Sigma Trigger Options/Consequences

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Dendore

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I recently bought a S&W Sigma 9mm and took it to the range today and put 150 rounds downrange. Not one jam or misfire so pretty happy with it. Was easy to take apart to clean too. Now I did some research on it before I bought it and seemed like the biggest complaint was the trigger. I dry fired it before I bought it and it seemed ok. Sure enough at the range It was certainly managable. I wouldn't consider it hard to fire by any means, but I do think the heavy trigger hurt my accuracy a little bit. I hit the target everytime at about 25 yards, but my spreads were probably a good 6" or so. I could improve with practice of course but I think a lighter trigger would help too. Not to mention it wears out your trigger finger a bit faster too.

I know the heavy trigger is part of the safety of the gun, but thats not something I am super worried about. I do not want a hair trigger of course, but maybe dropping this supposed 8-12lb trigger down to a 5-6lb trigger would be great.

Now I have read a couple do-it-yourself posts about trimming the length of spring x or removing spring y. I do not feel I know enough about guns to do any smithing myself, unless it's really easy and someone knows a good guide. I have heard from some sources that there are actually kits out there specifically designed for the Sigma to reduce the length/weight of the trigger. That is kind of what I am looking for. The idea of modding bothers me I guess because I've read that the easiest thing to mod is the striker spring which could lead to light strikes which I am not ok with. I am looking for a fix that only affects the trigger, if there is such a thing.

So I guess I am asking, What options are there for reducing the length/weight of the trigger on the Sigma SW9VE, and are there any other consequences of these changes (i.e. light strikes, less durability, less safety, ANYTHING). I could live with less safety as long as it didn't turn into a hair trigger or affect the internal safeties. The other things may mean I just have to live with my heavy trigger.

Edit: I have heard you can send it in to S&W with free shipping both ways and they will lighten it a little bit for you. Can anyone confirm this for me? Does anyone know exactly what process they use during this? Any information or links to info here would be great.
 
Since I believe you said this was your first handgun, slow down a bit.
Many folks recommend you not modify the trigger before you put a '1000 round trigger job' on it yourself. It'll probably smooth/lighten/change by then, and you'll also get better/adapt.

I'm also assuming this is primarily a SD gun? If so, be very careful should you later decide to modify the trigger-don't want to compromise realiability on a SD gun.

I also wouldn't worry too much 'bout small group sizes-you know what they say-"If you're shooting tight groups, you ain't shooting fast enough"!
Fortunately, some of this stuff is finally? starting to work its way into training by some instructors. I was watching the Saturday morning Don't Be A Vicitim block of shows on Spike-one of the instructors was demonstrating, and when they went to the target, he had very small groups, and stated as such, he needed to speed up his shots a bit.
After you've played with it a bit, start working on double-taps etc.
 
Yes, I can confirm it.

Smith customer service has done three for me.

Here's how it works:

call them and tell them your trigger is "gritty and rough"

DO NOT tell them it's "stiff".

They will email a shipping label.

Ship the frame to them.

They will smooth it up (it will seem "lighter", but it won't be)

About two weeks later it will show up at your door MUCH improved.

The end
 
This will be mostly a range/target practice gun, but sacrificing reliability still isnt something I want. Already put 150 day 1 and going for a little more in depth shooting this weekend out in the country. 1000 rounds will be here before you know it. Definatly doing my research first, but sounds like thee trigger doesn't really improve. So just seeing what my options are. I was firing fairly quickly, even with some double taps, and was reasoably accurate. If I slowed down itd probably be a tiny bit better. But like I said just curious what my options on the trigger are.
 
don't mess with the striker spring

push the pin out at the rear of the frame and remove the trigger spring housing? (whatever it's called) and remove the pigtail spring. it doesn't do anything but make the trigger heavier. took me 5 mins. and my trigger pull must have dropped 5 lbs. 100% reliable always
 
Don't have a gunsmith around with a trigger pull gauge do ya?
If so, might be interesting to have him check it while new, then go back after X number of rounds and see if it's trending lower, and by how much.

FWIW, I replaced my 12+ yr old Sigma bed gun with a SIG SP2022 recently. The SIG is supposed to have a 12 lb DA, 4 lb SA pull. I'm not really trigger sensitive (learned how to shoot on DA revolvers), so I guessed the SA pull was 'bout 2 lbs (figured I was guessing low)-it measured at factory specs of 12 and 4.

