lightening da pull of 686

**Diesel McBadass** · 10-06-2012, 08:38

wellordered new grips and holster today, 686 is almost perfect, except id like to lighten trigger maybe some springs, i understand its not just a hammer spring swap though?

And what types of springs in what weights to keep reliability? Trigger is very smooth, just a little heavy

VA27 · 10-06-2012, 19:08

S/D or range toy? For a range toy try a Wolff Springs kit. For S/D leave the factory springs in it and dry fire it 1000 times. Seriously.

***Glockdude1*** · 10-06-2012, 19:09

Cock the hammer.

ak103k · 10-06-2012, 19:23

Quote:

For S/D leave the factory springs in it and dry fire it 1000 times. Seriously.

The more you do this, the better it will get, and it has nothing to do with the trigger.

Quote:

Cock the hammer.

Blasphemy!

File that SA notch off the hammer, and youll learn to shoot a revolver right.

just for fun · 10-06-2012, 19:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by VA27

toy leave the factory springs in it and dry fire it 1000 times.

And that's the best advice you'll ever get for free!

ArmoryDoc · 10-06-2012, 21:35

I agree with the others. Dry fire the heck outta that thing. You'll notice a big improvement in how smooth it is. In addition, you won't need lighter springs because you'll have a stronger trigger finger.

R*E · 10-06-2012, 22:10

Probably don't need to swap the hammer spring to lighten it.

Tiro Fijo · 10-06-2012, 23:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by VA27

S/D or range toy? For a range toy try a Wolff Springs kit. For S/D leave the factory springs in it and dry fire it 1000 times. Seriously.

I agree, BUT you need to get the sideplate off & lubricate the internals which will make a world of difference. It's not that complicated, however if you have no experience take it to someone who can do it.

Decent vid:

SMITH & WESSON MODEL 10 SERVICE REVOLVER PART 1 - YouTube

**Jason D** · 10-07-2012, 17:38

The mainspring's only job is to capture energy and use that to crush the primer. You'll want to leave that at full power.

Barring an action job and thousands upon thousands of rounds through the gun. You can lighten the double action pull by installing a lighter rebound spring. 15 or 16 pound is the factory standard. 13-14 pounds is just about perfect. There is a trade off for going with the lighter rebound spring. The lighter you go the slower the trigger resets. Anything less than than 13 and it will be so slow it's noticeable.

Now the problem you run into by installing the lightened mainspring is you capture less energy and therefore have less to hit the primer with. That can lead to light strikes. You could combat that by installing a longer firing pin.

Kentucky Shooter · 10-07-2012, 20:58

I had a couple of new revolvers that i sent to clark custom a few years ago for a trigger job. After a year or two, i got tired of how they performed and had a trusted local gunsmith restore the revolvers to full power springs as they came from the factory. The best i remember one even had to have a new hammer or sear to fix an unsafe condition--- one that sure didnt exist when i shipped the guns off.

Light strikes, a hammer that could be pushed off while cocked, and being limited to federal primers all lost its appeal to me.

I have had my last trigger job on a handgun.... Your mileage may vary.

MoNsTeR · 10-08-2012, 21:41

Leave the mainspring alone, but install the lightest trigger return spring Wolff makes. It makes an enormous difference, and doesn't compromise function.

PzGren · 10-08-2012, 22:03

Springs are of a certain power to perform a certain job; resetting the trigger or accelerating the hammer and giving it enough force to set of the primer.

However, that force is lessened by friction and a good action job will include polishing the parts that bind. A good gunsmith will not work on a revolver unless it has been shot around 500 times or more to see where that friction occurs.

If the friction is properly reduced, a lighter set of springs can perform the intended purpose very well while giving greatly improved trigger characteristics.

I guess I was lucky to find a very competent S&W certified gunsmith who also was an avid shooter and kind enough to share a lot of his kowledge with me.

byf43 · 10-09-2012, 07:27

I echo the others that have said to shoot the snot out of it, first.

There are several ways to lighten the trigger pull on S&W revolvers.

Replace springs.
"Snip" springs.
Loosen the mainspring tension.

I DO NOT recommend that you do any of these things, yourself.

What I do recommend is to CAREFULLY remove the sideplate
(*Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers. . . . READ how to do this, FIRST!!! You CAN ruin the sideplate and/or SCRATCH the bovine scatology out of the revolver IF you don't know how to do this!!)
Clean the revolver 'innards' completely and lube the mating parts with a GOOD gun oil.
(Breakfree CLP. . . hint. . . hint.)

Find the book "Pistolsmithing" by George C. Nonte.
Well worth the $$$!!!

I did a trigger job on my beloved mdl 19-4, many years ago (including installing a Target Hammer and Target Trigger).
When this revolver was taken to a Washington, DC ("MPD") Armorer, to have the forcing cone re-cut, he removed all of the original springs (rebound spring and mainspring) and replaced them with factory fresh springs.

This old revolver had been 100%, ever since S&W replaced the barrel.
The springs that the Armorer installed, are in a zip-lock bag, lightly oiled, in the back of the gunsafe, somewhere.

**Diesel McBadass** · 10-09-2012, 07:30

what do you guys use for lube on revolver internals that sticks around a while?

byf43 · 10-09-2012, 07:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diesel McBadass

what do you guys use for lube on revolver internals that sticks around a while?

Breakfree CLP.
Apply sparingly with a Q-Tip.

**Diesel McBadass** · 10-09-2012, 07:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by byf43

Breakfree CLP.
Apply sparingly with a Q-Tip.

not a fan, my cz stopped having problems when i put grease on the rails instead of that stuff, also hearing military guys say their m4s get more reliable with real lube over that stuff.

byf43 · 10-09-2012, 07:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diesel McBadass

not a fan, my cz stopped having problems when i put grease on the rails instead of that stuff, also hearing military guys say their m4s get more reliable with real lube over that stuff.

Then use a DROP of "Lubriplate" or TW-25B. (White Lithium Grease).

Don't need but (literally) a drop. Wipe it on mating surfaces.
Works great.

Bren · 10-09-2012, 08:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diesel McBadass

wellordered new grips and holster today, 686 is almost perfect, except id like to lighten trigger maybe some springs, i understand its not just a hammer spring swap though?

And what types of springs in what weights to keep reliability? Trigger is very smooth, just a little heavy

I used Wilson springs in mine. Then I took it to an IDPA match. I'd guess I had to pull the trigger 200 times to get it to fire 50 rounds. Be careful with making revolver triggers lighter. If you want to work on it, get Jerry Kuhnhausen's shop manual.