How to remove creep in a Redhawk?

[GARCIA]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to remove the trigger creep on a Ruger Redhawk other than sending it to a reputable gunsmith?

Tom

[MtGun44]

If you have done trigger work yourself successfully in the past, then you will understand
"the normal way". If you don't know exactly what that means, take it to a gunsmith or
plan to learn what it means.

Every trigger expert had a first trigger job, so this might be yours, or maybe you are not
a person that wants to risk needing to buy replacement parts if you mess up. Hard to
judge for someone else. Pretty easy to make it unsafe, but if you are really good at tiny
stuff and great precision - make sure you have a 10X jeweler's loupe or head mounted
magnifier and some various fine grit quality stones and start reading about it.

Basic issues are smoothing and polishing without rounding over anything or knocking off
square corners, keeping everything very precisely flat, true and square. Can't do it if you
can't see it extremely clearly, either.

Some guns improve a lot with weaker springs in the trigger return location. It seems like the
Redhawk has one spring for trigger return and hammer, so you have to watch making the
hammer fall too weak if you use a lighter spring, like a Wolf spring kit from Brownells. Creep
is usually too rough and long engagement of sear and hammer, as a general concept.

Start with a spring kit, they are cheap. Probably will not help creep much, but may.

Bill

[targetshootr]

I've heard you can burnish the surfaces by gently pressing forward on the hammer while pulling the trigger. But it sounds like something you can over do.

[GARCIA]

Found some burrs on the inside of it and they were stoned down. Still some creep but seems to be less noticable. Going to polish up the leg that holds the trigger/hammer spring. Have added a little bit of some "Nano Polish" my son uses. Should smooth out over time.

Thankks for the responses.

Tom

[Three44s]

I only have one transfer bar revolver that breaks as well as my Smiths ......... it's a Dan Wesson.

My RH and SRH Rugers were worked over by a local (now retired) gunsmith and they both must have Federal primers to lite off reliably.

There is a fellow over at Ruger.net forum called Iowegan who is a gunsmith (retired?) and it used to be he gave away a series of PDF files with good pictures .......... but some outfit had a COW over that and he now has to sell them in book form ......... still worth the trouble I am sure.

Iowegan was a driving force if not THE force behind setting up that web site so he would not be hard to find over there.

Three 44s

[45r]

I was out shooting my 45colt RH today and getting 2 inch groups at 40 yards,real cold,one group went 1 1/2 inch,was fun to see the RH shoot good after not shooting a revolver since last fall..I had my redhawk done at a gunsmith to 3 pounds and it wouldn't go bang once in a while with CCI and win primers,feds worked all the time.I removed some metal off the hammer face to get a better hit in the FP,smiths won't do that usually.Now my RH goes bang every time with any primer.Love my RH,when I use fed primers with 9.2 grains power pistol under rcbs 270saa it does 3 inch at 60 yards,that is about all I can do with iron sights now that I'm pushing 57 and my eyesight ain't what it used to be.The load is subsonic,not loud and don't kick hard,works good on deer also.I have a over travel screw put in when I get a trigger job.No take up on mine,the smith did good to get it down to 3 pounds,it feels lighter.Redhawks are harder to get right than say a S&W,Id have a good smith work on it.

[Bret4207]

I've had good luck removing creeps by threatening bodily harm, especially if they are chasing after my female relatives. They used to be easier to spot, the Leisure Suit and gold chains gave them away. These days I look for tattoos, baggy pants, hats on sideways, guys who are unable to keep themselves from grabbing their groin in front of females. Nip it in the bud.


Glad to be of service!

[9.3X62AL]

You know, Bret--a Redhawk would be quite useful in and of itself in your creep removal process. Just sayin'.

Such work is beyond my skill level. That said, my blue steel Redhawk's trigger stroke improved significantly just with usage. A majority of its shooting gets done double-action, and that might account for its "wearing in" to some degree.

[MtGun44]

Al's hand fitting (lots of use) is an absolutely legit and safe method. Some folks just
clean off the lube inside and dry fire a thousand times. I have some old Model 14
S&Ws that are soooo smooth. Just lots of honest use.

And - I think Al is right on the addition to Bret's creep removal technique. :-)

Bill

[Bret4207]

Well, maybe you guys are right. I suppose if you could train the Red Hawk to fly at the creeps face or sink his talons into the creeps groin area...

[NHlever]

Creep is usually caused by the angle of engagement between the hammer, and the trigger. Changing that angle will reduce creep, but it is definatly not a job for those not familiar with trigger work. It has to be done very carefully, and you don't want to go through the whole learning curve on your gun without some spare parts handy.

[MtGun44]

I was thinking that Bret wanted to get rid of a creep in a Firebird. . . . . . Is that a bit
like a Redhawk?

Bill

[NHlever]

Yes, a bit like a Firebird Bill, but not as sleek. Pretty quick off the line though.

[Mal Paso]

#1 if you mess up with a Redhawk it's back to the factory 'cuz they stopped selling the Serious Parts.

#2 the thing that improved my trigger the most was shooting 10,000 rounds.

#3 what MtGun44 said.

I've had too many primer issues to ever use less than a factory mainspring. I've gone as far as to buy the Power Custom Stand to do the sear which reduced the single action Pull. But to take out the creep would have required reducing the overhang and I didn't want to go there. I'm not an experienced Redhawk gunsmith. It's a Different trigger. My Smith is a better target gun but it's not what I carry in the woods. The Smith is totally reliable but Single Action in the Redhawk feels safer and DA is smooth as silk.

I like to to know my gun from the inside out and think it contributes to shooting. You know = Gun Nut.

[GARCIA]

Thanks to all that have responded.
Guess that the trigger on the Redhawk will just take time to get worn in.
Sure wish it was like my 1974 S&W M57's trigger. Know that is SWEET!!!!!!

Tom

[Tazman1602]

Garcia,

I know there are detractors here........but.............I've got a new model Vaquero that had a terrible trigger right out of the box. Not wanting to spend another $300 for the complete Power Custom kit I decided to gamble on a Wolff spring kit for $20. It did nothing to eliminate creep but it sure is not as noticable now and my group size shrank by half.

Worked well for me but call Wolff and they are very, very helpful in deciding which spring kit you need.

I had almost a six pound trigger to start with and ended up with a nice 3.5lb pull in the end.

Art


Thanks to all that have responded.
Guess that the trigger on the Redhawk will just take time to get worn in.
Sure wish it was like my 1974 S&W M57's trigger. Know that is SWEET!!!!!!

Tom