Do you like or don't like grooved triggers?

[Sa-tevr]

Seeing as the "Do classic S&W and Colt grips actually fit anyone?" thread I started got some good discussion between shooters and collectors, how about the group's opinions on grooved triggers? What were the manufacturers thinking? Was it fashion?

For me I'll take a smooth trigger any day. Grooved triggers eat up my finger if I'm shooting for 1 1/2 hour of competition and the grooves make it easier to pull/push off target during trigger actuation. I've ground and polished every pistol trigger and shoe I own that had grooves except for my Colt target revolver, as that is only fired in single action during matches.

Do actual shooters of revolvers like grooved triggers?

 

[Fla_dogman]

Smooth for me. After a long day at the range the groved trigger leave a mark.

 

[gotboostvr]

Depends.
On guns I shoot mostly DA like my 625, I prefer smooth.
On guns I shoot mostly SA like my 629, I prefer serrated.

If the trigger is real nice light and smooth like my 19-3, I don't really care

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

It really does not matter to me, grooved or smooth.

I will add that the overwhelming majority of my Smiths have grooved triggers. Grooved seems to have been much more common, both with service revolvers and target revolvers. Some models were available with either smooth or grooved triggers, but it seems that for most production runs you would get one or the other.

The Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson, states that there were several different styles of triggers available for double action, swing out cylinder revolvers; smooth, serrated (grooved), smooth target, and serrated target. The book specifically says that the serrated target trigger was a 'wider serrated trigger designed to give the target shooter firm full control.' I have a couple of Smiths with that type of trigger.

So I think, clearly in the minds of Smith and Wesson, a serrated trigger was meant to give the shooter more tactile feel of the trigger and better control.

Don't forget that for most of this time, competitive action shooting like we see today did not exist. The great majority of target shooting was Bullseye, with relatively slow shooting. So blisters or raw, rubbed fingers were probably not a problem for very many shooters during much of the 20th Century. Exhibition shooters who would shoot a tremendous amount, guys like Ed McGivern were few and far between. I have no idea what kind of trigger Ed McGivern liked.

For me. I never modify the trigger of a revolver. However it left the factory, smooth or serrated, is fine with me.

Most of them, like this K-22 and M&P Target Model had serrated triggers.







Having said all that, it seems that most of the Top Break revolvers came with smooth triggers. All my large frame Top Break Smiths have smooth triggers, even this 44 Double Action Target revolver.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

This came up in discussion just a few months ago. Personally I like grooved triggers.

I am a bit above average in size and I have largish hands. My hands are also very boney, with skeleton fingers. I wear XL gloves. As a result, nearly all factory grips on any handgun are a touch too small for me to get a proper trigger reach. I typically replace all my handgun grips with aftermarket hand filling grips. All my K/L grip framed guns have grips on them with a closed backstrap, and small revolvers are difficult for me to shoot well, as they tend to rattle around in my hand when shooting magnum cartridges.

This issue also results in me having too much finger on the trigger. Grooves on the trigger really help me keep my finger where it should be. If I was a competitor, I can imagine it would eat my finger up a bit, but I would think a callous would form.

Here's a few pictures of my hands so you get the idea. You can see I had some espresso in the one shot. My shooting was off a bit that day as a result.

Nosferatu........ Gotta love it.

 

[Drail]

I always preferred smooth until I heard Jerry Miculek state that serrated gives you more "feel"and control over the trigger in DA. I tried it - he was right. I do knock the edges off of the serrations just a tiny bit with a stone. If they are sharp they tend to chew up your finger after a long session of DA shooting. More importantly IMO is that a narrow trigger works better for double action work than a wide one. Mr.Miculek agrees. All of my S&W revolvers that came with wide triggers now have narrow ones installed.

 

[tonyjr]

I prefer smooth - between gun powder smoke , sweat-ee hands - groves pick up grime .
Then a little harder to clean . At the range I might shoot 5 guns with at least 2 other shooters . Grim-my fingers make loading harder . Then the trigger guard - it gets the blueing rubbed off .

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

This issue also results in me having too much finger on the trigger. Grooves on the trigger really help me keep my finger where it should be.

Excellent point. A serrated trigger will let you feel precisely when the pad underneath your fingernail is on the trigger.

 

[Drail]

Feeling precisely is VERY important is DA work. "Close enough" just don't cut it.

