I prefer the thin S&W trigger, I think it's the .265, with serrations. I use my revolvers in the double-action mode generally and reserve thumb-cocking for aimed, deliberate shots at a distance when time permits. I have no use for the wide "target" triggers and hammers, and generally remove them and replace them with their thinner counterparts. During the '90's when I had Colonel Phil Maher's "Diplomatic Passport" to use practically as if it were my own, I bought and brought quite a few of these triggers and hammers down into Mexico. S&W triggers are the same between the K, L, and N-frame but the hammers are different and one needs to allow for that. I do not believe I have any L-frame hammers in Mexico and if I do, it's just one. But I have several of the K and N-frame hammers and quite a few of the thinner serrated triggers. I am sure the Custom Shop in Queretero has a few and I know they have several J-frame triggers and hammers should I ever need one.
I generally use my Snubnosed Model 49 (no dash) Bodyguard, which Phil Maher got for me back in 1993, and which I just finally got back into my possession this past winter with my long-awaited return to spending more time in Mexico than I have been since 2016, as my main carry weapon. CCW in Mexico is always generally "under the table CCW" as one doesn't generally have a permit allowing it. At the same time, if the firearm being CCW'd is of a caliber "allowed" for civilian use (like .38 Special) and the firearm is registered -- it's not a real crime if you are caught. Paying a fine and saying you're sorry will get you off and probably get you the gun back if you didn't do anything too stupid when you were caught. I took this photo the morning after I got it back last March, on my bedroom table with it's usual accoutrements.
When you are carrying without exactly having permission in a dangerous area, pocket carry is the way to go. And you cannot reasonably pocket carry a K-frame or an N-frame. At least, I cannot. And remember: we are talking a temperate to warm climate here, not the Great White North Pole.
My wife's Model 60 (no dash) also retains it's factory issue thin trigger and hammer. This firearm was never out of our ownership even while we were in Canada, having been safely stored at Mom's in Salamanca. It's always there, waiting for us stored with a collection of watches I had and some other momentos.
I like both of these models because they are "no-dash" varients made at a time when S&W reorganized it's heat-treating processes and all the 1957 and later guns suddenly had model number markings on the cranes. These were some of the hardest S&W's made. In fact, one of my CIA friends told me that the original Model 60 was the hardest on the cutters ever made, and starting with the -1 version the steel was less of a pure stainless but easier on the machines. Since defense loads need to be as hot as possible to try to ensure maximum effect against a target probably better armed than you and certainly ready to kill you, I want the little guns to take as powerful a load as I can manage myself. Getting a 160 grain LSWC or LSWCHP up to between 950 and 1,000 fps out of a 2-inch is hard on the hand and might be a little hard on the gun: but I think those no-dash models can handle it. They have stood up well so far -- better than my hand for sure.
I love the baby Magnums for sure, although I do not have one. I covet one and will probably get one once I'm more firmly back in Mexico and have bought back or replaced some of the guns I sold or let go when I left there. This nickled Model 19 round-butt came with both a target hammer and trigger installed, but we ground those down to regular thin-styles with a dremel tool. My friend did a rather credible re-color-case job using a mixture of gun-blue 44/40, some type of oil and boiling the mix before application. It seems to have held up well. He uses this Model 19 -- remarked and registered as a .38 Special Ctg. revolver, as his sailboat gun when he's on the boat and his "Super Snubby" competition gun when back in Guanajuato.
Myself, I'd be totally content with a stock Model 19 snubby or a Model 66 snubby. I spent a day trying to get a 160 LSWC up to 1,200 fps out of this nickled one, but the best I could do was 1,180 reliably. Remember: this out of .38 Special cases as being caught with .357 ammo means jail for no good reason at all as anything that can be done with the .357 case can be done with the .38 Special case if you work up to it with the right powders.
My Heavy Duty has my favorite S&W hammer. I have seen this hammer on other S&W HD's from the mid-1950's so it was a factory "thing". The serrated cocking part of the hammer is exactly the same thickness as the hammer head and internals. I love this gun because it's a real .38 Special but can be loaded Elmer Keith style to .357 specs. It's my "bigger hammer", although I have rarely ever carried it. When I have a desk job for any length of time on my Mexican trips, this one sits in the top drawer on the right-hand side.
My Heavy Duty often sat in my desk drawer at Santa Clara. Sure, I had my snubby in a pocket holster all the time, but the reassuring
thump of a 160 grain LSWCHP at around 1,300 fps from the Heavy Duty was just so, well, reassuring to have close at hand.
Even if I graduate to larger N-frames for target shooting or perhaps some handgun hunting, such as my Model 28 here, I make sure to have the thinner trigger installed. If the gun comes with a target hammer, I will switch that out for a thinner one, although this Model 28 came with the hammer and trigger in the photo. You asked for our preferences and now you know my own.
