nhglyn Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 If I want to make the pull of my trigger lighter which leg of the sear spring do I bend and which way do I bend it? I've never had to do this before so thought I would ask before I start experimenting. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Don't mess with the left leg unless you know what you're doing. The middle one can be used to lighten trigger pull, but there might be other issues (though not as bad as what could happen with the left leg). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Do you have a GOOD trigger pull gauge? If not don't even go there, tuning a sear spring without one is a PITA and a BAD idea if you don't know what you are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhglyn Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 Thanks for the input, yes I do have a trigger pull guage. I want to make just a very minor change in the pull weight, nothing major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDELLCUSTOM Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 by lightening the tension on your left and middle fingers of the sear spring you will lower the trigger pull but you will also increase the the possibility of hammer follow, trigger bounce,doubling and damaging the angles on the sear and hammer which all may lead to an unsafe condition in your pistol. a light trigger pull can be achieved by having the the proper height hammer hooks that are also perfectly square and having the sear properly mated to the hammer with the correct primary and secondary angles and also the correct amount of takeup and overtravel, then the proper amount of tension needs to be applied on the sear by the left finger of the spring and the proper amount of tension with the middle finger of the spring which applies pressure to the disconnect which in turn pushes on the back of the trigger bow to return the trigger forward. I try not to school people on trigger work without knowing if they fully understand how it needs to be done for the firearm to work safe and reliably. I know this may not be the answer you were looking for but i thought i'd add my 2 cents anyway just to make sure you know that a good trigger job involves more than just bending springs or changing spring tension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhglyn Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 Thanks Dan, I will leave things well enough alone. I was hoping that a tiny bend of one of the leafs would get what I want but I see it is much more involved and I do not want to srew things up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Hey Dan, don't you want more business? You should let people ruin their parts so you can sell them new parts as well as well as the labor to properly fit them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDELLCUSTOM Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 (edited) Scott, Believe me, i can't take any more work right now, this 7 days a week is killing me. I have not even shot my own gun since last summer. I have petitioned the government to extend the week to 8 days, that way i can get closer to 100 hours a week in the shop and my wife and dogs will not even recognize me if and when i come in the house . I am looking for an apprentice but i've been told i am too hard to work for so i guess i'll just go it alone. When Paul W. was up here over the summer i tried to teach him a few things but as in another post i mentioned that his fascination with the papertowel holder and the air hose pretty much kept him busy OUCH !! , I know i'll pay for that comment. Glyn, get yourself some literature on the 1911 and find what you can on trigger jobs and read up on it. that's the best way to get an understanding of the components and their functions. once you understand how it works and the tools you need to do it right, you'll be on your way. I think i've seen in other posts that some of the gunsmiths on this site offer classes and maybe if i ever get some free time i will too. Edited March 3, 2006 by BEDELLCUSTOM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 ROFL, I needed that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCK Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Hey Dan, thanks for not letting Paul do my trigger . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDELLCUSTOM Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 actually in Paul's defense, he can do a damn nice trigger job himself and does them for quite a few people down in florida. I am concerned about the fact he wears his hockey helmet at the dinner table and has to use plastic utensils to eat his food so not to injure himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue edge Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 ONE MORE TIME DAN IS THE MAN!!!!!!!! but in the war of words, I think Paul has you covered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Ok so you guys want the truth about the paper towel holder and the air hose. Dan I'll refund the money you gave me to keep my mouth shut. So I was up at Dans and he was showing me all kinds of cool stuff about how he builds guns. Then it comes time to do a slide-to-frame fit. Next thing I know he brings out this little mouse, he named him Mr. Bojangles, something about being in jail and finding a circus mouse. I was very perplexed what Dan was doing with a mouse. Well to make a long story short and to keep it some what clean, the lube Dan uses for his slide-to-frame fit is very unique. Well without going into details the poor little mouse got stuck where the sun don't shine on Dan'o. Dans started to dance around like a little ferry yelling "the Brithish are coming, teh British are coming", or something to that effect. Scared for the mouses saftey I rushed over, grabbed the air hose, dawned my hockey helmet, shoved the paper towel holder around Dans neck to hold him still, and proceeded to shoot the air down Dans mouth so the poor lil Mr. Bojangles could be set free. Sure enough, out shot Mr. Bojangles, and I even think I herd him yell "Armageddon", as he flew across the room. So there you have it. The only advice I have is to wipe down your new pistol before handling it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 If I want to make the pull of my trigger lighter which leg of the sear spring do I bend and which way do I bend it? I've never had to do this before so thought I would ask before I start experimenting. Thanks. This stuff ain't rocket science. A slight rearward bend on the left leg of the sear spring will probably give you what you're trying to accomplish. Try it, test-fire it, adjust it again if need be. If your hammer hooks and sear angles are properly set up and prepped, careful adjustment of the sear spring is the primary method of dialing in the desired trigger pull weight. Remember, you can't