Redhawk .45 Colt trigger pull ?

[Trailduster]

Hey Folks,

Quick question for those of you in or near the Dallas/ Fort Worth Texas areas.

Any recommendations for a top notch 'smith that specializes in double action revolver work,? Primarily lightening the trigger pull and maybe a bit of cylinder work to make it a tad less "sluggish" if you will.

It's a 7.5" model and it shoots like crazy though and all kinds of accurate on a rest or offhand

Very impressed with the beast

Thanks
Doug

 

[gnappi]

When I had one I only shot it DA and back then the best solution I had was a spring kit. Local smiths said the innards don't lend itself to tweaking like the Security / Speed six. For me it was a balance between positive ignition and no ignition. Maybe there's some magic that's been discovered since then?

 

[Trailduster]

Thanks gnappi,
Was just kinda wondering.
Single action is good and lends itself to pretty decent accuracy.

No complaints on that

 

[seasterl]

I had a lighter spring installed on mine and kept having light primer strikes, so I went back to the factory spring. I think if you do decide to go with a lighter spring, you might consider a longer firing pin. I think these can be bought from Bowen.

 

[gnappi]

This post is THE reason I TRULY WISH Ruger would make the Redhawk with the security six fire control. I LIKE removable separate wood grip panels, I LIKE being able to have a reasonable DA trigger. I'll not own a SRH because it's bulky looking, the barrels are either too long (7.5") or the Alaskan which is too short, and I want separate grip panels. OK "maybe" if Ruger made a Toklat in .480 I could suffer with it Till then, no sale.

 

[contender]

Any good gunsmith, familiar with the internals of the Rugers can smooth parts, to where the action can be a bit better. But sadly,,, not enough gunsmiths have the knowledge about the internals of these guns. Springs are but one item that can sometimes help,, but as noted,, they can also affect reliability. All guns that have their moving, working surfaces smoothed up can benefit in how they feel.

I have an El Dorado SA handgun, that was well polished & hand assembled that is so smooth,, people OFTEN feel that the trigger is about a pound, or even less. Yet,, when measured,, it's actually almost 3 lbs. The smoothness is directly attributed to properly smoothing the parts.

As for the internals being like the Security-Six series design,, it'll never happen. When the SS was built,, it was Bill Ruger's attempt to put a serious dent into S&W's domination of the LEO contracts. It's been often discussed that to build & sell them,, Ruger actually lost money. The changes in the design,, were to improve the production while reducing the expenses. A company can not survive if they lose money.

 

[gnappi]

Everything you said about the Security six is AFAIK true, and the reason a SRH is and will forever only be a dim view on my RADAR screen.

 

[Thel]

The single spring design creates a problem in lightening. If it is lightened too much for single action shooting the double action will have problems (ftf's). In the past I had a Redhawk tuned and then started playing with springs (Wolff spring kit with 12, 13, 14 lb springs). I could get reliable ignition in double action only with the 14 lb mainspring and this was with a Bowen extended firing pin. This gave a double action of about 10.5 lbs. Another thing affecting the trigger pull is the mass of the huge cylinder. They are big e.g. the diameter is 1.76" vs. 1.68 on an N frame so they create a fair amount of inertia in the action. In the past I have seen claims by some that have had their Redhawks tuned by Bowen and others and were reliable the double action was around 10.5 lbs. Also, to get a reliable pull one should probably seek to minimize cylinder endshake and headspace. Finally, the make of the primers in the ammo has an effect. Federal supposedly are the most sensitive and CCI the least.

To get the gun tuned you are probably going to have to send it off. Several gunsmiths I can think of to do the work are Hamilton Bowen, Magnaport, Gemini Customs and Jack Huntington.

 

[anachronism]

Since there is only one shared spring for the hammer and trigger you're pretty limited to what you can do here. Cleaning up and polishing the contact surfaces for the hammer and trigger helps with smoothness, but the mainspring needs to be replaced. The original Ruger spring looks like it's made from a coat hanger, and stacks a lot under compression. I think the original spring weight is around 15+ lbs and I've had some success using a Wolff 13 lb spring which hasn't stacked for me in several Redhawks. Your best be there may be to buy Wolffs "Shooters Pack" kit and experiment with the 14 lb and 13 lb springs. I couldn't get any sort of consistent reliability with the 12 lb spring in the kit. If you can get the spring stacking to go away you may be pleasantly surprised by the results. That, and a good cleaning and oiling to keep it happy.

https://www.rugerforum.com/threads/david-bradshaw-photos-vol-lxiii-redhawk-trigger.220558/

 

[3manfan]

Gemini Customs.
Marc Morganti is the man for double action Rugers.

https://www.geminicustoms.com/?doing_wp_cron=1696022005.1243250370025634765625

 

[Thel]

The Wolff spring kit, if I recall, has 12, 13 and 14 lb springs in it. I think the factory spring is 17 pounds. At one time Trapper Gun offered a Bullseye Spring Kit #14 for the Redhawk. It appears to have had 2 springs in it. I do not know the poundage.

 

[dickydalton]

I put one of these in my 45LC/45ACP and have not had a problem yet. I'd have to look to see if I used the 13# or 14#.