How to increase 1911 trigger pull

[Ghugly]

I recently acquired a custom 1911 built on an Essex frame. I'm quite happy with my new toy with one exception. The trigger is much too light. It has no creep, damned near 0 over-travel, and has never malfunctioned so I don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater. What is the least intrusive thing I can do to increase trigger pull? I pulled the sear spring and gave it a bit more arch. That upped the pull from about 1 1/2 to about 2 1/2 but I don't trust it to stay that way and I would be happier with about 4 or 4 1/2 as I would like to use it as an occasional CCW. I am not an experienced 1911 guy and would like a little input. If the sear spring is the right part, does anyone have a suggestion as to what brand/model to go for? Most everything I've read is on what to do to reduce trigger pull but nothing on what to do to increase it.

[fourarmed]

I would replace the spring. Most any one should do. If you haven't already, you might also check and see if the hammer will push off. If it does, you may need a new sear as well.

[JMax]

Assuming that there is no push off looking at the back of a sear spring, the left leaf is the sear spring, center trigger return/disconnector and right is for the grip safety. Take a marker with the sear spring in the pistol, grip safety removed and push the mainspring housing into position. Mark that position on the spring and remove. Now slightly bend the sear spring forward towards the muzzle approximately 1/8" at it's tip holding the spring at the grip safety mark. Repeat on center leg approximately 1/8" towards muzzle. Assemble and measure trigger weight. You are now done with that spring and sear. Otherwise fit a new sear and check weight w/original spring then add a new spring if required.

Always work on the cheapest part first (Old gunsmith advice).

[hunterldh]

Streatch the coil spring that is in the housing at the back bottom of the grip. That will put more pressure onto the hammer and increase the trigger pull. - Hunter

[MtGun44]

I've been doing 1911 triggers for more than 25 years and the guys
that say to add sear and trigger spring tension (flat spring) are right
on. Just take it easy and you'll be fine. The spring can be safely
adjusted up and down many times as needed. The left two leafs
work on the sear and the trigger, so either and both will increase
the trigger pull. First time I had anybody ask for a heavier trigger
pull, tho! I won't set up a trigger lighter than about 3.5 lbs for
anybody that I don't personally know is a very experienced shooter
that can actually use it safely. I think you are being smart.

No safety issues from bending the spring a bit, either. No particular
reason to get a new spring unless you just want to. Never seen
one fail, and I have seen a lot of other parts fail in almost 30 yrs of
1911s in IPSC, I have watched many million rounds of .45ACP
go downrange in 1911s and put at least 200,000 my self and seen
a lot of failures in that time, but never a 3 finger spring.

Bill

[BD]

If I was brand new to 1911's, and found myself in your situation, I'd be tempted to replace the sear spring. mainspring, hammer and sear and put the ones which came in the gun in the safe for future re-installation. If you truely have a reliable, and safe, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 lb trigger job you may well want it back after 10,000 rounds or so. And unless you're careful with it it may not survive intact through your first 10,000 rounds. We should all have such luck buying 1911's :)
BD

[Ghugly]

Thanks guys. I picked up an Ed Brown standard sear spring and installed, uninstalled, tweaked, reinstalled, etc. till I got what I wanted. The trigger pull was dandy for target work as it came but, way too light for a safe CCW, in my opinion. It now breaks at between 4 and 4.5lbs. Light enough that it shoots well but heavy enough that I feel confident that it won't go bang until I want it to.

[slughammer]

Because you don't know what mainspring was in there to get it down to 1&1/2 lbs, I would also change the mainspring for the hammer. I run a 19lb Ed Brown in my competition guns. I would consider that the min for your purposes or would probably go up to 21lb or so.

[Mayor]

slughammer is correct here! Replace the mainspring. Also be very careful letting the slide slam down without a loaded magazine in the pistol. It sounds to me like the sear engagement is very fine and if the sera was not "ground" properly you could have a "full auto" in the future.

[deltaenterprizes]

Best to change parts,you can always go back to the way it was in the future.

[S.R.Custom]

Because you don't know what mainspring was in there to get it down to 1&1/2 lbs, I would also change the mainspring for the hammer. I run a 19lb Ed Brown in my competition guns. I would consider that the min for your purposes or would probably go up to 21lb or so.

Ideally, the mainspring is replaced as a matched pair with the recoil spring. If you add force to one, you need to diminish the other. And vice versa. (This assumes two things: A, the load intensity is remaining the same, and B, things were correct to start with.)

Also, if this is a used gun, check the safety, especially if this is a carry gun. There are a lot of hacks out there who don't know the first thing about these guns and think that once the trigger pull is lightened, they're done:


Cock the hammer and engage the safety. With the gun in a firing grip, pull the trigger with about double the amount of force needed to fire it, and release. Hold the left side of the gun to your ear...at the safety...and gently pull the hammer back just a wee bit past full cock. Don't let it touch the grip safety. If you hear a tiny "click" the safety isn't fully blocking the sear. The "click" is the sound of the sear resetting into the hammer hooks. If you don't hear it, you're golden. If you do, you need a new safety fitted.

Oh yeah...Be sure that the gun is empty when ya do this test.

Believe me on this one-- if you hear the little click, you're just one cocked & locked hop away from blowing a hole in your ass.

[Dale53]

>>>Cock the hammer and engage the safety. With the gun in a firing grip, pull the trigger with about double the amount of force needed to fire it, and release. Hold the left side of the gun to your ear...at the safety...and gently pull the hammer back just a wee bit past full cock. Don't let it touch the grip safety. If you hear a tiny "click" the safety isn't fully blocking the sear. The "click" is the sound of the sear resetting into the hammer hooks. If you don't hear it, you're golden. If you do, you need a new safety fitted.

Oh yeah...Be sure that the gun is empty when ya do this test.<<<

This is extremely important and CORRECT advice. I have a friend who learned this the hard way (200 gr SWC just under the skin on the outside of his thigh for 11"). Made a cookie cutter hole in and a cookie cutter hole out. No permanent damage except for his mental state. Right after this accident, I insisted that this be done on every 1911 in our IPSC Club. We found a number of defective pistols and corrected them.

I routinely perform this check on all of my 1911's from time to time.

Dale53