Will do.
When my friend Art bought the gun in the 1980's, he only used it for a very short time, then put it away. I got it from him, and didn't start shooting it on a regular basis until a few months ago. This thread got started, because the trigger pull was very erratic, which made it difficult to pull the trigger smoothly. The suggestions here were to clean it, but being very nervous about opening up the gun, I hesitated. Fast forward to my trip to Fellsmere, where I met Will at Sebastian Ammo - I was there to buy ammo. We all got to talking about guns, then my gun, and Will showed me a gun he had re-worked. With me thinking all my gun needed was a good cleaning, we agreed I would bring it back a few days later, and he'd clean it.
That's how all this started, and Will took the gun apart, sprayed it, wiped away a small bit of surface rust in a few places, and tried to install the Wilsoncombat performance spring kit. We didn't think the mainspring in the kit was right, so we gave up on that. Will put in the original 18# return spring, and the trigger got "stuck" while being released. Will cut a coil off the 18# spring, but nothing changed. Eventually Will noticed that by tightening up the screw that tightens the main spring, the gun got better.
He put the gun together finally with the Wilson 12# spring, and while the gun was had a smoother trigger pull than when I brought it in, the trigger still got "stuck" on something as it was returning. Before Will did any of this, I only had enough strength to pull the trigger in DA mode by using the joint in my trigger finger. After Will worked on the gun, I could pull the trigger using the fleshy part of my finger. I am now guessing that this is because of the 12# return spring, rather than the 18# spring.
Before Will worked on the gun, I never noticed the trigger getting "stuck" while it was returning (but I never knew to even look for this back then). After Will worked on the gun, I'm very aware of it.
When the spring tool arrives from Brownells, I will re-assemble the gun using the stock 18# spring that Malamute sent me. Brownells is also sending me a spring kit, which maybe I'll get to try later. I don't know what, if anything, I can do after that, other than send it to S&W or find a gunsmith I trust.
If Dykem is available at a local shop, I'll buy some. If not, I'll order it. I'd like to see what part of the trigger gets "worn" as the trigger pushes against the cylinder stop. (You guys can't see this, as you're not here. I don't know how to show it in a photo, or in a video. I think the cylinder stop moves freely, but unless I
remove the cylinder stop, I can't see the surface that the trigger slides over. What I can see, is that as the trigger is moving forwards, it meets the cylinder stop, and as the cylinder stop is pushed forward, the trigger returns. If this is supposed to be a smooth movement, it isn't - it feels rough to me. Finally, JUST before the trigger moves up over the notch in the cylinder stop,
the trigger gets stuck. It takes more and more pressure, and then it suddenly moves over the edge, and all the pieces go back to their normal position. Bottom line, what I can "see" happening with the side plate off, and what I "feel" as I'm doing this, seems to me to be exactly what I felt when the gun was assembled, and the trigger was getting "stuck" before moving forward. (On my trigger, that sharp surface that is rubbing along the cylinder stop, is very different from the nicely smoothed surfaces I see in all the photos I look at online of other similar revolvers.)
It sure does seem to me that the trigger should move forward, contact the cylinder stop, which will be pushed forward so the trigger can smoothly move upwards until it passes the notch, at which point the cylinder stop spring will push it rearwards.
Anyway, I guess I'm pretty much done for a week until the parts arrive. I've never removed a cylinder stop, and Will was reluctant to do it, although he finally did it anyway. Is this something I should be taking off??
I got a response from Wilsoncombat about their spring kit - I'll copy their email here, as others might be puzzled by how different the Wilsoncombat kit mainspring looks:
Anthony (Wilson Combat Support)
Jul 14 20:36
Mike,
I just heard back from the spring vendor and the springs we are getting are correct and we measured ours to prints. Even though they are a different shape (and shorter) when out of the package than a stock spring they will work fine in your Smith that is how they are designed to be somewhat lighter and smoother in operation than the stock spring.
Sincerely,
Anthony
Online Technical Support
1-800-955-4856
Fax: 1-870-545-3310
www.wilsoncombat.com