S&W 929 Trigger Adjustments

VanMan said:
... A big difference will be in giving that rebound bar a good stoning & polishing. Also re-contouring the top part of the rebound bar that resets the hammer. This let me drop down to an 11lb Wolf rebound spring that still resets the trigger quickly and reliably.
A big source of the trigger pull weight reduction also came from putting a custom bend on the Wolf reduced power main spring. That gives me a range of 8lbs with the strain screw turned in all the way, to 4.5lbs with the strain screw backed out 2 turns. I found that backing out the strain screw too far, gave the trigger a mushy/sproingy feel, so I prefer to have it turned in most of the way. Putting an "S" bend into the main spring gave it lightened the trigger pull, but still left a nice firm pull and reset.
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That is a VERY nice setup you have! Do you happen to have any links or pics of how to "re-contour the rebound bar" as I have not done much with that other smooth it out a little. Also, I would be interested in trying to custom bend the main spring. Do you happen to have any links or pics on how to do that or what it should look like? I have a few to spares I can practice on but I now understand why when I placed a reduced power mainspring in with a ground down strain string, there was such a dramatic change in trigger pull weight (9 lbs down to 6 lbs). Its really nice to meet a fellow tinkerer :)
 
After slicking up my 686 and upgrading to the competition springs, my DA pull is avg 6.5lbs and SA pull is avg. 2.4lbs. I ended up using the 14lb rebound spring. I tried the 13lb rebound spring but had trigger reset issues.
 
Trinimon said:
After slicking up my 686 and upgrading to the competition springs, my DA pull is avg 6.5lbs and SA pull is avg. 2.4lbs. I ended up using the 14lb rebound spring. I tried the 13lb rebound spring but had trigger reset issues.
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In one of my iterations of mixing main springs and rebound springs I some how made it down to around DA 6 lbs but the firearm would only go click... no bang. This custom bending the main spring has me very interested but I can't find out any info on it. Dam gunsmiths and their secrets! What could possibly go wrong?
 
Dirt Merchant said:
That is a VERY nice setup you have! Do you happen to have any links or pics of how to "re-contour the rebound bar" as I have not done much with that other smooth it out a little. Also, I would be interested in trying to custom bend the main spring. Do you happen to have any links or pics on how to do that or what it should look like? I have a few to spares I can practice on but I now understand why when I placed a reduced power mainspring in with a ground down strain string, there was such a dramatic change in trigger pull weight (9 lbs down to 6 lbs). Its really nice to meet a fellow tinkerer :)
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Here's a pic of a custom bent main springs on the left, vs the stock ones on the right
Tuned (Bent) Main Springs.jpg

Here's a pic of the area to recontour on the rebound bar (marked in red). This resets the hammer slightly back during the trigger return and allows the hammer block to slide up between the hammer and the frame. It gives you that clunky feel on the last bit of your trigger return. Basically you want to add an angle to that leading corner on the rebound bar and polish both contact surfaces.
Rebound Bar.jpg
 

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Trinimon said:
After slicking up my 686 and upgrading to the competition springs, my DA pull is avg 6.5lbs and SA pull is avg. 2.4lbs. I ended up using the 14lb rebound spring. I tried the 13lb rebound spring but had trigger reset issues.
Click to expand...

If you do the above modification, and also stone & polish the rebound bar, as well as the parts of the frame it slides on, you will get a good trigger reset with an 11lb rebound spring :)

I even go so far as to polish the hole in the rebound bar that the spring goes in, and the outer surfaces of the rebound spring lol
 
VanMan said:
If you do the above modification, and also stone & polish the rebound bar, as well as the parts of the frame it slides on, you will get a good trigger reset with an 11lb rebound spring :)

I even go so far as to polish the hole in the rebound bar that the spring goes in, and the outer surfaces of the rebound spring lol
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Ohhh? I'll have to look into that now. I've polished my parts already but never came across beveing the front corder of the bar. Thanks for posting the pics. :)
 
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Dirt Merchant said:
In one of my iterations of mixing main springs and rebound springs I some how made it down to around DA 6 lbs but the firearm would only go click... no bang. This custom bending the main spring has me very interested but I can't find out any info on it. Dam gunsmiths and their secrets! What could possibly go wrong?
Click to expand...

