Browning Hi Power Trigger Not Resetting

[egg250]

I acquired a Hi Power a couple of years ago. The owner told me someone (him?) had done a trigger job, to lighten the trigger weight and the trigger won't reliably reset. The magazine disconnect has also been removed. After research I do know it is not recommended to reduce the trigger weight of the Hi Power, this is probably why...

Description of the problem:

- Rack the slide, hammer is cocked, trigger is set.
- Pull the trigger, hammer goes forward. Holding the trigger, rack the slide, release the trigger, the trigger is not set.
- If I let the trigger snap forward, it will reset. From time to time, the trigger will reset properly, but mostly it does not.

This occurs when firing the pistol as well. What I have done so far:

- Polished all moving parts of the trigger system to include the sear lever and trigger lever.
- Removed any sharp edges or burrs from trigger system.
- Replaced trigger return spring with a heavier spring.

Prior to doing any work, the trigger would not reset at all after firing. The only way the trigger would set is initially racking the slide, chambering a round. Subsequently pulling the trigger to fire would result in the trigger not setting at all and I'd have to rack the slide again. So, the work I did improved the problem. It seems to be the trigger lever is not returning to position under the sear lever, so the work I did was targeted towards that problem. Do I continue polishing, is there something I might be missing?

[Sailormilan2]

From what little I have learned about HPs when I took the magazine safety out of mine, if the trigger reset spring isn't upgraded to a stronger spring, trigger reset may be sluggish.
Stock spring is a 1 coil spring (IIRC), and the replacement spring is a 2 coil spring.
I would start there, as the simplest and cheapest fix.

[lefty o]

trigger spring needs more tension. take the trigger out of the frame, and bend the curved/humped part of the spring down just a tad bit.

[egg250]

From what little I have learned about HPs when I took the magazine safety out of mine, if the trigger reset spring isn't upgraded to a stronger spring, trigger reset may be sluggish.
Stock spring is a 1 coil spring (IIRC), and the replacement spring is a 2 coil spring.
I would start there, as the simplest and cheapest fix.

Yeah, I fabricated the replacement spring, using larger diameter spring wire, which helped to make things better. I suppose I'll do another with larger spring wire.

A note on springs, more coils on the spring typically means the spring would be weaker. A spring is like a lever. The longer the lever, the easier the work, same with springs. Fewer coils, less overall length of the spring. The replacement spring is likely a larger diameter spring wire.

[egg250]

trigger spring needs more tension. take the trigger out of the frame, and bend the curved/humped part of the spring down just a tad bit.

I've been purposely avoiding that, it's a bit tricky getting the trigger reinstalled. I'll make a stronger spring and try, try again.

Thanks.

[GBertolet]

The torsion spring that returns the trigger is the likely culprit. If a trigger job was done, replacing this spring with a weaker one is part of it. Depending on tolerances, or if any burrs were raised in driving the trigger pin out, the weaker spring may not do the job. The trigger pin is a real PITA to remove and reinstall. I have done a few, and that pin is TIGHT, and it is quite possible to bend or deform parts in the process, which would tie up the trigger action with the lighter spring. There is a 2 coil and a 3 coil spring available. I believe the 2 coil is the OEM spring. I would check for burrs or binding first. If so, take appropriate action. If you want to purchase a new spring, try www.BHSpringSolutions.com They are good people to deal with for BHP parts, and springs.

[Drm50]

The 1st thing I do to a HP that I'm going to keep is to remove the magazine disconnect. Other than that only polish the parts. I have never had to replace or tweak springs. I replace mag disc when I trade or sell them. I know at some point the triggers got spongy compared to older models.