Tough trigger on 1858 old Army

[AR-15 Cowboy]

I just purchased from Cabellas a Pietta 1858 Old Army .44 cal 5 1/2 barrel Sheriffs model. The trigger pull is really tough. What are my options to bring this pull down to around 4 lbs. Is it even possible? I plan on getting a Krist conversion cylinder and shooting .45 long colts. Any help or advice will be appreciated.

[NickSS]

You can lighten the main spring presure by loosening the screw on the front of the hand grip near the bottom. This will lighten spring pressure. If that does not do it you can stone the sear notch to lighten the pull but be careful or you could end up with too little sear engagement and make the gun dangerous. If you have never done it take it to a gunsmith who has worked on SA revolvers.

[AR-15 Cowboy]

The main spring adjustment helped a lot. But I still want more. Any advice for stoning the sear.

[lathesmith]

Unfortunately, loosening the screw messes up the spring geometry; you get less and less pressure from the spring as the hammer is lowered, and then when it's lowered all the way the hammer is "floppy" from lack of pressure. This can lead to misfires, especially with a conversion cylinder. A better way to lessen trigger pull this way is to thin the sides of the mainspring; you lighten the pressure significantly this way, and if you do it right, then full, even spring pressure is maintained throughout the hammer's arc, as it should be.

Actually though, either this or working over the sear should be done by someone who has some experience with these revolvers. These revolvers are simple to work on, just be sure you understand what you are doing before you change it.


lathesmith

[Coffeecup]

The main spring adjustment helped a lot. But I still want more. Any advice for stoning the sear.

Unless you've done it before, buy replacement parts before beginning. It takes a few tries to learn how to do it without messing things up. I've done it (successfully) on a couple of revolvers, but I'd probably still send it off to a 'smith to have it done.

Since that is about the same advice I received--and ignored--when I started out, I'll add the same additional advice: Don't change the angles, just polish the surfaces.

Good luck!

[AR-15 Cowboy]

One of the reasons I don't want to send it out is that I want to learn to do this stuff myself. The replacement parts are cheap enough for some trial and error.

[AR-15 Cowboy]

. A better way to lessen trigger pull this way is to thin the sides of the mainspring; you lighten the pressure significantly this way, and if you do it right, then full, even spring pressure is maintained throughout the hammer's arc, as it should be.




lathesmith

How is this done, by working it on a flat stone?

[Bullet Caster]

I've done trigger jobs on plenty of SAA cap 'n' ball revolvers. First of all do not thin the hammer spring on each side. You need a dremel tool with a cutoff wheel chucked in it. Start in the center of the hammer spring and cut out the center about 1/8 inches wide and cut it both on the top and bottom of the initial cut. The total length of the cut should be about 2 to 2 1/2 inches making sure you do not cut completely to the ends of the spring. That should allow for about an inch or 1/2 inch left on each end uncut.

That will let the spring operate smoothly throughout the compression of the spring. The hammer spring must operate at its optimum throughout the travel of the spring and removing the center will allow this. If you take it off the sides of the spring, it does not perform to its optimum throughout the complete travel of the spring. Be careful not to widen the slot in the center of the spring as the more you cut out the less the hammer force.

As for the trigger spring, you must remove the trigger guard and unscrew the screw that holds the trigger spring under compresstion. Using fine grit wet/dry emory paper start taking off a little metal on the spring thinning it somewhat. DO NOT take off too much as you'll end up with a hair trigger like my 1860 SAA. I believe it is less than one pound pull as I took a little too much off.

I thought that my Uberti 1873 trigger spring that I had replaced with a set of Wolf springs would work in my 1860 Army but the spring is just a little too short. Oh well, it's now time to order a new trigger spring for my 1860 Army and while I'm ordering, I'll probably get a new hand as well as a new bolt. Those parts are the ones that wear out the quickest.

