reality? Maybe the action on this gun was sweet because it was simply well-tuned? If the trigger breaks earlier, and the hammer has less travel, I'm wondering if factory pull weight is stiffer to confer more hammer strike energy (the technical term being "oompf")and whether this affects the extent to which they could be tuned.

Tom

[Toolguy]

All the above are valid points Tom.

[Bill Nesbitt]

Just having a good trigger job on a S&W revolver makes it feel like it has a shorter action. The first good action job I had was done by Al Greco. I thought he had modified it to a short action until I compared it to the hammer arc of stock revolvers.

[Bubber]

We had a short discussion about (Roller Kits) a few years back. A search will bring up some interesting stuff. The model 10's worked well with the rollers but the larger N frame did not fair as well. I had to put too much spring tension to make it light off the primer reliably. A good smith can shange the geometrics of the trigger sear contacts to make the pull longer or shorter. I am not well versed in the proceedure so I don't try it. And as Grand B. alluded to it is a trade off in distance vs trigger pull. later rd

[pgh george]

Tom,

Yes I meant to say Double action only. (now corrected).

When the owner was answering my questions, he brought out 2 more Smiths -

to both visually show the hammer travel and dry fire for comparison.

So now there are 3 guns on the table, of which he has done the trigger work on.

He went on to show the differences in the arc between the 3.

Two of the guns had the short action ( or very short action) - the 3rd did not.

You could see the difference in arc travel. He mentoned that it takes a bit of adjustment

on his part, to get used to the gun that does not have the short action - when he shoots it

because of the stroke ( this gun is a 45 revover he uses for pin shoots).

That was when I asked, can you duplicate that action for your 45 revolver and he said

no, for the reasons in my original post.

This gentleman - that shoots and tunes his own guns, placed very well at Palmyra this year,

so I believe he knows of what he speaks.

I asked my question to learn and share what I have seen, and look forward to everyone's input and opinon.

Thanks

[MrBorland]

Very interesting, George. I'm not an expert on these matters, and it's always interesting to hear what rare variants S&W may have put out over the years. I'm betting the folks at the S&W forum would have helpful input as well.

Do you recall if the non-short action revolver was very old? Just wondering if it was a pre-war long action or an actual standard short action. Visually, these have the spur at the top of the hammer rather than in the middle. 'Course, if all were rendered DAO, it'd be tough to tell.

Tom

[TonyT]

I am not aware of the S&W factory offering a short action trigger. The post WWII actioins have a much shorter action than the early pre WWII models. S&W did offer a factory single action oly trigger in their K frame target revolvers for a short time.

[gcambi]

George

pm me on this! was it a L-F shooter?

greg

[Carmoney]

It is fairly common to find S&Ws that have been similarly worked to create a shorter hammer arc. It is also fairly common that their owners don't care for the heavier action, questionable carry-up, and stacky feel that this modification (factory or aftermarket) tends to create. I have encountered several situations where the owners want the altered parts replaced to return things to their original geometry.

Tread cautiously.