Advice on home trigger job? Dan Wesson cir 1970s

Anybody out there ever fiddle with their triggers? I was unhappy with my Dan Wesson's action so I opened up the panel and cleaned the spring tensioned surfaces. I was unhappy how weak the spring for the cylinder actuator was. It results in missed timing/cycling at times. The cleaning smoothed the action but still too heavy and not buttery enough.

I am going to contact Dan Wesson for a new, hopefully stronger, spring. I also want to reduce the force of the spring in the grip stud. This will lighten up the poundage. Finally, any advice on buffing out or polishing the hard pressed cam surfaces for a slicker action?

It is tricky in there with all the springs, but I have worked on old cameras before, . . . not much difference.

If I am on the right track, perhaps a good gunsmith who has perfected a Dan Wesson trigger job is in order. I saw a recommendation in a previous post for one in Massachussets. I am in New Mexico, but open to suggestions.

Dear L: I had my early 80s DW M44 worked on. The action is very smooth and the trigger quite nice with clean crisp letoff, although not in the same class as my S&Ws. In examining the trigger mechanism, it looks pretty challenging. I'm confident about working on some triggers, e.g., Ruger single actions, but this one it out of my doityourself league. I suggest sending it to a gunsmith who is experienced with DWs. Check with the American Pistolsmith Guild. - CW

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# Anybody out there ever fiddle with their triggers?

By hand? Not that I'm willing to admit.

Seriously, run, do not walk, to www.gunsprings.com (Wolff Springs) and order their Shooter's Pack for your model. I have done this with two of my DWs, both model 715s. I now enjoy smooth, crisp triggers on par with S&Ws I have fired.

Good luck.

And my dealer said Wolf did not make a spring set for my pistol.

I opened up the side plate and did an 'oil change.' This got rid of much of the gritty feel and smoothed the action out considerably, and perfected the hand action on the cylinder. Yesterday, shot 3' groups at 15 yards double tacking bullseyes plus an incher, with only two strays taking it out to three inches. My hand and wrist exercises are paying off. Need to work on the arm and gut.

This is a superbly finished revolver. The 8' barrel hits where you aim it. It's iron sights are not hard to line up in decent light. The 4' barrel shoots 6' lower with Green Tag CCI's. Needs the rear sight cranked up and a higher velocity round. The unique Dan Wesson tensioned barrel is reported to be superbly accurate. Just have to try Lapua and other recommended ammo.

My only complaint is the dealer just firing a test round and not cleaning the piece. After all, it was from the owner's private collection. And twice, the manager recommended to me doing a 'poor man's trigger job.' This, he explained, was done by shooting bad guys while watching television. That really pissed me off.

(Of course, after working this revolver over, a superb 10' Mark II w/custom wood grips hit the shelf a already tapped out for a scope. Ain't it always the way? However, a 10' Ruger semiauto really measures out to 8', I think.)

Thanks for the advice. Ordered the Wolf pack. I see 1' groups in the near future and excellent accuracy out to 30 yards. I think 100' is about it for a 22LR revolver.

'And my dealer said Wolf did not make a spring set for my pistol'

Well, I talked to Wolf and what they said was they may not market a specific spring, but if you send them one, and a little information on what it is for, they can copy it for you, and probably improve it for you. Now at the time we had the conversation I was talking with Wolf about the recoil spring for a Remington 81, but I am sure the statement holds for your gun too.

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