LC9 trigger- lighter, shorter and accuracy improved

[ArmedinAZ]

Is it time for:

I'd rather be judged by 12 than buried by 6

yet?

Next up.....3 shot burst trigger mod....using a paper clip, ballpoint pen spring, and a dog toenail.

You in Cheez? I just trimmed the dog's nails, got a few extra.

 

[GeorgeP]

Well Jeez Cheez, sorry about all that. Just sharing what I did to MY LC9 to make ME happy with it's performance. The only thing I did, or didn't do, was make a statement something like, " I don't encourage, suggest, recommend or otherwise endorse any of modification I made." I was simply sharing those things I found that made my LC9 work better...for me. Engineer? I'm actually smarter and more practical than most engineers I'ver worked with over the last many years. And of course it doesn't take an engineer to figure out and understand the simple mechancial operations of a semi-auto pistol.

With that said, the replacement firing pin spring actually did come from a ballpoint pin and the replacement spring for the firing pin blocker came from the spring of a butterfly bolt's nut. It is a simple piece of spring wire trimmed and reshaped to keep the blocker in place and safe.

You should hear about the mods I made to my MKIII 22/45 to make it perform better...no actually you shouldn't.

Subject closed!

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Is it time for:

I'd rather be judged by 12 than buried by 6

yet?

LOL, Armed.

Do they have any sad ballads about a guy that shoots himself in the butt with his own awesome super trick LC9 at the local pizza joint?

"It's MY GUN!"

"Yes sir it is and it is also exhibit A in these proceedings".

 

[Bigcarlover]

Next up.....3 shot burst trigger mod....using a paper clip, ballpoint pen spring, and a dog toenail.

You in Cheez? I just trimmed the dog's nails, got a few extra.

I'm in! Please include pics!

 

[Mike J]

I get the part about the paper clip (I am familiar with the paper clip mod for Kel Tecs). I can see how a ball point pen spring would be useful. What I am trying to figure out is what you're going to do with the dog toenail clipping. Please post pic.'s & a tutorial. I might not want to do it but I believe it would be very entertaining.

George I don't think Cheese would be very concerned about what you did to your 22/45 as that is a target pistol. Most folks use them strictly for the range or maybe the occasional rabbit. The LC9 is designed to be a carry pistol. If you have a negligent discharge & injure an innocent it makes all gun owners look bad in the eyes of the general public. If you carry that gun you are being irresponsible. Yes you might carry it & never have a mishap but it is not wise. Do what you want to though-I am sure you will anyway.

 

[Mike J]

Robby I am sure many people have modified guns & never had a problem. I am also sure it has caused other folks a lot of heartache & grief. If you are curious about why some of us hold the opinions we do I would suggest reading some of Mas Ayoob's stuff. While I haven't read "In The Gravest Extreme" I have heard it is really good. He touches on some of these issues in "The Gun Digest Book of Combat Handgunnery, Sixth Edition" which I have read.

I actually had a lighter powered hammer spring in my old Ruger P944. One day I got into a discussion about guns with a local LEO. I told him about it. His response was to tell me that if I ever used that gun in a defensive shooting I would probably have problems. After talking to him & reading Ayoob's stuff I decided to play it safe.

 

[deadduck357]

I'm really amazed by all the people who are SO concerned with the legal welfare of those who mod their handguns - darn, I never realized so many people cared about others. So many statements about what "if" you have an accident or negligent discharge and someone gets hurt; what "if" you shoot a bad guy and the prosecutor finds out you removed the mag disconnect; what "if" ... blah blah blah.

Well what "if" someone mods a handgun and carries it on a regular basic (observing all the rules of firearm safety) for the rest of his life and nothing happens?

Note: Most unskilled/neophyte handgun owners will never consider attempting the rather intricate and even complex mods that have been discussed in this thread. Heck, I'm VERY mechanically minded and capable,but I would never try them. So, I think all the worry is misplaced.

There are many cases on record where even when it was a justifiable shooting, persons with modified firearms have seen the backside of the bars or at least spent mucho money saving their ars. I was gonna say read some of Mas Ayoob's WARNINGS but Mike J has addressed him already. Be careful, there are many hungry trial lawyers ready.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Note: Most unskilled/neophyte handgun owners will never consider attempting the rather intricate and even complex mods that have been discussed in this thread. Heck, I'm VERY mechanically minded and capable, but I would never try them. So, I think all the worry is misplaced.

You would be absolutely amazed at the quantity of guns I have seen that have been hacked up by unskilled/neophyte gun owners.

...but most of my points have to do with the gunowner/family/public safety aspect of it.

I know of many very sad cases, some involved modified weapons.

The one that I get reminded of most often is a guitar player friend. He was one of the best guitar players in Chicago. Jazz, rock and blues, he was really good and highly praised, he even did session work in Nashville and LA. A rising star, everyone knew it.