One thing I do like 'bout the SP2022 is it easily lends itself to dry fire practice-I do it on a regular basis, and with the 12 lb DA pull.
Mastering the 12 lb pull makes shooting/trigger control on anything else a piece of cake.
 
Don't use your fingertip to pull the trigger. Shoot the pistol like a revolver in double action by using the first joint of your trigger finger to pull the trigger. Sending it in will smooth it out but not lighten it. A lot of Sigma shooters remove the pigtail but since mine is for carry i've left it alone.

Mike
 
breacher said:
don't mess with the striker spring

push the pin out at the rear of the frame and remove the trigger spring housing? (whatever it's called) and remove the pigtail spring. it doesn't do anything but make the trigger heavier. took me 5 mins. and my trigger pull must have dropped 5 lbs. 100% reliable always
Click to expand...
Breacher Do you know a good guide for this? And how easy would it be to reinstall that spring? Also are there any dowmsides to this?
 
Dendore,
Seriously, leave the trigger alone until it's completely broken in and your trigger finger gets stronger. This is a SD handgun, not a target gun where you need a super light trigger and 1" groups @50 yards.
 
I "fixed" mine by simply dry firing it a couple thousand times (literally). The trigger has a very short reset, so you don't even have to rack the slide very far. I just dry fired it twenty...twenty-five times in a row, set it aside, then did it again. Didn't take long to add up.

I don't know if the trigger got better, or I got used to it or what, but it feels a lot better these days.
 
ArchAngelCD said:
Dendore,
Seriously, leave the trigger alone until it's completely broken in and your trigger finger gets stronger. This is a SD handgun, not a target gun where you need a super light trigger and 1" groups @50 yards.
Click to expand...
It IS a target gun. Thats the main reason I bought it. I might get a cc permit but dont have yet, and have a shotgun for home defense. I think a lighter trigger would just make it more enjoyable. But I cettainly won't mwss with it until I give it a good breakin period.
 
Hi all. I bought a Sigma 9mm awhile back. Put the first 150 rounds through it about 3 weeks ago. I agree the trigger is a bit hard. 10lbs is what I'm told. I thought of modifying the trigger as well. Like someone posted on here, wait! Put a 1000 thousand rounds through it, then see how it feels. So far I have put about 300 rounds through it. Breaking it down is very simple. So is the cleaning. Think I'll wait about 1000 rounds before I make a decision on the trigger.
 
"@doc what do you mean itll seem lighter"

The marked improvement in the smoothness of the trigger will make is seem "lighter" when, in fact, the pull will probably remain about the same in pounds.

I had to test mine several times on my trigger gauge to convince me it wasn't lighter.

But it "felt" 100% better after the free, factory fix.
 
I bought a Sigma 40ve about four years ago and the trigger out of the box was pretty good. I couldn't understand what everybody was complaining about regarding the "terrible" trigger. A couple years later I bought a Sigma 9ve and the trigger was truly terrible. I mean really bad. I couldn't believe how bad it was, especially after the decent trigger on the first gun. Very heavy trigger pull and almost refused to travel the final quarter inch to sear release.

I removed the pigtail spring and replaced the heavy outer trigger return spring with a lighter spring from a ball point pen. Don't get excited. The only thing these springs do is reset the trigger after a round has been fired and the force they exert to reset the trigger is many times more than what is required. These two springs have no effect whatsoever on how hard the striker hits the bullet primer. I also polished all trigger assembly parts that bear on another part. The trigger lightened considerably but was still a good deal heavier than the typical Glock or Kahr. The gun is now a pleasure to shoot.

Despite extensive polishing I was unable to get all the roughness out. There is a plastic cam/lobe that the metal sear rides on. I found that the interaction between these two parts is inherently rough. If the plastic lobe was a metal part I think the roughness would be a non issue. But plastic is cheap so we are stuck with a somewhat gritty trigger even after polishing. I also found that the striker spring is the primary cause of the trigger being heavy but in no way adds to the trigger's grittiness.

As others have said shoot the gun a bunch before you take it apart. Search youtube and you'll find some nice guides for improving the trigger. Don't change anything about the striker. The last thing you want is light primer strikes. It's a pretty simple gun to work on.
 
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