My DIY Beretta Trigger Job didn't make a difference.

[Leozinho]

I tried to do a DIY polish trigger job on my issue Beretta. (If curious, I followed the instructions at http://www.berettaforum.net/vb/showthread....highlight=sear)

I'm trying to replicate the Langdon or Olhasso trigger job. (Sending my sear and hammer to David O isn't an option for me.)

I used 600 grit sandpaper to bring the points of friction on the sear and hammer to a mirror finish. I also polished the inside of the trigger bar, where the sides of the hammer touch the frame, and the hammer pin.

The results were less than stellar. I don't have a trigger gauge to measure before and after, but comparing it with other Berettas I can't tell the difference between my pistol and others.

Any ideas why this didn't produce any results? I tried to keep the angles on the sear and hammer, though there was some slight "rounding off" of the right angle on the single action sear point due to using the sandpaper freehand.

As soon as I can get my hands on another sear, I'm willing to expirement with the angles on the sear using a stone to see if that makes a difference. I read an old post here that mentions a 45 degree angle, but I'm not sure how to go about doing that.

Thanks.

[Josh Biondi]

Im not an expert on Beretta, but i know that all my friends that has done a trigger job in addition to do what you done they have worked on the springs.

Hope it will help.

good lucky

[DougCarden]

The only way you will notice a difference is to use different hammer springs, reduced, and then you will really notice the fruits of your labors. You can drop in a "D" spring, which is lighter by a couple of coils, or you can buy a handful of them and then cut away until your gun runs with whatever primers you want to use. The lightest trigger will be with a hammer spring that is clipped until you can only reliably set off Federal primers.

If you still have the factory mainspring in it it is designed to set off military CCI type primers, and is way overpowered.

[bulm540]

Dito on teh springs, Just be sure to use fed primers.

[Ben Stoeger]

IIRC, Langdon recut one or more of these angles. I never had it done to my gun.. but I think the reset was shortened or something. You are going to have a really tough time replicating this at home.

IMO, 90% of a trigger job is the springs. The polishing does the rest. On my gun that has been dryfired to beat hell for a couple years, I can tell that it has a trigger that is a hair smoother and lighter than my guns with similar spring set ups.

As far as what spring weight to use.. I use the competition spring that Olhasso sells. It is way lighter than the D spring, and pops everything, even CCI.

[Madcap Magician]

Use a full power 1911 mainspring. Works with any primer, and gives a sick trigger job on a Beretta. My Beretta had several thousand rounds through it, and then with the spring it is just sweet. I think you can find a lot of the competition trigger jobs contain these...

[00bullitt]

I'd be a bit weary of doing any work on an issue Beretta. Assuming its a duty gun. Your life may depend on that thing going bang one day. I absolutley do not recommend polishing the sear with sandpaper. The only way that sear can be addressed properly is with the Power Custom jig (or a homemade fixture) and a special thin Arkansas stone with a n angle cut on it. A tab needs to be added to the trigger bar to change reset and address overtravel. Your best bet is to put a Beretta D spring or a 1911 19lb. mainspring in it and polish the few contact points up. Touching the sear and hammer hooks with sandpaper is not a good idea unless you wanna be the guy that has the full auto Beretta 93R without select fire switch. Berettas are not the easiest gun to get a sweet trigger on without changing geometry. My Vertec has a 5.5# DA and 2# SA break but is only 100% reliable when popping Federal primers. Ben's is just sweet because he spends his evenings killing all the liberals on TV every night and probably puts another 60k rounds through it a year.

Ben.......BTW.........tell your Mom thanks for all those delicious Wisconsin goodies she sent. That stuff was awesome.

[Ben Stoeger]

Will do!

Ben.......BTW.........tell your Mom thanks for all those delicious Wisconsin goodies she sent. That stuff was awesome.

[Leozinho]

Thanks for all the replies.

I hadn't put a reduced power hammer spring in yet because I wanted to compared the polish job to another stock pistol. I've got a Wolf D spring in now, and I can live with the trigger. Now I need to put another reduced power spring in a buddy's pistol, because I'm still curious how much good, if any, all of that polishing did.

I'll leave the angles alone for now. That's outside of my abilities. (Unless I can find some extra sears - and then just to play around with. I've got unlimited acess to a range, and plenty of ammo. It would be a shame not to tinker. )

Thanks

Edited November 23, 2007 by Leozinho

[Beretta Lover]

I would not sweat your trigger job just yet you need to get some wear on you Beretta.