He also was a gun nut but evidently none too bright when it came to working on them and had one of his .45's on a table in his basement and it fell. The gun was loaded and a round was chambered, he went to catch it before it hit the floor, it was a beatiful gun. It also had a poorly performed trigger job on it, the kind a guitar player would be expected of doing. His right hand caught the gun just a bit with his left hand just under the muzzle. His ring finger of his right hand grazed the trigger as it fell. The pistol went off, the trigger weight was less than the weight of the loaded gun, pretty damn light. It blew a hole in his left hand, he ended up losing two fingers, at the age of 28 his career was over as a world class guitar player. He's still involved in the industry, does sound, fixes amps, even plays some still, when people see him in clubs around town, they whisper about what might have been. The other stories are far worse.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Likewise, if someone writes in about all the mods he's made to his "range" gun, we direct him to the "sticky" too. Accidents can happen at the range too. A loaded pistol with a "hair" trigger and firing pin block removed can be dropped at the range and result in personal injury (law suit) too.

How 'bout that??

Robby, at least at a range you have someone to talk you down or help out after something bad happens.
...and I don't want to be story guy here at all but I told this story before on this forum about Revolver Boy (or whatever I called him that day) and his assinine reloads. After some insane booms from a booth over from me, I asked what the heck he was firing, the gun sounded like it was going to blow at any minute. Was told by Revolver Boy to mind my own business, "more than you could handle" or something like that was also said, idiot central as I call these things. Minutes later the gun blew up, cylinder wide open and a piece hit this nimrod in the head, gashing his forehead and blood everywhere. I had a towel and held it tight on his face. I talked to him just a bit until the RO took over.
If that happened anywhere else but a range, who knows how something like that's taken care of or handled.

I've seen guns go full auto, others dropped and fired, shotguns flying backwards and knock down drag out fist fights with guns in both nitwit's hands but I have never seen a person hit by someone else's rounds at an organized range, thank God.

 

[antman6957]

What a firestorm and debate. Some good points~ others not so good. Each entitled to their own opinions as always. All is well with the mods I made with 100% reliability. I respect the cautions some have raised and as I stated in the beginning of this thread, this is simply what I did and nothing more. Good wishes for all. Stock weapons or otherwise.

 

[dogbait]

Review my last post for entire story.

 

[wildwillyLC9]

That is very interesting....I am in to hear how things work out. Been thinking about the Galloway upgrades myself.

 

[dogbait]

Review my last post for entire story.

 

[dfris2003]

I have the Galloway trigger mod. In fact I went today and shot 50 rounds, without any issue at all except my sights were off a bit. I also have the reduce power springs for the lifter and blocker. All factory safeties are working. The trigger is still a bit heavy to pull for me.

All this talk about mods, is funny. If you don't like mods, quit reading the posts about them. Nobody is making you read this. I would rather have a moded gun in my hands when bad things happen than a gun that I cannot hit a target with. When the lawyer asks why I moded my gun, I will say "Because I wanted to hit that SOB, that was trying to kill me. Sir" I bought the gun for self-defense.

I totally understand the points about safty and accidental firing, but I bet you , there is more accidental firing by stock guns than moded guns.

However, the real problem with the LC9 is Ruger itself. Why can't you get a refund on a Gun? WTF? Pay $400 for a gun, and you really don't like after firing it, and you're stuck with it. So we mod it to make it work for us.

 

[dogbait]

It has been over a month now and I am still waiting for Eric Galloway to send me a replacement hammer and bar as promised. He admits that he may have went too deep in the recessed area of the hammer (he called the hammer hook) causing the light strikes. I guess he is having problems getting parts from Ruger. I am sure he will make it right as soon as he gets the parts. I have since heard from a couple of others who are having the same issue using Tulammo and are also waiting to see what causes the light strikes. I will post the results as soon as Eric sends me the replacement parts.

 

[George]

Wonderful.

But what do you do when the gun inadvertently goes "Full Auto?" :roll:


A.W.

Don't see how this would be likely.

Just a note.. I had a S&W model 19 .357 revolver go full auto after some guy worked on my gun. He was a cop that just got back from training at S&W! the F****n gun was over my head .. Fastest auto I ever shot!! If a revolver can go full auto I think almost any gun can... George

 

[George]

Mods are fine depending on what they are.. The most important thing for me on a CCW is for it to go bang when asked too.. Bar none! In a siuation in If had two of the same guns and i knew i was going to be in a fight with in 20 yards or much close that most CCW gunfights take place I'll take the gun with the heavier trigger that's going to go bang.. Then again if it's a shoot out situation over a longer amount of time and with distance involved I can see the need for a good light smooth trigger.. However out of the box at least our LC9 does have a nice smooth clean trigger yes it's long but it's a D/A pull.. It breaks crisp and clean.. I'm a 1911 guy and I'll be the first to admit it would take some time to get use to the trigger but at least it does start off nice out of the box.. Unlike my S&W M&P FS.45 now that a bad trigger out of the box.. Back to the LC9 I feel if I train with it and not look for or try and find it's trigger set point and give it a nice clean steady pull it will do the job..Oh IMO Tulammo sucks!! Don't go by that stuff! George

 

[dogbait]

