OK OK I shouldn't do it. But,....

I have a Super Redhawk - a favorite gun. I I changed the springs over to lighten the trigger pull and am quite happy with that. But the break is still rough.

I noticed a bad 'scar' or mark on surface of the sear. Is is safe to polish that? I don't want to touch the edge (even though the mark does cross the edge). I was thinking of polishing it on a 1200 grit stone.

BTW, I'm pretty sure it is a mark from the factory.

Provided you don't change the angles, you will see an improvement in pull. I haven't done a SRH yet, but just ordered the springs for mine. I've done a few other Ruger revolvers and rifles.

I usually start with a 400 gr stone, then go to 600 gr. A poor mans jig can be made from a vice, mount the trigger, sear, hammer, whatever is to be stoned, so that the surface is dead paralel, and 1/4" proud of the vise jaws. use a 1/4" piece of drill rod under the stone, and you'll have a nice jig. It doesn't take much to clean them up, spend the time in accurate set up.

While you have the trigger group apart, you might want to tap the trigger guard for an overtravel screw, 4-40 or 6-32 work well, locktite in place after adjusted.

Ps, I'm not a professional gunsmith, but have found that with thorough knowledge of the task at hand, am capable of work as good as, or better then most smiths.

After you get that burr stoned/polished out, buy Brownell's ( www.brownells.com ) "Action Magic II". It's a 2-part dry moly and colloidal (sp?) graphite liquid. Degrease the parts (naptha) then heat the part with a hair dryer and apply the liquid to the sear surfaces -- let dry overnight. The next day, take a Q-Tip and remove 1/2 of the fuzz, coat the remaining tip w/ a little moly powder and rub, rub, rub, and rub it some more into the pores of the sear sufaces. The more you burnish it into the metal the better.

Now the good news. I have YET to see any trigger NOT drop a pound or two, or even more. I had a Clark target trigger that dropped 1 pound. My bolt actions dropped at least a pound each and are now more consistent. I had a DA revolver that was off the scale, it must have dropped 3-5 pounds in DA mode and at least 2 in SA mode.

This stuff is so awesome that I remain very surprised that I seem to be the only one on any gunsmithing forum on the net talking about it. Try it ... I can guarantee you will not be disappointed. Costs about $23 for a lifetime supply!!

Lefty,

That sounds too amazing. OK I'll try it.

Last night I took Paul suggestion and went ahead and polished the sear. I removed the tooling marks. I did not go far enough to remove the mark, but it's a lot better off. The ledge on the hammer is sooooo shallow that I'm too afraid to touch it. Without a jig built for that hammer I don't see how you could do anything with it.

The trigger is much crisper now. In fact down right nice. However, the trigger parts involved in the first stage are quite rough. I am going to try your action magic stuff on those parts too.

What's the fun of having guns if you don't tinker :-).

Hey Lefty,

Looks like it's Moly. I already own that stuff for coating bullets. I wonder what that first stage stuff is?

Steve

Steve,

I just did mine this morning, no kidding about the tiny surface on the hammer! In addition to those surfaces, I polished the trigger pin and hammer pin in the drill press. I poslished the sides of the hammer and trigger with a buffing wheel. I also drilled and tapped the trigger housing for an overtravel screw. I don't know what material the trigger housing is made out of, it drills nice, but is a bugger to tap, only broke one though, and proud enough to get out with pliers. Use a quality new tap, and procede with caution if you go ahead with the overtravel screw.

I'm hoping to get some range time in at lunch. The pull seems a bit smoother, and the overtravel makes for a nice crisp SA pull. Can't wait to put in the spring kit.

Paul,

I just got back from the range. Very nice if I say so myself. Much smoother, easier to call my shots. Tightened up my groups.

Cocking the hammer is still rough - I like your polishing idea.

RE: the springs. I first put in the lightest trigger and hammer springs in the kit. Then I cocked the gun, grabbed the barrel, and rapped the grip on the floor a few times. No problem, nothing slipped. However, I didn't like the way the first stage felt - somewhat rough or loose or something. So, I switched to the 12lb hammer spring.

I'm gonna polish all the parts you described, then try the 10lb spring.

