High Standard Sentinel Mark IV

I owned one for years. The double action pull wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible. I used .22 Snap Caps and spent cartridges to dry fire it and over time it seemed to get better. Unless you have 3 hands, are very mechanically inclined and have the patience of a saint I do not recommend complete disassembly.
The first time I attempted to disassemble the gun there was no internet and, as far as I know, even with the internet there was no info on disassembly and reassembly except for the PDF schematic Gun Parts Corp will sell you for $1.50. If I knew what happened to mine I would PM it to you.
Anyway, what I did back then to help maybe loosen things up was I pulled the grips off and removed the cylinder and crane and I flushed the guts with brake cleaner a couple of times. At that time I didn’t have the nerve to fully tear down the gun. Once I flushed it out a couple of times I used Rem Oil and their handy little red plastic nozzle to shoot a little (little) oil in each opening and cleaned everything up and reassembled.
That did help. Try it.
A few years ago I offered the gun to my sister as it was out lr father’s. She wanted it so I tore the whole gun apart and cleaned it up. The internals were in great shape. I made a jig out of wood (plywood with little wooden dowels to match the pin holes in the frame) to set the parts up as if they were in the gun to see how I could reassemble it. It took me a few tries, LOTS of cussing and perseverance but I was successful. I did not try to change the trigger pull or hone the trigger interfaces.
When I got done the trigger pretty much felt the same. I was hoping there was some gunk in there that I may have knocked out and the trigger pull would miraculously get better. It didn’t but I didn’t want to tamper with the parts and give my sister a gun with too light of a pull.

I do recall reading somewhere that any lightening of the DA pull really lightens the SA trigger pull so if you decide to disassemble the gun please be careful. The guy that did the write up that I read said that he ended up having to replace parts he had gone too far with. I doubt Gun Parts Corp has many of those parts anymore.

Oh, and I did replace the 2@ barrel with a 4” barrel hoping that would help with accuracy and help stay on target when using a DA trigger pull. It helped very little.

I wish I could tell you a magic solution but there really isn’t one.

Yeah I have a snub model and after years of shooting it and snap caps there was not much improvment in mine either. It is a good revolver for what it is but it sure ain't no S&W. For CC and up close personal work, add a bit of adrenaline and it was fine for my tastes.

Rimfire DA triggers are always godawful. It takes more force to set off a rimfire than a centerfire primer, and in DA, all that extra work has to come from your trigger finger.

Now I'm not familiar with the different models/marks of High Standards, but I have a Sentinel in 22LR and its DA trigger is basically unusable. I just shoot it in SA only and am happy with it. Googling the Mk IV though, it looks like your revolver is a 22 Mag snubnose meant more for defense, and "just shoot it SA" probably isn't an adequate solution.

One thing that you can try is using something like Brownells or Sentry Systems trigger job in a bottle. I think that it is some molybdenum compound in a solvent and when it dry, it leaves moly on the trigger and sear surfaces. This coating can be removed by regular solvents so it is both a blessing and a curse. I use the Sentry Systems for things like old military surplus rifle triggers that I do not want to alter. Makes the trigger smoother if nothing else. But Mosin Bubba is right in that rimfire triggers are usually inferior to centerfire.

My Sentinel snubbie does not bother me that much in DA as I do not want to get into the habit of cocking revolvers so I shoot them all DA (I have no single action for this reason). If you do learn to master really heavy DA triggers, it will help you on a rifle range because you have to master trigger reset rather than something like "catching the link".

KevininPa said:

That doesn't sound too difficult. If I keep this revolver, I might change out the 2 inch barrel for a 3 or 4 incher to make use of a longer sight radius. I believe you drift the pin out right to left and then just pull it out?

