Religious Shooter Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 I've fitted slides, barrels, cut the frames and fitted grip safeties, cut the frame for a supported barrel, and some other stuff. But I've never done a trigger job. I always gave it to my friend who did OK work for $35. Now my Para needs a work-up and the factory SVI I just bought needs work too. Shopping around for reputable smiths I got $100-$160 quotes for trigger jobs. So just for labor it's $200-$320 maybe $100 in overnight shipping. So screw it, I'm just going to get a jig and learn how to do it myself. It should pay off in the long run since light triggers only last for so long and I can tune it to my liking. Now before I go and do it on a premium sear and hammer, I want to do it on a inexpensive hammer and sear to learn. Can anyone recommend a good and CHEAP sear and hammer to learn how to do trigger jobs on? I was thinking about getting the Chip McCormick hammer and sear for $32.00. http://www.cdnninvestments.com/1911foncolsi.html How about the Masen hammers for $12.50-$22.00 or the Wilson Value Line hammer and sear for $24 and $15? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h4444 Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 My trigger jobs have been done on STI sears and McCormick hammers (Locke, I think),,,,not the cheapest, but they turn out a nice trigger job. Another thing to consider too is getting oversized pins to keep everything in place nice and tight. I used an Ed Brown Jig and some gunsmithin stones (both available at Brownells), without being very aggressive at all, I get pulls that are crisp and around 3 lbs which is exactly were I want them...... I don't like the ultralight pulls for my USPSA guns,,,,I've got one pistol setup with about a 2 lbs pull and I let my smith do that one...... H4444 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wide45 Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 Stay away from the really low end stuff. Re-doing the trigger job every 50 rounds gets old fast. The extra practice is not worth the agravation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougCarden Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 1st of all, get the Marvel/Brownells jig. It does both hammer hooks and sears. I now only use EGW sears, with STI sears a close second. On the last 5 triggers I have done the only thing I have had to do was the secondary angle on the sears, and they only needed a kiss. This is using EGW Koenig hammers with the EGW sears. Geo has a good thing going here! Good luck and if I can do it, you should be fine! DougC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Schwab Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 I usually drop in an EGW sear, Koenig hammer, SV tri-glide sear spring, no fitting and get 1.5-2 lbs, with slight creep at first which seems to go away with some use and Chippy lube. I polish the crap out of the trigger bow, and sometimes the sides of the sear and sides of the hammer (depending on their finish from the factory). AND this trigger job lasts; I have over 7k on my open gun with this trigger job right now. It's rare, but I just dropped the above parts into a Caspian hi-cap frame and got a clean crisp 1.25 lb trigger!! I must say this EGW sear and Koenig hammer where the cleanest I have ever seen, I didn't see the need to polish them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 Bill, Are you using the tri-glide disconnector with that setup? Anybody have experience with how well the SV hammer/sears drop in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Schwab Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 Bill,Are you using the tri-glide disconnector with that setup? That latest one that dropped in at 1.25 lbs was a tri-glide disconnector, but usually I use whatever name brand disconnector I happen to have laying around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newguy Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Eric, the SV hammer and sear did not "drop" into my gun. In fact, it barely worked at all, which surprised me since I thought they were supposed to be very compatible out of the box. The Koenig hammer and EGW mated up the best. I've used the tri-glide disconnector and can't see a difference one way or another. The titanium sear spring is great once it's adjusted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reneet Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Colt factory sear and Clark or Caspian hammer. I am definitely no gunsmith but have sucessfully dropped these parts in @ around 2 lbs with a minimal amount of stoning and sear spring adjustment. Several years ago at the Nationals, Phil Strader was shooting everyone's pistols and making their hammers fall. Gave him mine and he couldn't make it follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNsTeR Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Put an SV sear & hammer in my single-stack. "Dropped in" except for the thumb safety, which needed to be replaced. Breaks at 2.5lbs with no work whatsoever. The break isn't perfectly crisp, more of that rolling-type break that's been talked about here. I'm pretty darn happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Bill,Are you using the tri-glide disconnector with that setup? Anybody have experience with how well the SV hammer/sears drop in? I've done 3 and they drop in fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I simply dropped a Cylinder'n Slide "Ultra-Light" set into my STI. I tweaked the sear spring to get a sweet 2.5# pull. About 5k rounds later I guaged the pull again. The now broken-in parts were measuring 1.5# at the break! In a couple months of hosing away I never had a hammer follow issue with this drop in set at under a 2# pull. I re-tweaked the sear spring to bring the pull back up to a more comfortable 2.5# and it's stayed there ever since. If I needed another hammer/sear combo for a gun, it would be the Ultra-Light Set (hammer, sear, disconnector). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Brownells has an EGW ignition package I haven't seen anywhere else. It includes their awesome hard sear, a matching hammer, a long disconnector, and a sear spring. Only $85 retail, only a fiver more than the Koenig hammer alone, which EGW makes anyway. I figure the sear and generic hammer must be matched as well as the sear and Koenig hammer, so I took a chance on it. I'll report back when it's up and running. Brownells # 296-000-069 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 That's an appealing set of parts Erik, my P14 could benefit from something other than factory parts....hmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonub Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 my old sv hammer broke when the pistol fell and the ground hit it. I just dropped in a koenig hammer and pull is consistent at 1.2-1.3 pounds. shot more that 3000 rounds and no follow whatsoever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Rogers Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 As a new guy on the block, what I am AMAZED about in this thread is that no one jumped on anyone else about the dire, unacceptable results that would occur if one even so much as thought about, much less attempted, sear work. I mean, that was a completely given response elsewhere. Like it's something NO ONE can undertake without the secret trigger smith handshake of sear work. Here, people seem to truely believe folks are intellegent and capable. I like this site a lot... -KR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dream Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 I have to vote for the Cylinder'n Slide set. They drop in and with a little spring tunning and adjustment on hammer, you can have around a 2lb trigger job with little creep, slight overtravel, crips break, that last. I have over 25,000 rounds on mine and it still breaks crisp at 2lbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38super Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 I agree with Bill S combination. Dropped in the Extreme sear, Koenig hammer, included the SV disconnector and titanium 3 finger spring. First pull was 28 oz on a Hunter Force Gauge. A little bucking took off 2 oz. STI frame BTW. Called it good. You mileage may vary, manufacturing variation can wreak havoc on the best parts. I've had trigger jobs take 15 minutes and others 2 evenings. Just the way it is some days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnshapiro Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 After reading this thread, I've ordered the C&S kit and an S_I trigger and spring. Should be in Saturday or Monday. I'll get it in and report back. I don't have a trigger pull gauge to measure though, so I'll be making a guess on pull weight. Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnshapiro Posted September 4, 2004 Share Posted September 4, 2004 WOW! Everything came in today. I had to do some filing and then polishing on the STI trigger to get it to fit into the gun, then some adjustments to the bow. That took a little while! Through a pretty strong magnifier, I went over the sear/hammer engagement. The angles were correct and I stoned just a touch to smooth them up. I pretty much left it alone. Polished the sides of the hammer too. I put in the C&S hammer, sear, and disconnect. Then the STI sear spring. Had to bend out the leg that contacts the grip safety. Got it all in and the gun assembled. There was a touch of "creep" in the trigger pull, though it was very smooth. I decided to leave it alone. This way it feels just the same as my cowboy guns. Everything seems to work and I am estimating about a 1 1/2 pound trigger. It feels exactly like my Vaquero's and that's what they are set for. It's a LOT better than what it was. I think the trigger had been about 4 pounds before. Tomorrow I'll get to the range and see how it goes. I don't expect hammer follow on doubles as the sear lockup is very good. Looks like a good kit and I think it'll work fine. More tomorrow after the range trip. ----- Back from the range. They had a pull gauge. I was pretty close. It's a 1 3/4 pound trigger. Worked great! No hammer follow. Doubles worked. Everything did like it was supposed to. The gun was much nicer to shoot. I'm real happy with the results. Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerome Poiret Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Brownells has an EGW ignition package I haven't seen anywhere else. It includes their awesome hard sear, a matching hammer, a long disconnector, and a sear spring. Only $85 retail, only a fiver more than the Koenig hammer alone, which EGW makes anyway. I figure the sear and generic hammer must be matched as well as the sear and Koenig hammer, so I took a chance on it. I'll report back when it's up and running. Erik, Have you installed the combo yet ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.40AET Posted January 1, 2005 Share Posted January 1, 2005 Brownells has an EGW ignition package I haven't seen anywhere else. It includes their awesome hard sear, a matching hammer, a long disconnector, and a sear spring. OK.. I bought it. To call it "drop in" as in, drop it in a box with your gun to mail it to the gunsmith. I would not want to use this without having it professionally tuned. Oh yeah, it weighs 13 grams. I don't know the weight of the hammer effects things, but I hope that I didn't make a mistake for my next gun. Good luck Erik. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral404 Posted January 1, 2005 Share Posted January 1, 2005 I have two Cylinder and Slide fire groups in my STIs. I used SV in my SV. C&S makse really good stuff as does SV. I believe some sears need to have the thumb safety worked on and some do not. You might want to investigate that also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmon Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 extreme engineering makes the parts for C&S, save some cash, fire the middle man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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