I have fit new hammer and trigger group parts on my regular S&W's but did not want to risk it to fit the Apex which is not a drop in part. I sent it to Murray Charlton in Victoria to have them do it while they fit the front sight from a LPA sight kit. Rear is miles ahead of the factory POS and the front FO sight is mandatory for crappy eyesight. My factory reloads were from Custom Reloading in Maple ridge and they have super hard primers. I had a few misfires until I cranked the mainspring to the max. My reloads will have Federal primers so I will be able to relax that a bit but try not to get too obsessed with trigger weight in a revolver. Smooth trigger pull will get you farther than a light trigger. Don't get obsessed with the mechanics over personal skill. Micheluk set world records with box factory pistols.
 
MustangFrank said:
I have fit new hammer and trigger group parts on my regular S&W's but did not want to risk it to fit the Apex which is not a drop in part. I sent it to Murray Charlton in Victoria to have them do it while they fit the front sight from a LPA sight kit. Rear is miles ahead of the factory POS and the front FO sight is mandatory for crappy eyesight. My factory reloads were from Custom Reloading in Maple ridge and they have super hard primers. I had a few misfires until I cranked the mainspring to the max. My reloads will have Federal primers so I will be able to relax that a bit but try not to get too obsessed with trigger weight in a revolver. Smooth trigger pull will get you farther than a light trigger. Don't get obsessed with the mechanics over personal skill. Micheluk set world records with box factory pistols.
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Really good advice! Dry firing in the off season will not only further polish the DA trigger surfaces, it will also build up your trigger finger and hand grip. Have you seen uncle Jerry's hands ..... Built up over many millions of rounds ;)

but I still do likes to tinker ..... lol
 
VanMan said:
Here's a pic of a custom bent main springs on the left, vs the stock ones on the right
View attachment 140663

Here's a pic of the area to recontour on the rebound bar (marked in red). This resets the hammer slightly back during the trigger return and allows the hammer block to slide up between the hammer and the frame. It gives you that clunky feel on the last bit of your trigger return. Basically you want to add an angle to that leading corner on the rebound bar and polish both contact surfaces.
View attachment 140664
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting the pics. I now understand what you are talking about regarding the rebound clunk at the end of the return stroke. As mentioned before, I am more interested in the learning and the challenge than breaking any records or winning any events. My shooting buddy told me he used to "rock the stock" until he saw how much fun it was to take things about to see if you can improve them (I think he got his tinker bug from building AR-15s). I completely agree that there is no replacement for skill but this all started from watching Jerry's video where he said that he likes a trigger pull of 7.5 lbs. If its good enough for Jerry, its worth a try! I tried my hand at bending a stock main spring today and got the trigger pull down to around 7 lbs so I will see if it goes bang next time I get to the range.
 
VanMan said:
Really good advice! Dry firing in the off season will not only further polish the DA trigger surfaces, it will also build up your trigger finger and hand grip. Have you seen uncle Jerry's hands ..... Built up over many millions of rounds ;)

but I still do likes to tinker ..... lol
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Maybe you can answer. I watched a couple Ron Power videos, and he was commenting that he ruined a few MIM parts on Smiths trying to polish them. Are these 929's also filled with MIM parts ?
 
MustangFrank said:
Maybe you can answer. I watched a couple Ron Power videos, and he was commenting that he ruined a few MIM parts on Smiths trying to polish them. Are these 929's also filled with MIM parts ?
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According to the S&W Revolver Shop Manaul 5th Edition and the Grand Master himself, MIM parts are here to stay and have been around for quite some time as new technologies have been applied to gun manufacturing. I am sure your can replace all the MIM parts with custom forged parts but that will end up costing as much as a new firearm! In my case, I have a 1980s 686 and its a solid performer. I also have a 617 which has its issues but I am trying to get my wife into shooting so I thought it was a good idea. I also wanted a 9mm revolver as its cheaper than shooting 38s. When you add up all of the pros and cons, it would have been better to have gotten into this game when I was younger and didn't have arthritis and to be rich enough to buy only the best firearms, send them to a gunsmith to have them modified and have years of practice. Ok... too late for all of that so we live with what we have and accept the challenge and have fun with what we have ;).
On a similar but non related topic, what do you think of the new Mustangs compared to the old Mustangs?
 