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Pretty much but the barrel will be very tight.
I took 2 pieces of 3/4” thick pine and clamped them in a vise. I drilled a 3/8” hole into them lengthwise to help hold the barrel when I clamped the barrel into them to hold the barrel stationary while I turned the frame and basically spun it off the barrel. Before I attempted removing the barrel I submerged the barrel and the front of the frame in Break Free for two days to hopefully loosen things up.
Once I tightened the barrel into the vice blocks I used masking tape to protect the frame. Then I took two 2x2 boards about 18” and clamped them together to hold the frame but to give me leverage when I turned the frame to loosen the barrel. It took some force to break the barrel free by twisting but as soon as it broke free I removed the 2x2s and turned the frame off by hand.
The barrel is not threaded into the frame like a Smith &Wesson. It’s pressed into the frame and lined up with the pinhole for the pin that holds the barrel in place.
When I removed the barrel it appeared the factory used a silvery Anti-Seize on the barrel to keep it from seizing to the frame. I used Anti-Seize on the 4” barrel when I installed it.
The new barrel as very snug but it tapped in fairly easily with a light dead blow hammer and the frame locked in a vise. It took some effort to get the pin hole lined up with the pin slot on the barrel but it wasn’t too hard.

Good luck with your swap.

It is pretty easy to tweak the frame when doing barrel work especially with improvised tools. If you really have to change the barrel, better off let a smith do it because if you tweak the frame (twist it), put a cork in it as it is done.

There are revolver specific action wrenches with inserts for the different models that are used for the usual revolvers. Doubt if an insert has been made for the Sentinel though--you might want to check with Brownells.

boom boom said:

It is pretty easy to tweak the frame when doing barrel work especially with improvised tools. If you really have to change the barrel, better off let a smith do it because if you tweak the frame (twist it), put a cork in it as it is done.

There are revolver specific action wrenches with inserts for the different models that are used for the usual revolvers. Doubt if an insert has been made for the Sentinel though--you might want to check with Brownells.

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I searched for tools for the High Standard. They do not exist, hence the improvised tools.

Pat Riot said:

I searched for tools for the High Standard. They do not exist, hence the improvised tools.

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It worked for you obviously but these are aluminum frame revolvers and if you are going to do something with them, you can actually make an insert that fits one using a variety of materials.

I aquired a Sentinel IV disassembled in a plastic bread bag minus a few parts.
One the hard to find parts was the Hammer Safety Stop that interconects the trigger to the hammer safety.
This has quite a bit of impact on the double action trigger pull.
I had it together to see If I could Fire it with out the part.
It needs one.
So most the big part house didnt have the part so I tried making one.(rural Alaska)
Easier said than done.
Esp if your assembling and dissembling 2-3 times to check the function of the new DIY part.
Eventually I located a High Standard Sentinel hammer safety stop link from Jack First Gun Parts of South Dakota.
You never appreciate crappy double action pull untill you Dont have it.
Least count yourself Lucky its not 17Lb trigger pull of some single actions (Davis DM-22)

Is bad DA trigger pull inherent in a small-frame 8 or 9 shot revolver? The trigger has to full cycle the hammer while moving the cylinder only a little. Does that necessarily make for a short pull, and does that make for a heavy pull? And aren't there 10 shot medium frame 22 revolvers now, and if so, how are their trigger pulls?

Nope, I have a Taurus 941** that has a better DA trigger than whats on the High Stsndard.
Im betting the Ruger SP101 in rimfire has a decent DA trigger pull as well as the Charter Arms Pathfinder☆.



**Based off of Smith & Wesson’s J-frame model 63, the 941 is a small framed 8 shot revolver offered in 2 inch and 5 inch barrels as well as blued and stainless steel finish.

https://blog.1800gunsandammo.com/taurus-941-22-magnum-revolver-review/

☆https://www.chuckhawks.com/charter_arms_pathfinder.htm

Thanks, Rex in OTZ.

I dont know if that helped you much.
I guess you could dissemble and micro polish the double action components of the high standard, then coat with Dry Film Molybdenum Disulphide Lubricant.

KevininPa said:

Have found one really good use for the Mark IV. If I shoot a box of ammo through it first, every other revolver I shoot after is buttery smooth!

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I actually agree with this, because I learned to shoot with a 1980's vintage H&R 999. They are fine guns, but not renowned for the excellence of their SA trigger pulls. But I feel that I am a better shot with guns that have good triggers because of it.

On the other hand, it sounds a little too much like the joke "I like hitting myself in the head with a hammer because it feels so good when I stop."