Dry fire to lighten trigger pull.

Once the parts mate and machine mark roughness is worn a little smoother that's going to be about as good as it will get.

Some people hurry the process by pressing firmly (use some common sense) on the back of the hammer as you pull the trigger. This will also mate the parts and eliminate some roughness.

Some fools "jack" the action by putting a screwdriver under the hammer and levering it up as they pull the trigger.
I've seen numerous pistols and even revolvers seriously damaged by this foolishness.
One case was so bad, the fool actually bent the sear pin and deformed the sear itself.

The fact is that the stresses of simply shooting the gun will smooth the trigger faster then anything other then a professional trigger job.

You can help the trigger feel by putting a little grease on the sear and trigger interfaces.
Years ago, before all the new high tech synthetic greases were available, Bill Wilson recommended putting a drop of STP Oil Treatment on the sear and hammer.
There are better lubes today.

Get you a box of snap caps and have at it. I wouldn`t dry fire any gun thousands of times without snap caps as I`ve read that may damage various parts. I`ve always simply shot the guns to break them in and smooth the trigger but understand that with a bad back that`s out of the question. Some swear by different sizes of drywall anchors saying that they work just as well as snap caps but I`ve never tried them. Just passing that along. Hope your back heals soon as I`ve been there, done that...

Edit: The snap cap method is for rimfires, so it wouldn`t work on your 1911. I saw it at Rimfire Central and was thinking about that. My bad...

dfariswheel said:

Some people hurry the process by pressing firmly (use some common sense) on the back of the hammer as you pull the trigger. This will also mate the parts and eliminate some roughness.

Click to expand...

Post #2 lists an old method thats best to skip.

Some hammer, sear parts are surface hardened. To much wear is not good.


Lube ia a a better method.

I'm going to call BS.

It may smooth out a bit and lighten a little, but I don't buy the 5000/0.5 lb business. Where's his source of data?

LoL! The couple of handguns I've owned for 30 years or so should have negative trigger pulls by now.

Parts do wear from normal use.

I sent my S&W M29-2 back this year because the cylinder was rotating backwards on firing. They installed the endurance package , set the barrel back and installed new springs.

I was surprised to see a new trigger was installed. I can not say if the pull got lighter over the years. Never checked it. Old trigger in photos.
Smith and Wesson returned all the old parts to me.

From my own personal experience dry firing and shooting does indeed smooth out a trigger, regardless of the action.

It's not the same as a "trigger job" but it will help.

There's s difference between smoothing out and lightening though.

Dry firing may smooth out the trigger pull but I can't see how it would lighten it.

ArchAngelCD said:

Dry firing may smooth out the trigger pull but I can't see how it would lighten it.

Click to expand...

By making your trigger finger stronger.

First thing I would do..would be to "read the manual" and see what the manufacturer has to say about it. If they say that dry firing will not hurt your firearm..then have at it.

I have an LCRx in .22 mag that I have dry fired extensively. I've even gone as far as to put it away with the hammer cocked to take some of the snap out of the hammer spring. It helped some.

WheelGunMan said:

First thing I would do..would be to "read the manual" and see what the manufacturer has to say about it. If they say that dry firing will not hurt your firearm..then have at it.

I have an LCRx in .22 mag that I have dry fired extensively. I've even gone as far as to put it away with the hammer cocked to take some of the snap out of the hammer spring. It helped some.

Click to expand...

A .22 rimfire and other cartridges should be treated differently. It's never a good idea to dry-fire a rimfire but most others are safe to fire a time or two. Even if the manual says it's safe they are not referring to more than a few trigger pulls. You should always use snap-caps if you're doing dry-fire practice. Pulling the trigger 500+ times without snap-caps just isn't a good idea. I would not pull the trigger on a rimfire without a snap-cap or spent shell ever.

Just a note on storing your revolver with the hammer cocked to effect the spring, it does nothing. It's like storing magazines full for an extended period, no effect on the spring. Compressing and releasing the tension effects springs not a prolonged compressed state.

These are pretty small amounts, but dry fire will lighten the trigger pull by:

• Smoothing the action. Smoother parts have reduced friction, which takes less force to move.
• Wearing out the springs. Mainspring especially will get worn with use, and a few thousand cycles will certainly do a little of that.

But I'll take smooth over light any day anyway so many trigger pulls, even on top of a trigger job, is a good thing to me.

ArchAngelCD said:

A .22 rimfire and other cartridges should be treated differently. It's never a good idea to dry-fire a rimfire but most others are safe to fire a time or two. Even if the manual says it's safe they are not referring to more than a few trigger pulls. You should always use snap-caps if you're doing dry-fire practice. Pulling the trigger 500+ times without snap-caps just isn't a good idea. I would not pull the trigger on a rimfire without a snap-cap or spent shell ever.

Just a note on storing your revolver with the hammer cocked to effect the spring, it does nothing. It's like storing magazines full for an extended period, no effect on the spring. Compressing and releasing the tension effects springs not a prolonged compressed state.

