1911 trigger job

[KY DAN]

Colt custom combat commander 45 acp

Factory parts steel non adjustable trigger.

I set hammer hooks 18 tho in height

I stoned dear in ed brown fixture

I polished trigger bow and all parts and was able to get around 3.5 pound pull according to scale.

Thanks

Around 15 slide drops hammer began to follow. I bent dear leg of 3 leaf in and I have racked slide hard until hands raw with no hammer follow.

Trigger is now around 4.5ish pounds.

Why and what am I doing wrong?

Do I need new parts to be able to achieve 3.5

Is the steel trigger messing it up, everything on web says light weight aluminium or plastic triggers needed to stop bounce.

How can I adjust the 3 leaf spring under control and precision?

 

[BBBBill]

Every sear fixture that I know of except one (Warner TR sear jig sold by John Harrison) is adjustble for sear nose angle/length and therefore may not be correctly adjusted for your particlar sear/hammer/frame combo. I've used most of them. Tom Wilson (Brown is a copy), Marvel, etc. I had settled on the Ron Power Series 1 jig and used it for years, but use only the Warner TR now. It is that good.

Sear nose length and angle is critical. There is a narrow range of acceptible dimensions. Center of pin hole to sear face is spec'd at .4045" +.000"/-.003". Sear manufactured/stoned too short or cut to the wrong angle is a common problem. The hammer hooks are not supposed to mate flush with the sear face (plane to plane), rather the hammer hook tips should land on the sear nose. The tips should have a tiny radius (about .002"-.003") stoned onto them. An escape angle is usually stoned into the back side of the sear nose. Do not do what most folks do and use a .020" feeler gauge to set the angle which usually ends up about 45-50 degrees doing it that way. That will result in too steep an angle and drop the sear further into the hammer hooks. It doesn't require much angle.

Hammer hooks a generally left no shorter than .020" unless you are very skilled doing trigger work. You can get way with .018" if you keep the sear escape angle small.

Lightweight triggers are almost always required to help prevent hammer follow with light trigger jobs. Machining out the inside of the finger pad from the top and bottom can remove a substatial amount of weight. The bow can be reduced by milling a series of holes (don't try it unless you can fully support the bow to prevent warping or turning it into a pretzel) or reducing as is done on many aftermarket triggers. Once done you still have a trigger with too much slop in the frame, so why not get a good lightweight trigger in the length that fits you best and fit it for a much better feel.

 

[David Hoback]

What Bill said. In your post, you stated you set your hammer hooks to .018”. I always set mine to .020”...just as Bill stated.

I’m bettin’ your hammer hooks are just a smidge too short. Grab a new one and set them to .020”.