You know, mine still has a bit of creep before it breaks. A bit more than I'd like, but I don't know if I can change that.

BTW, don't know if I want to add the over-travel screw. hmmmmm.....

Funny you mentioned polishing the sides of the hammer. I did one side because there were a number of scratches from the frame. I'm gonna go back and do the whole thing.

Steve

[This message has been edited by sandolamb (edited 01-24-2002).]

Steve,

I got in a range session as well. I haven't shot since the range closed the end of Nov, and it showed, not to mention several cups of coffee this morning.

On my 480, the trigger was suprisingly good for a Ruger, I just noticed at 100 yds, it seemed to be limiting my accuracy. I can't wait to try the springs. I plan to leave the hammer spring heavy, as to me, field reliability is of the utmost importantce, and I don't want a fail to fire due to light hammer strikes.

I do like the overtravel stop, trigger isn't the magic breaking glass rod yet, but nice short trigger pull in SA. I'm hoping with practice this will aid me consistantly hitting paper plates at 50 yds offhand. As I said before, the material is a bear to tap, might be worth taking it to a gunsmith and paying $10-15 to give him the potential grief of breaking off a tap. Not a tough job, put the trigger housing/guard in a drill press vise, and d/t 4-40, 6-32, 6-40, or whatever makes you happy.

To get rid of the creep before it breaks will require shorting the trigger/hammer interface. Something I don't recomend most folks tackle, as going to far will result in a potentially unsafe gun.

Paul,

Sounds like we have a lot in common. I too run out to the range at lunch hour. I try to go every week but really only make it every other one.

I tried open sights at 50 yards today. Why do eyeballs have to go bad!? I'm only 42. 90% of my shots were in 5 inches at 25 yards. However, at 50 yards and resting my elbows .... well let's just say it was over 10".

I think it's time for a scope.

Let me know how the springs work out.

Steve

Steve,

If I didn't do lunch time range sessions, I'd be lucky to shoot a few times a year. As it is, I go once or twice a week, probably average once a week over the year. I'd also add lunch "hour" is often a very loose term. I'm very fortunate to have a state range 15 min from work, $50 for a year pass, 100 yd pistol, rifle and rf ranges and most of the year, only a few folks out at lunch hour, especially during winter!

I was shooting 2-3" at 25 from a rest. With a scope and a rest, and tuned loads, my 480 will put 5 into 1" at 50 yds. I'd like to put 5 into 2" or under at 100, but needed to tweak the trigger first. I did manage a 1 1/2" 3 shot 100 yd group once. Most folks figure the guns aren't capable of this level of accuracy, so don't make an effort to work up a load, and see what it can really do. The SRH is a very accurate gun.

If you do plan to scope, get a 2-6 or 2.5-7, the higher mag really makes a difference past 50 yds. I have young eyes, 20-15 vision, but still see the benefit of the scope.

Paul,

I have too have 20/15 vision. The weird part is that the sight picture is going. A bullseye shooter I know said it was happening to him. And I didn't believe it: When focused on the front sight the target is really soft, even on a bright day like today. Much softer than it used to be.

I'd like to work up an accuracy load for mine, but I can't really test a load without a scope. (Just need to make the wife understand how important it is <grin>.)

I don't really care for variable scopes. Was thinking of a 2 power or red dot.

Thanks again for the trigger info. I'm off to polish some parts!

Steve

You know Brownell's -- the liquid part is proprietary (sp?) -- buut best guess is that its a graphite-suspended liquid. I've been told that "Lock-Ease" (sold 2 NAPA or good locksmiths stores) or "Penephite" (sold by the people who make Kroil) are similar products, but I've used Lock-Ease and the Brownell's apprears vey similar, but thinner. So maybe there's no graphite in the Brownell's stuff -- just the carrier. I believe the term for Lock-Ease is "colliodal graphite".

Off-topic, but the rage amongst benchrest shooters is to put some Lock-Ease on a loose patch down the rifle barrel after cleaning. Says it coats the bore (must be allowed to dry -- DO NOT shoot down a wet bore) and leaves behind a thin, even coating of graphite. It's said to help the shots all go into one group and eliminate fliers or to help the barrel settle in after the cleaning. For a few bucks a tube, it's worth the try !