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I finally broke down after months of indecision and bought a Ruger SP101 3" .357 Magnum revolver. I'd looked at Smiths and others, but the Ruger is the one that kept calling me back, mainly because of how rugged it is, not to mention it's weight and balance and it's ability to truly handle the .357 loads.
But the trigger? Heavy and gritty. So I took another leap and completely tore it down to do a trigger job on it. Rugers tear down quite easily, as long as you remember to tear down the trigger and hammer assemblies in a plastic bag, lest tiny little spring/plunger assemblies launch themselves into some other dimension, never to be found again.
I'd installed trigger kits in my M&P and XDm pistols before, but never done any work on a revolver. So I turned to my best friend, the Internet, for guidance. I found these two amazing posts that, put together, can guide any idiot with two fairly deft hands through tearing down, polishing, and reassembling any Ruger DA revolver, rimfires excepted, since their actions are basically the same. The post with pictures, combined with the one with more complete instructions, made what seemed a complex and daunting task quite simple.
After simply sanding and/or polishing, as directed, the trigger is amazingly better, with the grit and the small hiccups that were evident at first gone. I have a set of Wolff reduced power springs on the way as well as a set of trigger ad hammer shims. Once I find the combination that gives me the best feel that still unerringly pops primers, I think it'll be 100% the gun I wanted, last a lifetime, and still be able to be used to beat an intruder into submission if all else fails. At 27 oz, it's one dense little firearm.
A few cautions, though. Do NOT mess with the sear angles. Do NOT use a Dremel tool unless you've been through Master Dremel Tool certification training or just feel you can do it and control it to polish, not remove metal. Use fine sandpaper (1500-2000) if you do sand to remove burrs (there were some on mine). And use the darned plastic bags like they tell you. The pawl spring and plunger would have been with the Curiosity Rover on Mars if I hadn't had it in a bag the few times it didn't get seated right during reassembly.
Anyway, it was fun and not nearly as tough as I thought it would be. So don't be afraid to try it. Besides, all you can lose is, uh, a $500 pistol.
Here are the two links I referenced.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4123007
http://www.teslamap.com/public/sp101_trigger_job/index.html
But the trigger? Heavy and gritty. So I took another leap and completely tore it down to do a trigger job on it. Rugers tear down quite easily, as long as you remember to tear down the trigger and hammer assemblies in a plastic bag, lest tiny little spring/plunger assemblies launch themselves into some other dimension, never to be found again.
I'd installed trigger kits in my M&P and XDm pistols before, but never done any work on a revolver. So I turned to my best friend, the Internet, for guidance. I found these two amazing posts that, put together, can guide any idiot with two fairly deft hands through tearing down, polishing, and reassembling any Ruger DA revolver, rimfires excepted, since their actions are basically the same. The post with pictures, combined with the one with more complete instructions, made what seemed a complex and daunting task quite simple.
After simply sanding and/or polishing, as directed, the trigger is amazingly better, with the grit and the small hiccups that were evident at first gone. I have a set of Wolff reduced power springs on the way as well as a set of trigger ad hammer shims. Once I find the combination that gives me the best feel that still unerringly pops primers, I think it'll be 100% the gun I wanted, last a lifetime, and still be able to be used to beat an intruder into submission if all else fails. At 27 oz, it's one dense little firearm.
A few cautions, though. Do NOT mess with the sear angles. Do NOT use a Dremel tool unless you've been through Master Dremel Tool certification training or just feel you can do it and control it to polish, not remove metal. Use fine sandpaper (1500-2000) if you do sand to remove burrs (there were some on mine). And use the darned plastic bags like they tell you. The pawl spring and plunger would have been with the Curiosity Rover on Mars if I hadn't had it in a bag the few times it didn't get seated right during reassembly.
Anyway, it was fun and not nearly as tough as I thought it would be. So don't be afraid to try it. Besides, all you can lose is, uh, a $500 pistol.
Here are the two links I referenced.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4123007
http://www.teslamap.com/public/sp101_trigger_job/index.html