Okay, this will be my final post on the results of the Galloway trigger modification. It resulted in a firearm which did have a shorter trigger travel. The problem was that it would have light strikes resulting in FTF (failure to fire) on ammo which uses Berdan primers (like Tulammo, only ammo available during this ammo shortage time in our area). Eric stated, that I was the only one who had this problem. But, after my investigation, I have found others with this same problem. So, if you decide to go with the Galloway modifications for a better trigger, just be aware of this possible issue of FTF with your LC9 especially if using certain ammo. For me, I am contacting Ruger to see if I can get a stock trigger and stock hammer replaced in my pistol. I don't want to depend on a CCW that may or may not fire when needed. After my ordeal, I would not recommend this modification especially if you use ammo with berdan primers. For those who disagree or want another opinion about this modification can go to the following website left by another LC9 owner with the Galloway modification. ( http://www.homedefenseweapons.net/1963-ruger-lc9-1000-round-review-update/ )

 

[George]

Dogbait,
Try and go easy on Galloway. They are a great group of people over there.. I think you may have hit the nail on the head with the Tulammo ammo and the Berdan primers.. I realy don't think anyone would rely on that ammo for there CCW.. If Galloway can't get there hands on some of it if you can talk to them and send them enough so they can replicate your issue it would help them with the issue.. They may even want your gun ya there that nice, they have worked on more then a few gun's people just plan could not ge tthere kit in right, and did so for free!There is a good chance they will do that for you. But IMO the LC9 's trigger is long and that's the only hard part to get use too as it's unlike most guns.. Like I said I'm a 1911 Colt guy but have played with my wife's LC9 enough to know just how smooth it is out of the box and it's so hard to find that trigger set sweet spot that your or I'm better off just working on a steady long but smooth pull with a break that is so clean it does surprise me almost every time, and that's really a good thing it teaches the fundamentles of a good trigger pull with out trying.. But then nice thing is it's so smooth and lite it will maintain your target throughout the pull till it breaks.. I think your smart to get the parts from Ruger don't know that I would give them the story or they will want the gun back but that way you can setup the gun back to factory even if you pay for the factory it would be well worth it to have a extra set of parts as you seem to be a guy that like to get things to feel the way your wat then too and the extra parts will let you do that... Then maybe after all this ammo junk is over give Galloway another try.. call them and tell them your plan.. Ask them if they will look at your gun after this ammo issue is over.. i think they will be glad too do that for you.. They will set your gun up right and to your liking I would bet.. But with that tulammo ammo best to wait till you can at least set it up with some real brand name ammo and good defence ammo.. Myself I would not take tulammo nor run it in my guns... that's another story.. Hey don't give up! it's a great gun ! good luck and do post back here so we know how your making out.. George

 

[dogbait]

George, On Jan. 21, 2013, I sent in my trigger bar and hammer to Eric Galloway to be modified because he was out of stock on his "kits". He charged me the same price as what he sell the kits for (actually just a modified hammer and bar) Eric said he makes the modifications to "your parts" and then sends them back. My parts were highly polished which took me several hours to complete. I even scribed my initials on them to make sure they would not be mixed up with other owner's parts. When I got them back, the trigger bar was not from my pistol (and no longer polished) and he said it wouldn't make any difference. So after installing the modified bar and hammer, I tested it with a short wooden dowel rod. I did this prior to sending the parts to Eric and dry firing the wooden dowel to see how much energy the firing pin was putting out. It shot the wooden dowel several feet into the air holding the pistol in the vertical position (as several others I tested). After the modification, it was lucky to shoot the dowel high enough to clear the barrel! I knew right then and there, it would create a problem with light strikes and FTF. I immediately emailed Eric about this and mentioned this to him. He said I should try it out with ammo which I did when ammo became available. Our town and surrounding areas are having problems getting American made ammo in 9mm (or any type of ammo recently). After firing the Tulammo (all I could find), about half of the shots were FTF due to extremely light strikes on the primers. Eric repeatedly stated that I was the only person having this problem! 30 emails later and sending me a different firing pin spring, modified hammer anchor pins (which he stated increases hammer spring tension by 30% which it did not help) and waiting for some sort of resolution. He did admit that he may have gone too deep on the hammer recess possibly causing the light strikes. He also said he would send me out another modified hammer replacement which never happened. George, I don't know what kind of patience level you have but after a month and half of trying to work with Eric, I have lost patience and faith in his word. After extensive research on this subject, I don't understand why Eric keeps stating that I am the only one with this problem, when I am clearly not. As I have posted another website with another individual having the exact same issue. I think Eric does good work and I feel the trigger is better than the long hard factory trigger. But, just admit this modification will possibly leave you with a LC9 that will have light strikes and FTF especially with ammo using Berdan primers! By the way, the modification does void your warranty from Ruger. On his website, in his Q&A section he states yes or no? For those who still want a shorter trigger travel on their LC9 with this modification, just be aware of this issue of light strikes. It just leaves me wondering how many LC9 owners with these modifications have the same issue but won't know it until they choose the wrong ammo. I personally would not use Tulammo for my CCW either,,,,unless it was the only ammo available (like it is right now!)