s&w triggers all over the place

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  • throttletony

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    Jul 11, 2011
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    While on vacation, i happened across a nice local gun store (out of state) that had a pretty big selection of s&w revolvers.
    i was shocked at how inconsistent the triggers were... some basic 686s were very smooth and light, others not.
    even in the PC (performance center) guns, a few were very smooth, while others werent - some felt really heavy, but generally still smooth.
    overall they were mostly smooth - about 3 werent - but many felt very heavy, like EAA windicator type heavy, or old-unfired-ruger heavy.

    Other people noticing this as well?

    For my money, i know that i can get a ruger trigger to smooth out quite well, i guess i was a bit shocked that SO many (about 9 out of 12 revolvers) from s&w were NOT smoother/lighter.

    12 guns is not a big sample size statistically, i understand, but if I'm going to pay for a s&w it has to be equal/better than the taurus fron the "cheap cabinet"

    /endrant
     

    Hopper

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    31   0   0
    Nov 6, 2013
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    Hamilton County
    Bit of a rant here as well, as after being convinced that S&W revolvers were the "superior breed", I picked up a brand-new Model 66 Combat, and more recently, a Model 640-3 (which is a J-Frame DAO).

    While I absolutely love the 66 Combat, the glass bead finish on it isn't nearly as nice as the satin stainless finish on a GP100. No big deal, at some point as it continues to get scuffed up from use, I'll ping AllenM to refinish it for me.

    I'm more irked with the brand-new 640. The DAO trigger on it was pretty bad right out of the gate. I expected it to be heavy being a DAO, but the first thing I did was install an Apex spring kit in it to lighten up/smooth out the factory heavy trigger. Made a big difference. And I can live with having to drop a little $$ into something to tweak it more to my tastes. The worse issue, which will result in me sending it back to S&W as soon as I can get a shipping label when they reopen, is that the barrel is over-clocked past the 12 o'clock centered position. This causes the front sight blade to sit at a bit of an angle because the barrel isn't centered. Totally my fault for not looking it over more carefully before I plunked down cash, but being a Smith, I just wasn't looking carefully for such an obvious fit/finish issue.

    I'm sure S&W's customer service will make the 640 right, but *if* I ever buy another S&W revolver, you can bet I'll look it over with a microscope. Their QC apparently isn't what it used to be, and I'm starting to understand why their older revolvers continue to become more desirable.

    /endrant x2
     

    Arthur Dent

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    Sep 21, 2010
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    Last year I compared a Ruger LCR 357 to a S&W Air Weight. The Ruger trigger was smooth and broke cleanly. The S&W trigger felt like it was being dragged through rocks. Plus the finish on the Ruger was better, the finish on the new S&W was already showing wear just from customers handling it.
     

    VERT

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    Jan 4, 2009
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    Seymour
    I agree that Smith revolvers seem to be hit or miss lately. My father picked up a 3" Model 60 Pro Series and it is a dandy. My sister has a 642 that had a heavy but smooth trigger, the gunsmith cleaned it up nicely. My 642 needed some definite love. Interestingly the hammer in my 642 was not of the same material as my sisters 642. Parts running down a production line I suppose.
     

    throttletony

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    So, maybe I'll eat my words a bit here... i found a 686 SSR which had the PC trigger job and it was the BEST revolver trigger I've felt. At the same time they had some other 686 and 66 that were what i described in first post above
     

    Redhorse

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    Jun 8, 2013
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    I really like the trigger on my 642. Unfortunately, I'm uncertain how old it is but it looks just like the current production models just with noticeable wear. I will admit the LCRs have really nice triggers. However, rugged uses this "friction reduction" mechanism or something of the sorts that's different from s&w.
     
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