Custom "drop-in" triggers for GP100/SP101?

[twoblink]

I'm looking for information on custom drop-in (i.e. no smithing) triggers for the Ruger GP100 and SP101's..

Any help appreciated...

 

[ChristopherG]

Never heard of a 'drop-in' trigger for a revolver of any sort. The closest you'd come would be replacement springs. I'll tell you what I'd use as a 'drop-in', no-smithing solution to improve the trigger of a GP100 or an SP101:

a 686 or a j-frame

 

[twoblink]

by drop in, that's what I kind of meant. No smithing..

Do the wolff springs make that big of a difference?

 

[Ben Shepherd]

They can make a big diffence. I just prefer lots of dryfire practice myself though. If you do get a spring kit, just watch going too light on the hammer spring.

 

[Jim March]

There's no such thing as a drop-in trigger on any gun, unless it's also sold with a pre-matched hammer so the sear engagement surfaces are dead on.

Swapping triggers or hammers alone "may" work; on some guns "probably", but there's always the possibility of "issues".

This is why Power Custom sells hammer/trigger "sets" for Ruger SAs in addition to individual parts. The "set" is drop-in.

Spring-swaps on a Ruger DA are definately something a non-gunsmith can cope with.

What else...one of the safest things you can do to hammers and triggers is fine-polish with 600-grit the *sides* to a mirror finish. This lets them swing through their travel arcs with less friction, improving feel while *increasing* ignition reliability as the hammer falls forward faster for the same spring pressure. In a few cases, this allows use of a lighter mainspring in the selection you get with a typical kit. If you want to really go gonzo, do the same to the inside surfaces of the frame where the hammer and trigger slide against. So long as you don't take a lot of metal off with any of this (read: start with fine-grit, even though that takes longer) this is a homebrew mod that helps.

 

[Eric Bryant]

I dropped the Wolff kit into my GP100, after about 1000 rounds with the stock spring.

I quickly found that the 10-lb hammer spring wouldn't light off CCI primers, so I went back to a 12-lb spring (I seem to remember that the stock spring is 14 lbs). That, combined with a 8-lb trigger spring, yields a single-action trigger of about 2 3/8 lbs, and a double-action pull that's somewhat above the 6-lb limit of my gunsmith's scale but that's super-smooth.

I simply cannot believe the improvement gained with this $15 investment and a few minutes of my time.

 

[twoblink]

Whenever I get a gun, the first thing I do is modify the trigger. None of my guns have any cosmetic work; the only thing I've ever done is change the cheap upper forearm piece of my M1A to a polymer. Otherwise, I think the trigger work is the most important.

Jim,
I usually avoid sandpaper, regardless of grit size. I'm a Dremel + Flitz type of man... Sure it takes a LONG TIME, but you get a mirror shine on most objects that puts you bathroom mirror to shame.

But thanks for the heads up on the location of polishing..

 

[Jim March]

Yes, you can get the same level of fine polish with a Dremel and the RIGHT bits/techniques. So long as you know what you're doing. The wrong bit will screw things up like RIGHT NOW.



In Eric's case, this sort of polish job will make ignition with the springs he's running now more reliable, and *might* allow him to drop yet another spring level. Or, it might make things so smooth he can go back to the stock mainspring weight and get a feel similar to what he's got now while reducing "lock time" and improving long-range accuracy.

 

[iluvG.R.I.T.S]

after i droped in a wolf spring kit i had my trigger polished then jeweled along with the hammer and cylinder.

 

[461]

I've never bought off on this "Ruger triggers suck"School of thought. I've gotten out of the box Rugers with better triggers than Smith's and vice verse. The best trigger job in the world is 5000 rounds fired through the gun. More guns have been ruined by amateur trigger jobs than anyhting else.

 

[Jim March]

"Jeweling" the hammer and trigger sides is another way to get the same friction reduction effect. I suspect it's not as efficient at that than a mirror-polish home buff job, but I could be wrong.

 

[twoblink]

Will someone please explain "Jeweling" to me??

If you have the revolver unloaded, and sitting by you while you are reading THR, you can dry fire it while reading.... An hour a day of THR and dry firing makes for a smooth revolver

I never thought the triggers on any of my Rugers were bad... UNTIL I put in custom triggers

 

[iluvG.R.I.T.S]

If i could get my camera to work ill post some pics. The best way for me to explain is it looks like little swirl marks that overlap each other and if the patern is tight enough it kinda looks like lil dimonds heres a link to the guy that did mine the gp in the pic is his. jeweled gp

 

[Brad Johnson]

Wolff springs

I've used the Wolff spring kit at least a half-dozen times in SP101s and GP100s. The best all-around combo seems to be the 10lb main spring and the reduced power trigger return spring.

One caveat - On some guns you may have to polish the trigger group mating surfaces to get the trigger to reset reliably with the reduced power return spring. Also, Wolff sends a 9lb mainspring with the kit, but I've had problems with light strikes when using it. I haven't had that trouble with the 10-pounder.

Although it hasn't been a problem for me, if you're worried about light strikes, go to the 11 or 12 lb mainspring. It doesn't make a tremendous diff in the trigger feel, and it adds a little added margin of reliability and shooter confidence.

The trigger return spring seems to be the biggest offender in the GP/SP series. Just changing that and leaving the factory mainspring in place makes a noticeable difference.

Brad

 

[W Turner]

Those of you that have done the Wolff swap, do the instrcutions on disassembly/reassembly come with the kit? What tools are needed?

Thanks,
Mino

 

[Boats]

All you need is a Ruger manual that shows the "field strip" and the exploded detail drawings. The trigger return spring is on the back of the trigger group and the mainspring is self-explanatory.

Since I have extensive experience polishing various parts of my 1911s, what I did with my KGP-141 was to take the trigger group apart, the hammer out, and the mainspring spur and mirror polished any friction bearing surfaces with a light smear of jeweler's rouge and a felt polishing wheel on the ol' Dremel running at about 20k rpm. Then I took off the rouge and buffed the surfaces with a clean felt wheel at 30k until the wheel disintegrated and flew off. I went through about 12 wheels.

After the polishing, I can run the 9 pound Wolff mainspring and the 8lb trigger return spring. I have about 500 rounds since the trigger job without any ignition failures.

Trigger pull is 8 lbs DA and a shade over 3 lbs on SA. Smooth as butta' in either mode. It is fast becoming my favorite handgun because of the ease of which it can be worked on.

I cannot think of another handgun where one can change the sights without a sight pusher or staking tool. The grip is endlessly customizable. Atop all that, it is easy to detail strip this revolver for crying out loud, a task I would not dare on a Smith or Colt the second week I had it, like I did with the GP.

 

[twoblink]

I'm actually surprised at the ease of these revolvers to work on as well. I took it apart, and then a spring flew out.. (oops!) after searching for the spring for an hour (brown carpet) I figured out where it was suppose to go right away. It's one of them most self-explainatory guns in the world. And the takedown is simple as well. Of course, the 22/45 and Mark II's are a different story, but I digress.

I see what jeweled means, thanks!

I do like Flitz. That stuff is incredible. Felt and Dremel though and a lot of patience is pretty much the way I do things too...

How much do the Wolff kits cost?