sp 101 trigger

[sawlog]

my carry gun is a smith model 60 pro, but im really wanting to buy a 3in sp 101 for carry. I like the fixed sights and I want the extra weight for better follow up shots with 357's. I know the sp stock trigger is heavier, but how much lighter can you get with a trigger job?
thank you

 

[contender]

The action in a S&W is a different animal than the Rugers. But both can be quite good when properly smoothed up & a good set of springs is installed to match the action job. Lightness is a relative term,, as you want reliability, as well as positive ignition. A carry gun also should have a heavy enough trigger to keep a person from accidentally firing it under stress.
A good gunsmith can make the SP-101 quite nice for carry.

 

[BlkHawk73]

What he said! Would never want a defensive firearm's trigger to be "light". Smooth, consistent sure but the stress and all that comes with that during a situation doesn't go well with a light trigger.
As mentioned, some springs and smoothing goes a long ways. On mine, a bit of toothpaste and a lot of working the action did wonders.

 

[sawlog]

smooth is a better term, thanks. the model 60 pro I carry has a action job done at the factory and is VERY smooth. I have kinda gotten used to it. hoping to have a sp101 close to it

 

[Kevin]

Ok, now I've heard about the toothpaste method before. I haven't tried it but have been tempted. What kind of toothpaste and how much? Like just a few squirts? Is it messy to clean up after? I can see it really getting messy. But what do you do, just insert toothpaste and dry fire?

I have two sp101's. Both have factory triggers which are pretty good in single action and the 38 in double action is manageable, but yes, the factory sp101 trigger could certainly use some smoothing.

 

[Thel]

I have a SP101 that I sent off to get tuned. When it returned I put the 9 lb mainspring and 8 lb trigger return spring in it and the double action went from 14 lbs to 8.4 as measured on a Chatillon recording gauge. It fires everything I run through it including magnum primers. I could probably be reduced another half pound playing with firing pin protrusion and adding shims on the hammer, trigger and hammer dog. For carry I upped the mainspring to 10 lbs. Note: often, to use the 8 lb trigger return spring requires doing some cleanup and polishing in the trigger guard area. Aside from being light in pull it also is very smooth.

The gun runs reliably compared to a Colt Magnum Carry I had at the reduced pull weight. The Colt required about 9.5 lbs to work.

 

[Captain America]

My SP101 .357 is smooth as silk, when I bought it I put stock springs back in it as the pull was way too light for my liking. My brand new(this week) SP101 .22lr is a whole other story with a really happy ending. A .22 needs fairly heavy springs for reliable ignition, but great googly moogly this was ridiculous. Disassembled the gun and discovered every moving part had drag, I could barely compress the trigger return spring, removed it, cleaned up the bore, lube, reassemble, same for the cylinder and hammer. The hammer spring didn't even move smoothly on the strut, so it got a polish and lube also. The end result was amazing, it went from a gun that my wife could not even cock to shoot in SA, to her cocking it with one thumb.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

The SP has a heavy trigger that can be made better with a tune-up and different springs. A spring pack works good for getting the right combination. You want a crisp trigger return and just the right trigger pull weight. Every gun is different. A good break-in period and some dry firing will work wonders on an SP. To really tune the gun up follow this link.
http://www.sp101trigger.com/index.html

 

[sawlog]

thanks everybody