After you've removed (thinned) the trigger spring somewhat, put it back together and see if you've made any improvement to the trigger pull. You may have to do it several times to get the pull you want. I've done quite a lot of cap 'n' ball revolvers throughout my 6 year career in Civil War reenacting. Seemed like everyone wanted their revolver tweaked. I used to charge $15.00/pistol and would guarantee that it would still pop a cap. Lol. BC

[AR-15 Cowboy]

I think I'll thin the trigger spring first and see what that does, or do I need to do both before I get any results.

[garym1a2]

1858 is New Army

[44man]

Leave the hammer spring alone. It has nothing to do with trigger pull and is needed strong.
Colt actions are a pain because metal removal from the hammer can cause the trigger to fall into the safety notch and break.
I soft solder brass shim stock to the hammer with a COPPER IRON to reduce trigger engagement. It is easy to file for a good trigger pull.
Polish the sear but NEVER remove metal or change the angle. Just move the trigger closer to the end of the sear break surface on the hammer.
You can lighten the trigger spring a little.
This is what I do. If the shim ever falls off (Never happened yet) it goes back to a heavy pull.

[Ragnarok]

I thinned the width of my Pietta Stainless 1858's mainspring which helped. Trigger was still fairly tough..so I backed out the retaining screw a half-turn and it's about right now.

I had backed the strain screw a full turn..but that was too much..would have misfires.

[AR-15 Cowboy]

I'm not going to mess with the main spring until the spare gets here, but I'm going thin down the trigger spring after the fourth. I,m going to be shooting it on the fourth.

[emptythemag]

I just converted my 1858 to a cartridge conversion and from what I see and have read, the hammer no longer needs to pound the fixed firing pin on my Kirst ring like it did for percussion. Also lightening the hammer spring would allow me to fast draw/cock the hammer with less effort. I already backed the screw out but it did nothing noteworthy, to lessen the hammers tension or striking force...still clobbers the firing pin.

I read before about removing a portion of the springs center to lighten the hammer blow (just as explained in this thread). I was just a little hesitant to try it since I hadn't found an "how to do it" as explained by Bullet Caster.

My trigger pull is pretty heavy too, so I guess I want to lighten that up as well. I just have to be careful regarding "cheap replacement" parts since my conversion is build on a steel framed CVA from the 1970's ....so I run into replacement parts problems in some cases. Uberti stuff sometimes does the trick with a little tweaking.

[Sturmcrow]

Leave the hammer spring alone. It has nothing to do with trigger pull and is needed strong.
Colt actions are a pain because metal removal from the hammer can cause the trigger to fall into the safety notch and break.
I soft solder brass shim stock to the hammer with a COPPER IRON to reduce trigger engagement. It is easy to file for a good trigger pull.
Polish the sear but NEVER remove metal or change the angle. Just move the trigger closer to the end of the sear break surface on the hammer.
You can lighten the trigger spring a little.
This is what I do. If the shim ever falls off (Never happened yet) it goes back to a heavy pull.

I could be wrong, but isn't the 1858 a Remington action? I've had one of those apart, but never a Colt, so I do not know if that matters to the rest of your post.

[AR-15 Cowboy]

Yes, it is a Remington action. And yes, it's New army. I don't know why I keep writing "old army". A couple dead brain cells I guess.

[44man]

I could be wrong, but isn't the 1858 a Remington action? I've had one of those apart, but never a Colt, so I do not know if that matters to the rest of your post.
Any revolver with a half cock notch must be treated the same. Never remove metal to reduce creep. Even lightening the trigger spring too much will let the trigger kick forward and it can drop in the notch. There must be enough trigger spring so you can clear the notch with finger pressure.
A brass shim will not hurt a thing, just do not over heat the hammer and I like a copper iron, leave the torch far away from the hammer.
I tin the hammer and the shim first. The hardest part is holding the shim in place so I use a long piece. Excess can be cut away with a knife. It really is easy.