Click to expand...

On either of my rimfire revolvers, the firing pin does not come into contact with any area of the the cylinder. By design it doesn't even reach the cylinder. If the manufacturer (Ruger) meant for limited dry firing they would have so stated it in the respective manual (as they did for the Mark IV pistol). I observed my firing pin sequence with a bore light and a magnifying glass and can attest that there was ZERO contact.

Regarding the hammer spring, I should have prefaced it with "in my experience I have found that leaving the hammer in the cocked position for extended periods has indeed affected the tension on the hammer spring somewhat."

I read on another forum that Wolff is close to introducing some reduced tension hammer springs for the Ruger LCR and LCRx rimfire revolvers and am anxiously awaiting their arrival.

This is something that I think many, if not most, who worry on the trigger dont understand.

It's not (normally) the trigger itself thats the problem, its the lack of muscle tone in the shooter, thats the problem.

Spend some time regularly dry firing a stock, factory DA revolver or auto, DAO, and the trigger "will" feel better down the road. More likely than not though, the trigger will not really be any different. But you will be stronger and have the muscle tone to shoot the gun without complaining about the trigger.

Ive been shooting for a good long time now, and I dont mess with the triggers on anything, unless maybe there is something mechanically wrong with them, which these days, is pretty rare. I cant remember a factory trigger on any of the what Id call "modern commercial" guns to be anything close to bad, and only a couple of heavy DA triggers on some old surplus handguns even fit that bill.

I shoot all my DA revolvers DAO, and I shoot my DA autos, from DA for the first shot, every time. I still dry fire a number of guns of different types, every day, and shoot a variety of guns, two or three times a week. I cant really remember the last time I even thought about a trigger when I shoot. Thats not what your focus should be on when you shoot anyway.

Dry fire away, I guarantee, your trigger will magically get better, and in pretty short order. I promise.

IMHO, if you want a lighter pull, take it to a 'smith. From the factory, my S&W 638 had a 13lb trigger pull that was kind of rough. A set of Apex springs, some p o'l lishing of internals, and $70 later,pull is smooth as glass and 9 1/2 lbs. Money well spent.

Indeed, dry firing will help smooth it out. Lightening? Not so much, but it's still worth doing; just be sure it's snap caps in there and don't pull an Elvis!

The S&W 6904 has had a coarse gritty pull from day one and it has been dry fired and shot in the range of 7K ammo and ~5K in dry fire. I wanted to let it wear in but that wasn't happening. Great finger exercise though. Worst trigger I have but the heavy pull has been great when using the others. Polished the disconnector where it runs on the draw bar, it was really coarse casting-machining that wasn't cleaned up. After smoothing that over the trigger still breaks the same DA and SA but the pull is smooth.

The revolvers went straight to the 'smith for clean-up. I don't know how they wear in. If it is like my 6904, that is to long.

AK103K said:

Spend some time regularly dry firing a stock, factory DA revolver or auto, DAO, and the trigger "will" feel better down the road. More likely than not though, the trigger will not really be any different. But you will be stronger and have the muscle tone to shoot the gun without complaining about the trigger.

Click to expand...

………….

AK103K said:

I shoot all my DA revolvers DAO, and I shoot my DA autos, from DA for the first shot, every time. I still dry fire a number of guns of different types, every day, and shoot a variety of guns, two or three times a week. I cant really remember the last time I even thought about a trigger when I shoot. Thats not what your focus should be on when you shoot anyway.

Click to expand...

I agree with a lot of the above. I think there is merit in dry firing your long pull DA handguns and yes over time you will build up endurance in your hands. But not just the finger you use to pull the trigger, also your whole hand, wrists and arms. And you should also be working on getting a fast and accurate sight picture. Benefits of dry fire are many.

Mn Fats said:

Still incapacitated here. The count in my noggin is about 10,000. I can't tell if it smoothed out any, my right and left hand are pretty sore . I'm going to call it good. If anything, it kept me mildy occupied.

Click to expand...

Dry fire aside there are mechanical aspects that can and should be addressed. For a 1911 there is a slew of good books self help on this subject. It doesn't have to be a lot of money but will cost some. Poor fitting parts are still poor fitting even once they are "use fitted". For most of us buying production guns there are some poor fitting internal parts regardless of the awesomeness of the manufacturer.

As an aside, I'm not an expert, not even close to one and only have (1) 1911. I have been told that allowing the slide to move into battery (from slide lock) with an empty chamber (no snap caps) is not a good practice for this style of firearm. Don't know if it is true or not and I'm sure someone will chime in especially if not true but I offer this as grist for the chit-chat mill.

As far as center fire revolvers go (including a 686) no problem dry fire with an empty chamber(without snap caps). Those that want to dry fire with the weight of a loaded cylinder can make snap caps using brass and a bullet, leaving out the powder and keeping the primer pocket empty.

Always make sure your firearms are not loaded when beginning to dry fire.