Dirt Merchant said:
According to the S&W Revolver Shop Manaul 5th Edition and the Grand Master himself, MIM parts are here to stay and have been around for quite some time as new technologies have been applied to gun manufacturing. I am sure your can replace all the MIM parts with custom forged parts but that will end up costing as much as a new firearm! In my case, I have a 1980s 686 and its a solid performer. I also have a 617 which has its issues but I am trying to get my wife into shooting so I thought it was a good idea. I also wanted a 9mm revolver as its cheaper than shooting 38s. When you add up all of the pros and cons, it would have been better to have gotten into this game when I was younger and didn't have arthritis and to be rich enough to buy only the best firearms, send them to a gunsmith to have them modified and have years of practice. Ok... too late for all of that so we live with what we have and accept the challenge and have fun with what we have ;).
On a similar but non related topic, what do you think of the new Mustangs compared to the old Mustangs?
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Mine in a 1970 Mach 1 . I recently got rid of a 2005 GT convertible. The new ones are nice to look at and great to drive. The old ones are mostly nice to look at.
 
MustangFrank said:
Maybe you can answer. I watched a couple Ron Power videos, and he was commenting that he ruined a few MIM parts on Smiths trying to polish them. Are these 929's also filled with MIM parts ?
Click to expand...

yes, mostly MIM parts, although the rebound bar is made from solid bar stock. The MIM parts still respond well to polishing :)
 
MustangFrank said:
Mine in a 1970 Mach 1 . I recently got rid of a 2005 GT convertible. The new ones are nice to look at and great to drive. The old ones are mostly nice to look at.
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Nice! I love the Mach 1. A great looking car. I have had Mustangs for 20+ years with my last one being a Roush 427R. Awesome in many respects except practicality. At least with the old cars you could work on them but with the new cars, not a chance!

In other news, I learned tonight that spring bending is a black art and NOT as easy as it sounded. I went to the range tonight and my 929 went click but no bang. Its back to the drawing board for me. On the other hand, VanMan has the smoothest revolver I have ever had the pleasure of shooting! He KNOWS what he is talking about!!!
 
lavino said:
Wow! Where can I find these grips? They look so awesome!
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These are the Hogue round butt to square conversion grips h ttps://www.hogueinc.com/grips/smith-wesson/nframe/roundbutt/conversion/g10
They are fine for 9mm minor loads. I have them on my 625 as well, and my strong hand does get a little sore after an extended practice session. Probably would have gone for the over-molded big-butt grip if I was going to compete with it :)
 
Dirt Merchant said:
Nice! I love the Mach 1. A great looking car. I have had Mustangs for 20+ years with my last one being a Roush 427R. Awesome in many respects except practicality. At least with the old cars you could work on them but with the new cars, not a chance!

In other news, I learned tonight that spring bending is a black art and NOT as easy as it sounded. I went to the range tonight and my 929 went click but no bang. Its back to the drawing board for me. On the other hand, VanMan has the smoothest revolver I have ever had the pleasure of shooting! He KNOWS what he is talking about!!!
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Nice meeting up with you and your wife :) Sorry I had to run off. Not sure what the dog ate, but it was ALL over the living room carpets lol
 
Being so damn cold out, I decided to give that rebound bar mod a go. Figured, worst case I'd be ordering a replacement from Brownells.

I was running a 14lb spring 'cause I wasn't getting reliable trigger resets with 13lb. Even 14lb at the start would not reset the trigger 100% if I released it really really slowly but it's broken in now and resets 100% with the 14lb spring. With 13lb, it definitely was not reliable. So today I did that mod VanMan pointed out and knocked off the corner of the rebound bar. I didn't remove a lot of material. I may go back in and remove just a hair more. I polished the areas and reassembled with the 14lb spring. That harsh trigger reset is a bit muted now and feels a lot better.

I replaced the 14lb spring with the 13lb and trigger felt smoother, a little lighter as to be expected and reset was 100%. VanMan was on the money. With the 14lb spring, DA trigger pull was avg 6.5lbs, now it's 5.5lbs with the 13lb. SA went from 2.4lbs with the 14lb spring to 2.1lbs with the 13lb.

After my slicking up job, the trigger felt pretty good but now, it's even nicer. Thanks VanMan!

I forgot to take pics of the after it was modded. Next time I crack it open, I'll take a pic.
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Here's my slicking up thread:
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1585609-Slicking-up-a-Smith-amp-Wesson-686?highlight=slicking
 
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