Any S&W Wheel Gunners out there?

[gcollins]

I didn't really know how to title my question? I have not worked on very many wheel guns, a few single action pistol's. I traded for a S&W Air weight for my wife. My wife is 4'11" 110lbs, she can pull the trigger but it is hard for her, I can pull the trigger but it takes 100% focus to control it! From what I can see in my book, the trigger spring is a H.D. coil spring that runs vertical in the grip area?
Can I order a lighter spring from some place ? If the spring I ID. was right?
I would be most great full for any and all help!
Greg

[Denver]

Yes there are lighter springs available. The mainspring as you mentioned as well as the rebound spring. Changing these to lighter springs will lighten the trigger pull to some degree, but there are other internal mods such as polishing the rebound slide that will also help smooth and lighten the trigger pull. Wolf springs as sold by Brownells are what I've used in several of my S&Ws as well as a few Ruger single actions. Replacing the springs and doing the smoothing and polishing of the internals is best done by someone with the knowledge and experience as well as the proper tools for working on these guns.

[Outpost75]

If she is carrying the revolver for defense, be sure to test fire not less than 100 rounds of her carry ammunition to ensure you get NO misfires in a 100 round sample. If you get ONE, repeat the test, another 100 rounds. If you get no more in 100 rounds the gun is OK. If you get another, change ammo and repeat.

J frames have marginal hammer throw and suffer from weak primer indent anyway. Installing after market springs to reduce DA trigger pull makes the situation worse. Better she start squeezing a tennis ball or get a grip strength developer and learn to use the gun with the factory springs.

[Walter Laich]

I replace my springs with Wolff or similar pretty much right off the bat. That and firing 500 rounds or so through the firearm to break it in works for me

[fourarmed]

Good advice, all. Lightening the rebound slide spring will reduce the trigger pull without reducing the hammer striking force. The only downside to that is a possibility of the trigger not returning, but that is rare. It takes a rough, dry slide and a very light spring. Lightening the hammer spring is something I would hesitate to do on a carry gun. I have handled some competition-tuned Smiths that had wonderful DA trigger pulls, but would only set off Federal primers, and sometimes not even them. Someone who knows what he's doing can polish parts to produce a very acceptable pull without altering or changing springs at all, but it is a time-consuming job.

[John Allen]

Another +1 for wolf springs. It really makes a difference. I also lightly polish the internal parts but you have to be careful when you do this.

[725]

As others have stated, a carry gun needs to be reliable. Don't tune it down just to make it easier at the range.

[Cosmiceyes]

Unless a S&W changed to a Ruger it has a "leaf" type spring.You get 3 different ones in a kit. There should be a screw in the front of the grip frame where the tension can be adjusted.You also have to back it away from the spring to change it out. Rugers have coil springs.Sounds like you need a trigger job by a competent "Gunsmith"! 's

[Cactus Farmer]

What model S&W? The K frames are flat springs and 6 shot 38 Specials. The J frames are 6 shot 32s/5 shot 38s. They have the coil hammer springs. wolf kits are almost foolproof. Polishing the inards are always good for slicking up the action. Then practice,practice,practice.
My wife carries a Model 36 3 inch. I carry a model 60 in 357 Mag. with a 2 1/8th inch tube. Both are J frame pistols. If I miss and they are close I will set 'em on fire. Either way, we will both be quite deaf!

[MtGun44]

+1 on fourarmed's comments.
Polish the rebound slide and frame area where it runs, use a lighter rebound
spring and use a SYNTHETIC grease on the rebound slide and you will
be pleased with the results and still have a reliable hammer fall.

Bill

[williamwaco]

Wolf makes good stuff. . .


http://www.gunsprings.com/

[Cosmiceyes]

What model S&W? The K frames are flat springs and 6 shot 38 Specials. The J frames are 6 shot 32s/5 shot 38s. They have the coil hammer springs. wolf kits are almost foolproof. Polishing the inards are always good for slicking up the action. Then practice,practice,practice.
My wife carries a Model 36 3 inch. I carry a model 60 in 357 Mag. with a 2 inch tube. Both are J frame pistols. If I miss and they are close I will set 'em on fire. Either way, we will both deaf.

I went an opened up my new S&W J,and found a coil spring. I have 8 old Military J frames that all have the leaf. Makes me laugh to have "not"known about the change! 's

[gcollins]

Hi Guys,
I want to thank all of you for the help! I googled S&W Air Weight and got a lot of U-Tube Vid's, but every one was showing how to do a Body Guard, as I read the internals are
the same?
Did a trigger job on my first 1911 in 73 and have done a boat load since then, with a lot of other models ect.
But I am VERY HAPPY for all the advice.
Thanks!
Greg

[KCSO]

An action job here in the shop runs $100 for a J frame Smith. This includes smooting all the rough machine marks in the side plate and frame honing the rebound and replacing and tuning the springs. Single action 2 pounds or more your choice and double at 10 pounds smooth with 100% reliability with factory ammo. I test with rifle primers. This is not an easy job and you really need to know what to smooth and how to do it to do the job right. I have a special set of stones for doing things like the hand channel in the frame. You MUST be very carefull NOT to ruin the case harding of the internal parts so you wil still see some machine marks in a polished part. It is awfull easy to go through the case and ruin a part so have spares.

[Cosmiceyes]

I went an opened up my new S&W J,and found a coil spring. I have 8 old Military J frames that all have the leaf. Makes me laugh to have "not"known about the change! 's

Well guess what I found out! Thanks Cactus Farmer for making me look this up.
.38 Regulation Police, a model that was introduced in 1917. The patent date impressed into the wood is for the patented way of mounting the larger wood RP stocks to the small steel frame underneath. If you take the stocks off, you will see that there is a long notch in the steel that answers a contour in the wood. That helps mount the oversize stocks securely on the small frame.
The Regulation Police models (which came in both .32 and .38 caliber) were built on the company's small I frame. The .38 does NOT chamber the .38 Special cartridge, but rather the shorter and somewhat less powerful .38 S&W cartridge. The .38 Regulation Police is sometimes referred to as a .38/32 Hand Ejector, meaning that it is a .38 caliber revolver built on the .32 caliber frame. "Hand Ejector" is the generic term for S&W guns with a swing-out cylinder.
The Prewar I-frame guns were the predecessors of the J-frame guns that are made today.

[TXGunNut]

$100 for a professional action job is money well spent. Knowing where and how to polish and knowing how to tune springs takes time and generally involves ruining a part or two. The hint above about the Airweight having a light hammer would make me think twice about Wolff springs. A good cleaning and firing a hundred rounds or so will help. A bit wider trigger may help as well.

[Love Life]

$100 for an action job is a good price. I've paid more than that before, but I had a couple of other things done.

[gcollins]

I am great full to all,! Yes, I have been down that road where a person is a head to have a pro do the job! I am one of those guys that if I do it my self I stay on the side of caution!
KC, are you in Kansas or Missouri? I have no plans on smoothing anything at this time, the only thing I might do would be put a set of Wilson springs in it? I am in the middle of rifle build's at this time, one of them I would working on for 18 months or so, my reason for being so slow on it was I needed to have the action drilled and tapped, I looked for a Gun Smith in the yellow pages (one of the biggest mistakes I ever made) I have never seen anything like it,so I put it on hold.
Thanks again!
Greg

[bobthenailer]

Try the R/P spring kits I have them in all of MY S&W handguns J,K,L & N frames for less than $20.00 and 15 min time to install them why not ?

[gcollins]

Bob,
That is exactly what I am planning on doing. Has anyone used the Wilson springs?
Greg