Improve trigger in a J-frame

[masraum]

I've got a S&W model 36-1 J-frame. I'm a pretty horrible shot with the thing. I'm much better with my Springfield Armory XDM. I'd think that I'm just a crappy shot with the revolver except that a buddy has a .357 that I've shot. I was really good with his (well, good in comparison, about the same as with my gun). He'd inherited his from his dad so it may have had some work done. If I want to improve the trigger on my gun, what route should I take? New springs, polished trigger parts, something else? There are some videos on youtube from Midway showing how to install Wolf springs and another on polishing some stuff. I would have the polishing done by someone else, but could manage the new springs myself.

[targa911S]

get a wolf spring kit for it. Simple to instal DIY and will improve things greatly. Trigger work is tricky and if you go too far your Effed. Try the springs first.

[legion]

I have the same revolver and it is by far the most accurate handgun I own.

It was my grandfather's originally, and I know the grips were shaved down to fit his hand (just so happens it fits me perfectly), new sights were put on, and the action was reworked so that the single-action trigger pull is short and crisp.

[Walter_Middie]

Is your model 36-1 a 3" barrel? What was the barrel length of your friends .357? What kind of grips do you have, and how large are your hands?

I have a 6.5" barrel on my .357 (single action) and I am much more accurate with it than my XD-9.

I'd love to pick up an older S&W revolver.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Walter_Middie

Is your model 36-1 a 3" barrel? What was the barrel length of your friends .357? What kind of grips do you have, and how large are your hands?

I have a 6.5" barrel on my .357 (single action) and I am much more accurate with it than my XD-9.

I'd love to pick up an older S&W revolver.

Yes, 3" barrel. I think my friends was probably a 5" barrel (it's been a while, it could have been longer). My XDM is a 4.5".

I've got medium size hands, and the S&W has two sets of grips. A small set of wood grips and a larger more comfortable set of rubber grips. That's what stays on the gun.

When shooting the J-frame, the trigger doesn't feel good to me, and I don't remember the same feeling from my buddy's gun. That's why I'm leaning towards trigger. I've tried some slow dry firing to see if it felt rough or just heavy or both. I'm not sure I can tell. It may just be heavy. For $8.99, the springs are worth a shot.

[masraum]

Apparently, I've been missing a big part of getting this thing clean. I've not fired it much, but the history before I started looking at it is a mystery. It was my wife's that was given to her by her father. Who knows how long it's spent inside a purse or drawer and how many times it's been fired since the last cleaning that went to this extreme. I've got some work to do.



This doesn't seem difficult, but I'll pass on this.


This however, looks like an easy no brainer.

[masraum]

This is hilarious.

[masraum]

I took the gun apart. It was actually pretty clean inside. I'll still take it apart and clean and oil it soon.

I discovered that the inside of my gun was similar but different than the gun that he used for his demostration. My main spring is very different. I also discovered that there's a trick to getting my main spring in/out. You need a small needle or piece of wire or something. I took it apart enough to get new springs in just to see how tough it was. It would probably be easier with his tool and experience, but it wasn't hard. I'm ready to order some springs now.

Ah, and I also discovered that the three screws that hold the coverplate on are all slightly different. They are all almost the same, but not quite. That was valuable info as well.

[id10t]

A wide smooth trigger will feel lighter and smoother thru the pull than a narrow grooved trigger. You can of course also polish inside, etc. but just a simple parts replacement (or putting a shoe on the trigger) may be enough.

[masraum]

Interesting. I can see how that would make the feel different.

[ODDJOB UNO]

99.9% of the time from the factory the double action trigger is perfect on a J-frame. its the single action trigger that is crap.


i have (3) of them. all have gone to my smithy, and he does his super smith job.

polished,honed, chamfers cylinders for speedloaders, and fires for effect with fed ammo.


it was $119 bucks. well worth the money and the 6 weeks lag time. he is a very busy smithy.



remember this...................if ya take too much metal off...................yer screwed BIG TIME!


another thing to think about. did previous owner shoot the hell out of it with lead bullets???? if so and you will find out when you use 3000 swabs and the damn thing aint clean. if this is the case accuracy will suffer GREATLY!


de-lead the barrel with hot .357s and then swab the hell out of it for 2 days with shooters choice. meaning swab hell out of barrel wet w/shooters choice, let sit for a few cups of coffee and then swab with dry patches until you "think" its clean.


then.................come back following evening and run wet swabs thru again. if they come out dirty you have just figured out what has happened and continue swabbing until clean. and copper brushing in btwn. remember to use compressed air on yer copper brush to clean off the copper remover or it will kill yer copper brush.


ask me how i know.

[masraum]

I've cleaned the barrel before it came clean. I believe this gun was given to my wife for her to carry years ago. I don't think there are many rounds through it at all, and I don't think many if any of those were lead. I suspect its mostly eaten fmj.

Yeah, I won't be filing on anything myself.

[masraum]

Ain't the Internet grand. With a little research, I just figured out that this gun was made in '73-74. I had no idea. It looks new.

I also swapped from the large rubber grip to the small wooden grip. I was surprised that I like the gun with the smaller grip. I'm still going to order a set of springs (for <$10, why not), but I'm also going to try it with the other grips just to see if it shoots different (I guess what I really mean is "if I shoot it differently" since I'm pretty sure changing grips won't make the gun shoot any differently )

Not my gun, but this is what it looks like with the wood grips

[jyl]

Pretty revolver!

I would think the larger grips would be better, but it is all about what works for you. Are your misses consistent? If so, you might describe what is wrong (consistently left, right, low, high) and someone here may have advice. Check barrel crown for damage, unlikely though.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jyl

Pretty revolver!

I would think the larger grips would be better,

I would have thought so too, and that may still turn out to be the case.

Are your misses consistent? If so, you might describe what is wrong (consistently left, right, low, high) and someone here may have advice. Check barrel crown for damage, unlikely though.

I had a trigger control problem with my gun when I first started shooting. But with this, I just seem to be all over the place. I also don't think it matters if I shoot DA or SA. Next time I go to the range, I'll really try several options to see if I can figure out what's going on. The DA trigger in this thing feels really heavy. I don't remember my buddy's revolver feeling this heavy. I have a hard time getting a smooth consistent pull. I'm going to make sure the internals under the coverplace are clean and oiled too.