Even after a trigger job your gun will smooth out and get better with wear

Make sure you are using lighter weight springs, if this is a carry gun you obviously need to try it with a bunch of carry ammo

The 1911 hammer spring idea was too dicey for me as the hammer As I think the hammer spring does controll unlocking of your slide to a certain degree, you could eventually begin to get some early unlocking

I would:

use the D spring or Olhasso comp spring

do the DIY trigger job (you did it already)

run that INS trigger replacement spring they sell at Brownell's

make sure you put grease on your hammer, seat, and trigger wear it makes contact with each other and the other parts of the gun

then run about 15,000 rounds through your gun and dry fire every night for about 20 minutes

[gotm4]

Try a 23lb 1911 mainspring, a reduced power sear spring and a 1lb heavier recoil spring (stock recoil spring for competition) This is what I do when I do a trigger job on a Beretta.

[rvb]

The hammer strut is KEY to a smooth DA trigger. you want that super polished. Not just the "nub" at the top, but down a good 1/2" or so where the hammer may rub on it. Then smooth the edges of the strut where mainspring sits. You'd be surprised how difference this makes.

Next the interface between the trigger bar and hammer must be smooth. Smooth out the hook on the hammer and the catch on the trigger bar, but don't let the edges change angles or you'll get stacking. I'd have to pull it to remember exactly where, but as the hammer cams back the sear rubs on it, so polish the hammer where the sear rubs to make it even smoother.

For SA, I cut the hammer hooks to about 0.018" IIRC. I don't change angles, but use a ceramic stone to get the hammer hooks and sear face nice and smooth.

All other polishing is gravy, but it all adds up. I lightly polish the trigger, trigger bar, and hammer pins. I smooth the edges on the trigger bar where it can rub the frame AND grips. Oh, and the top rear of the trigger bar should be nicely polished, this rubs on the underside of the cutout of the frame. Another important part is to smooth the top of the trigger bar spring.

I also lightly polish the top of the trigger where it rides in the frame, and the levers in the top of the frame. Basically anything that moves. For extra bonus lightly polish the firing pin block and cut a couple coils off that spring (I don't usually do this, but it does seem to help a HAIR),

I use a 15lb 1911 mainspring with 1 or 1.5 coils cut off (don't have the length in front of me). Only trust it w/ Fed primers. All other springs are factory. Stay away from those wolff trigger springs, they'll add grit to a good trigger job.

My DA is only about 5-6 lb or so with this set up and butter smooth (if I keep it reasonably clean). SA is about 2.5lb.

I've been meaning to test other primers, as well as testing lighter mainsprings w/ the federals to see just how light I can go, but so far I trust what I have so I haven't really tinkered.

-rvb

edited to add:

Just noticed this is for an issued sidearm... I'd stick with a "D" mainspring (18lb beretta mainspring, iirc). Polish the hammer strut up good as well as trigger bar and leave the rest alone. That's 75% of what you'll notice from polishing and will keep it 100% reliable for a lifetime w/ any ammo. My EII has been 100% reliable for tens of thousands of rounds w/ Fed primers only, but I'm only risking stage points if it fails for any reason, not my life!

Edited November 25, 2007 by rvb

[beretta bob]

Sounds like you took too much edge off the sear. You can re-grind the sear angles to a 90* and start over. Then polish the surfaces carefully. Rather than sandpaper, I use a super fine polishing wheel from a Dremel tool polishing kit. DO NOT USE IT ON THE DREMEL. The edges on the polishing wheel are also great for getting into the reaches on the hammer catches. You really don't have to polish much on the Beretta, they are pretty smooth to begin with.

Here is what I did to my 92G Elite for Production comp;

1) Polish the hammer and sear mating surfaces as mentioned above. As well as the pivot points of same.

2) Polished and smoothed the mainspring strut, including the pivot.

3)Slightly tweeked the sear spring to reduce the friction of the sear to the hammer. Be very careful here, a little goes a long way.

4) Polished the firing pin block and removed 1/16in from the spring.

5) Polished the inside surface of the trigger bar.

6) Polished the trigger ears and replaced the trigger spring with a Wolff reduced power trigger spring. The Wolff unit makes disassembly and reassembly easier, and in reduced power, I have had no problem with it feeling gritty.

7) Install a ISMI 15lb 1911 mainspring. This spring alone is too soft and you must add a 7/8th in. preload spacer to the spring strut.

8) Replace Elite hammer with Elite 2 hammer.

This has resulted in a 5.9lb DA and a 2.5lb SA that is smooth as glass and 100% reliable.

I have done other things such as solid guide rod, grips, Dawson front sight, adjustable rear sights and an over-travel stop of my own internal design.

Edited November 26, 2007 by beretta bob