LCP RTK Trigger upgrade done - range report

I just installed the 'Sweet Pea' trigger and reduced power hammer spring from Galloway Precision. [My LCP is the 'with dash' S/N version.]

Factory trigger measured appx 6.5 lbs with my spring scale

After completion and adjustment I got 4.5 lbs with much better feel and reduced takeup. [It feels more like a Glock trigger now.]

Fired 21 handloads with CCI primers, no light hits and compared to brass fired from stock gun I can see no major difference in primer dents.

For $67 investment this is a huge improvement over stock; I was able to keep all shots on paper [well inside any scoring area] at 50 feet with a center mass silouhette. Pretty good given the lack of real sights on the LCP; would have been tricky with the stock trigger.

Some say newer 'no dash' guns have better factory triggers but I cannot comment there. I hesitated to spend even $67 on a $300 gun but in hindsight it was money well invested.

If you change the spring be sure to test fire more than a couple rounds including your carry ammo - your results may vary.

I installed those and a new recoil spring set with a SS guide rod. I only got to try a few rounds but it was day and night different(better).

jmoser said:

I just installed the 'Sweet Pea' trigger and reduced power hammer spring from Galloway Precision. [My LCP is the 'with dash' S/N version.]

Factory trigger measured appx 6.5 lbs with my spring scale

After completion and adjustment I got 4.5 lbs with much better feel and reduced takeup. [It feels more like a Glock trigger now.

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I think you need a more accurate scale ... No way is a stock LCP 6.5 pounds .... It's more like 9 pounds. Ruger themselves specifies 8 pounds, the ones I've seen have been more than that.

REV

It was very difficult to measure the stock trigger due to the very long travel - I doubt it was less than 8 but that's what I got as a reading. I check DA pull on my revolvers all the time at over 8 lbs - I think the shape and angle of the LCP trigger made the gauge too hard to keep at a right angle or maybe it was using a longer moment arm (lever) than where your finger sits. In any case the new parts made a world of difference.
Btw I also have the 13 lb recoil springs.

jmoser said:

It was very difficult to measure the stock trigger due to the very long travel - I doubt it was less than 8 but that's what I got as a reading. I check DA pull on my revolvers all the time at over 8 lbs

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Agreed ... And the trigger on any decent quality DA revolver is light years better than any of the LCWhatevers ....

I don't doubt that your mods made a world of difference, but having said that ... I'm of the school that believes that carrying a gun that has had the fire control system heavily modified by an amateur and/or unqualified gunsmith puts the user at tremendous legal risk should that gun ever need to be used in a self defense situation.

I know that the LCWhatever triggers are pretty much unusable for any kind of accurate shooting in their stock form, but in that case I'd either pick a different gun for carry or learn to live with it in its stock form.


REV

Anyone that uses any unmodified gun in a self defense situation is already at tremendous legal risk. If I need a tiny pistol that I have altered to be alive to face that risk, so be it.
Before you bark, I have many other choices to carry, But, sometimes a "tiny" one is needed.

dickydalton said:

Anyone that uses any unmodified gun in a self defense situation is already at tremendous legal risk.

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True of course, but I for one, believe in giving the 'other side', as little additional potential ammunition as possible to use against me ... Either criminally or civilly.

REV

revhigh said:

jmoser said:

..... I'm of the school that believes that carrying a gun that has had the fire control system heavily modified by an amateur and/or unqualified gunsmith puts the user at tremendous legal risk should that gun ever need to be used in a self defense situation......................REV

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I have always been curious if the same applies if the only modification you have done is change grips. Would a change of grips make it a modified weapon thereby allowing prosecutors to add additional charges?

Pierow

Pierow said:

revhigh said:

jmoser said:

..... I'm of the school that believes that carrying a gun that has had the fire control system heavily modified by an amateur and/or unqualified gunsmith puts the user at tremendous legal risk should that gun ever need to be used in a self defense situation......................REV

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I have always been curious if the same applies if the only modification you have done is change grips. Would a change of grips make it a modified weapon thereby allowing prosecutors to add additional charges?

Pierow

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Grips, sights, and other non-fire-control or non-safety related mods most certainly 'wouldn't count'.

Amateur tinkering with, and/or modification of ... the fire control system of a gun most certainly 'would count', as well as removing factory installed safety systems ...

People can believe whatever they want to believe, but the above makes logical sense to me, therefore I follow that course of thinking.

For carry ... If a gun I'm considering has such a horrible trigger, or is potentially unreliable due to safety systems like mag disconnects .... I buy a different gun that I can live with out of the box. That way ... If I'm prosecuted or sued ... The manufacturer is standing right there with me .... They're Not disclaiming any and all liability due to the fact that I've made unauthorized and untested modifications to the fire control and/or safety systems of the gun that they spent millions of dollars on trying to make as safe as possible. That just makes sense to me ... As well as several firearms savvy attorneys that I've spoken to over the years.


REV

Grips, sights, and other non-fire-control or non-safety related mods most certainly 'wouldn't count'.

Obviously, you aren't a lawyer. And once again, don't bark. Anything you do to make a gun more lethal including grips and sights, lasers and flashlights can and probably will be held against you in a court of law. Once again, If you are dead, it won't mater.

dickydalton said:

Grips, sights, and other non-fire-control or non-safety related mods most certainly 'wouldn't count'.

Obviously, you aren't a lawyer. And once again, don't bark. Anything you do to make a gun more lethal including grips and sights, lasers and flashlights can and probably will be held against you in a court of law. Once again, If you are dead, it won't mater.

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Please ... If you can't see the liability difference between changing cosmetic/non-functional parts and fire control or safety related parts ... We're obviously not on the same page in this discussion ....


REV

I did the RTK trigger, ss guide rod, and springs from Galloway.............was well worth the money.
I also did a Hogue grip, that makes it much easier to handle the gun.

$100 investment made the gun a much better shooting piece.

Steve

dickydalton wrote:

Grips, sights, and other non-fire-control or non-safety related mods most certainly 'wouldn't count'.

Obviously, you aren't a lawyer. And once again, don't bark. Anything you do to make a gun more lethal including grips and sights, lasers and flashlights can and probably will be held against you in a court of law. Once again, If you are dead, it won't mater.

Rev wrote:

Please ... If you can't see the liability difference between changing cosmetic/non-functional parts and fire control or safety related parts ... We're obviously not on the same page in this discussion ....


REV

I wrote:

This may be a conundrum. My page says that lawyers will go after a person just as fast for having a grip that allows faster controlled shooting and a sight that helps you hit better. Look Really Hard at the way you said "most certainly 'wouldn't count'."
If your book has that page missing, I can't help that.

It's a draw. No winners in this discussion :?

Back to the OP, you mentioned Glock triggers. I've measured a bunch of stock Glock triggers with a digital gauge and every one measured 5.5 lbs +/- a few ounces. Glock specifies.....5.5 lbs.

dickydalton said:

Anyone that uses any unmodified gun in a self defense situation is already at tremendous legal risk.

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Am I the only one that thinks this is backwards?

rgburrill said:

dickydalton said:

Anyone that uses any unmodified gun in a self defense situation is already at tremendous legal risk.

Click to expand...

Am I the only one that thinks this is backwards?

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No ... You're not ....

REV

Oh well, just give Zimmerman a call guys. I think his gun was stock.

Perhaps cch holders need to study the law more than the weapon. This discussion is beat to death.

Gun World's magazine has a story from a guy that has had one for a while. Write up is on the New Enhanced" model. Says the trigger lightened a 1/2 lb. while testing it. Down to 6 + 3/4 lbs. from 7 1/4..