 

[Sa-tevr]

Looking at the pistols used by my fellow Bullseye shooters it's hard to find anyone using grooved or serrated triggers. I have an Olympic air pistol that I use for competition that has a wide grooved trigger, but the grooves are very rounded and there is a central groove for weighing that helps in locating the finger:


The only time I find the grooved trigger unobtrusive is on 50 Meters Mens Pistol (Free Pistol) and on the Colt target revolver I use for Centerfire and Distinguished Revolver, firing single action only. Those triggers both have hardly any movement to fire the pistols once cocked, which is good on the Colt since the trigger serrations are still factory sharp. (Previous Bullseye/International owners used a shoe on it, but shoes aren't legal for DR competition)

 

[MrBorland]

A serrated trigger will let you feel precisely when the pad underneath your fingernail is on the trigger.

Feeling precisely is VERY important is DA work. "Close enough" just don't cut it.

Perhaps, but it doesn't necessarily follow that a smooth trigger can't offer the same control, despite the different feel.

FWIW, my revolvers that see heavy DA use all have narrow, radiused, smooth and mirror-polished trigger faces. Control isn't an issue.

 

[340PD]

No grooves please.

 

[Malamute]

Definitely grooved. I've swapped a couple Smiths that came with smooth to grooved. I've shot up to 1000 rds or so in a day and didn't have any problem with the grooved triggers. Smooth feels squirrely to me, more so if sweaty or if you have blood on your hands after field dressing critters.

A few grooved triggers had rough edges. A little stone work fixed that.

I swap out Ruger SA triggers for grooved also.

Besides Miculek, none of the old time good shooters we heard about mentioned smooth triggers. I think a modification of that sort would be mentioned in those days. They seemed to get by OK. Sort of like Miculek gets by. Bottom line, I think it would be difficult to make a case that either was "the best" across the board.

 

[jad0110]

Much prefer grooved triggers. Wish all my revolvers were grooved. I've even considered cutting out a small strip of Talon grip material to stick on the trigger face.

 

[Sa-tevr]

Perhaps, but it doesn't necessarily follow that a smooth trigger can't offer the same control, despite the different feel.

FWIW, my revolvers that see heavy DA use all have narrow, radiused, smooth and mirror-polished trigger faces. Control isn't an issue.

MrBorland, you're most of the reason I started looking at revolvers, along with hearing that mastering double action will improve all trigger control. I like shooting snubnose revolvers Timed Fire at 25 yards after Bullseye practice as a personal challenge.

I'm having a lot of fun now that I've mounted red dots on my automatics. The red dot gives a lot of information on one's trigger pull, like a poor man's shot analyzer or SCATT system: http://www.scatt.com/

 

[old fart]

self defense carry gun grooved, range guns smooth

 

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Depends. On j-frames I like them smooth. On K-L frames I prefer the slim grooved triggers. On N frames I prefer the wide grooved target triggers.

 

[CraigC]

Don't care for grooved triggers at all. Or wide ones for that matter.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Smooth generally.

But most particularly if the grooved ones are those horrendous skin-sample drawing torture devices.


Todd.

 

[tonyjr]

Is there a chart or something that tells me what guns are what frames ?
It seems like more people are talking frames rather than guns .

 

[Sa-tevr]

Is there a chart or something that tells me what guns are what frames ?
It seems like more people are talking frames rather than guns .

Wish granted!

Smith & Wesson Frame Guide

Picture Version of S&W Frames

Colt Model Guide

 

[tonyjr]

Thanks , I was thing in terms of semi autos .
like my 22 colt on a 00 frame ? [ in Mexico ]
Right now , I have a 22 lr Beretta and a 25 ACP
These are both what wife carries for snakes in yard
Going up there is my 380 , 9 , 45 , - DE 357 - 44 MAG
and 50AE all 3 should be same frame size .

 

[Capt. Ct.]

I can't say that I notice all that much. I don't shoot that many rounds at a time through any one gun. Usually fifty rounds then go to another. After going through three guns my range time is up. At $32 an hour I am not going to shoot more than a half an hour.

 

[SeanSw]

I prefer grooved triggers for all uses. The width is more comfortable to me and the grooves keep my skin from squirming on the trigger. My hands are small with loose, oily skin that doesn't callous easily. They are very soft even though I cook for living and play bass guitar. I'd have to shoot myself into the poor house before my finger tip knew the difference!

 

[Crayfish]

Well, two schools of thought for sure. Since my finger slides on the trigger as I pull it and slides back during release a grooved trigger gives me a hell of a blister after a lot of rounds. Some teach the sliding finger technique to stop trigger pull from pulling the gun left (Grant Cunningham) and some prefer a straight back pull with a grooved trigger (Jerry Miculek). So for me I always prefer smooth but, I can shoot grooved just causes a blister.