learn to do stuff yourself if you don't dig in and try. Being able to perform simple gun work is an extremely valuable commodity to the high-volume shooter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDELLCUSTOM Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 (edited) I knew the backlash from Paul was gonna be painful but i had no idea how much of a verbal pounding i would have to suffer through. I think maybe i lost this one. Now what was this thread about again?, i think we need to get back to the topic of this discussion. Mike, it may not be rocket science but i thought it might be important to let people know what they may be in for if they're not sure what they're doing. I've seen too many people over the years work on their own guns that were not sure what they were doing and have serious problems and safety issues with them at the range. I'm not saying that the individual that started this thread is not competent enough to work on his own gun safely but that there are some points that people need to be aware of when doing their own work. As an example, we had a guy at one of our local clubs do his own trigger job and came to the indoor range to test it and he inserted a full 7 round mag into his single stack 1911 45 and when he let the slide close the gun went full auto and emptied the 7 rounds into the bench, the floor and one of the side walls. A little bit of insight into what safety issues may be involved in working on your own gun i believe is a good thing. Edited March 3, 2006 by BEDELLCUSTOM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Norman Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 If you decide to do your own gunsmithing, ESPECIALLY trigger work, ONLY EVER LOAD ONE ROUND the first time. after you confirm that the gun works, SEVERAL TIMES, load two rounds. REPEAT several times more before moving to full mags. The life you save might be mine. This has been a PSA from someone that had a gun go FA at the tender age of 11. Dumped 7 rounds down range, VERY FAST. hit target once. Seriously, screwing with the firecontrol system is a job that requires more than a basic understanding of the system, it requires you to REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Thank you. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 If I want to make the pull of my trigger lighter which leg of the sear spring do I bend and which way do I bend it? I've never had to do this before so thought I would ask before I start experimenting. Thanks. I think if you have to ask which way to bend the spring, you shouldn't be trying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhglyn Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 Dan Sierpina, And if a person doesn't ever ask how to do something they don't know how to do.......how will they ever learn? I assume that at some point you must have asked this same question if you now know how to do it correctly. I am not some total novice at working with firearms, I have just never done this particular work and thought it would be prudent to ask how. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Dan Sierpina,And if a person doesn't ever ask how to do something they don't know how to do.......how will they ever learn? I assume that at some point you must have asked this same question if you now know how to do it correctly. I am not some total novice at working with firearms, I have just never done this particular work and thought it would be prudent to ask how. Thanks. I guess I feel that you would be better off purchasing a book on the subject, rather than get a ton of opinions on the net. There are some excellent books on the subject. I started out with Hallock's 45 book, I don't know it that's still in print or not. Another highly thought of one is by Kuhnhausen. It would appear that you haven't even totally stripped the pistol down. If you had, it would be pretty obvious which direction to bend something to reduce the tension. Someone that had a lot to do with my practical education in the machine shop, answered my question with another question. "What would you do if I wasn't here to ask?" It made me think, and to explore what's lying in front of me much more thoroughly. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 (edited) If I want to make the pull of my trigger lighter which leg of the sear spring do I bend and which way do I bend it? I've never had to do this before so thought I would ask before I start experimenting. Thanks. This stuff ain't rocket science. A slight rearward bend on the left leg of the sear spring will probably give you what you're trying to accomplish. Try it, test-fire it, adjust it again if need be. //// Remember, you can't learn to do stuff yourself if you don't dig in and try. Being able to perform simple gun work is an extremely valuable commodity to the high-volume shooter. Take a word of advice: if you are going to screw around with the trigger on a series 70 gun, load the magazine with TWO ROUNDS only just in case you have succeeded in finding the formula for full automatic fire. For the record, I "sort of" agree a PROPERLY SET UP trigger and sear can usually be lightened up a bit by manipulating the sear spring. That said, I also know that many a buggered trigger job has been sanitized by cranking up the sear spring return force until the hammer follow or other misbehavior subsided. If this is an "off-the-rack" production gun, I wouldn't trust that the trigger group is properly cut. In fact, I would assume that it wasn't. Just my opinion. Someone that had a lot to do with my practical education in the machine shop, answered my question with another question. "What would you do if I wasn't here to ask?" It made me think, and to explore what's lying in front of me much more thoroughly.Dan Then I'd ask that guy over there.......... Edited March 3, 2006 by bountyhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhglyn Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 For those who have questioned, yes I have completely taken the pistol apart many times and do have a good understanding of how everything works and fits together. I just have never tried to adjust the weight of pull of the trigger and that is why I asked the question. I appreciate all the responses and ideas for books etc. I will follow through, we can always learn more. Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Glyn, You never mentioned if the gun was stock or not. What the current trigger weight is, and what you desire. With a bit more information included with a question, you'll get far different answers. If the gun is stock, what brand and model is it? The trigger of an Auto Ordnance will likely be far different from a high end Kimber, and one might respond better to just a bit of spring tweaking. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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