20 lb trigger

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OK guys, need help again.

My wife has developed a fear of her S&W . 38 revolver and flat out refuses to shoot it anymore allthough it saved her life at the gas station in Marrero (you guys probably remember that)

Anyway.... After shooting 9mm,327, 32, 380, both auto's and revolvers she finally decided the .22 LR was her ticket. Revolver. Shame on me I know but I switched the .22 with a .22mag ,she couldn't tell the diff and I felt marginally better about her choice in protection.Autos scare her, too complicated she says.My wife is big time pro-gun and loves the fact that We open carry,but is still scared of the movent of autos as well as having to "rack the slide" With revolvers she says "all I have to do is hold center mass and squeese" Some gun is better than no gun and I want Her to be comfortable with Her side arm during the dreaded "moment of truth" So 22mag it is.

Back to the point, I ordered a stainless 8 shot 22mag 2in barrel taurus, solid built little gun,suprisingly accurate at 25 ft, very tight. The problem is the trigger, it takes 2 men and a boy to pull the trigger, no joke. It is STIFF for Me but it's not my gun, My wife can't pull the trigger hard enough to drop the hammer and has to use both hands to cock the hammer, which defeats the purpose of simplicity in a moment of need, aside from the fact that it takes her FOREVER to accomplish this (long enough to be raped , murdered, relieved of her weapon,etc.)

My question is this, what can I do to lighten the trigger pull? Surely one of you guys knows a thing or two about revolvers. I don't want a hair trigger by any means I just want her to be able to fire her weapon should the need arise. I want to do the work Myself but don't want to screw up Her gun.

Right now Her special order, stainless ,8 shot, perfect cal. new toy is nothing more than a shiny club.

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Apparently that's common for compact rimfire revolvers.

http://www.gunblast.com/Taurus-941Ultralite.htm
(May or may not be the gun in question, but it fits the description.)

If you lighten the hammer spring then the trigger pull will get much lighter but the gun might not fire when the hammer drops. That is unacceptable in a protection piece. You can lighten a spring in the trigger for a partial reduction; you still have to pull the hammer's weight but the trigger's extra can be cut down.

The article doesn't go in to the effects of lightening the trigger spring; I suspect that this makes it less improbable for trigger inertia to cause a ND. If the hammer is down then the weight of the hammer, being sufficient to cause the operator trouble, should prevent this, but if the hammer was already cocked and the gun were subjected to sudden and considerable acceleration in the direction of the muzzle, perhaps by being dropped on its back, I'm concerned that it might go off.

I recommend re-evaluating the choice of weapon. If you do, take a closer look before buying.

Edit:
According to "poodleshooter", reducing the trigger spring can also slow the trigger's reset, delaying the ability to take the next shot. Which makes sense, but even slowed the gun may be faster than she is.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239914

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Thank you for the link , I took the revolver appart after I posted and I removed the hammer spring, much easier than I thought it would be. Working the action with the hammer spring removedproved very smooth and MUCH easier(trigger spring not nearly as stiff),thus proving the culprit to be the hammer spring.

As far as choice of weapons I learned while surfing that the 22 mag revolvers (all brands it seems) have the same issues, HEAVY trigger pull. Has somthing to do with the 22 mag needing a heavier hammer fall than center fire rounds. (Seems to be the general opinion on all the threads I read.) Also you seem to be correct about the FTF if you cut too much spring. I will remove 1/2 coils at a time until pull is tolerable for her. No more.

I believe the choice of cal. was flawed , the brand I am confident in as I own a Taurus 1911 and simply love it. But as I said this was the only one (cal) my wife isn't afraid to shoot so I'm left with no choice other than to lighten the pull.

Thanks again for the link, after I perform surgery and test run it I'll let you know in case others have same prob.

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Reading your edit , I think we read the same post. I only intend to cut the spring miniscule amnts. at a time. Gotta do somthing, she was attacked once and I do not want her unarmed. Also I think you are correct, even slower the gun will probably still be faster than her.

Also I found out Wolf makes a lighter spring for same weapon. Cut spring, lighter Wolf spring, should achieve same results, huh? (providing not too much spring removed)

If I screw it up I'll replace with Wolf kit. Like I said gotta do somthing.

Try telling a woman she cant have what she wants after she sets her mind:banghead:

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way to go on trying the work your self if if you actually have some mechanical sense. Tarus is a good quality. I have three, one older and two newer that all work flawlessly.

you may consider an older 32 police positive. I had a friend that offered me one ( let me test drive it too) that I had to pass on due to budget at that time. His wife got ahold of it so that ended that.

I found it to be very comfortable to shoot and easy to control. They can still be found in good condition for reasonable prices. Your wife may find she likes this better than the 22 and wont let you play with it either.

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Please make sure you test the gun after trimming the mainspring!

.22 WMR is generally more reliable than .22LR (in my experience at any rate), but I wouldn't assume the engineers didn't have some idea what they were doing.

It's too bad your wife is afraid of the movement itself of an auto.

I'm convinced that a well-broken in 5" 1911 with a 14 pound recoil spring (once the spring has taken its set) is manipulable by even even weakest woman (I've seen it), after first cocking the hammer (also possible), using the "push-the-frame-rather-than-pull-the-slide" technique. It may take a few moments to accomplish, but then she can engage the safety (in my experience, also possible, especially with an extended thumb safety) and leave it loaded, safely and confidently. The problem of reaching the controls of a large handgun can be rendered essentially moot in a 1911 using a shorter, A1-style trigger, and an extended thumb safety.

Even the magazine release can be lightened (or (enlarged to make it easier to push), making usefully fast reloads a possibility (they really aren't for most people with a revolver, unless you get into an extended firefight from behind cover, something the typical .38 special revolver is not well-suited for in the first place).

The fullsize (5" barrel) 1911 offers a number advantages over the smaller 1911s that many women will be inclined to first select: larger slide and frame mass mean less felt recoil, rendering the standard .45 ACP tame to shoot (also, not out of a revolver, so the recoil impulse is different, possibly actually preferable to .38 special), even for small-framed persons. Also, the 5" runs fine -- in fact was designed to run -- with light (14-15#) recoil springs,in spite of many manufacturers' use of much heavier springs to make their guns "feel solid" and generally be trendy. As I mentioned, the light (actually standard) recoil spring makes the gun much easier to operate than many (possibly most) other autoloading pistols which are suitable for self-defense.

As far as I am concerned, small guns are only good for concealability. If you're not going to conceal, why go for a sub-size handgun? The only real reason a smaller person might not find a larger (read: more massive) handgun easier to control is if the sheer size makes the controls hard to reach, which as I mentioned is not a problem on the slim 1911 with extended controls (John Moses Browning clearly did not have large hands, if you ask me ).


Also the trigger in a 1911 is easy as pie.

Anyway, this is what I would hope to get any small-framed person comfortable with, if only they can surpass their mental limitations. Of course, I know it will never happen with many people, but I've also seen small-framed and less-muscular people really take to a properly configured 1911, and shoot .45 ACP very well. I don't know your wife, but I seriously doubt that I couldn't operate such a 1911 if I were suddenly reduced to her exact physical capabilities.

Revolvers are, IMO, in general often not a great choice for people for whom lack of physical strength is a problem, because the strain to pull a D/A trigger often causes shaking etc., and the "abrupt" recoil impulse is very tough on their joints, which essentially receive all of the recoil nearly directly due to: A: less muscle mass, B: the small frame (really not that good for small persons despite what they are inclined to believe, if they are capable of operating the controls of a more massive firearm), and C: lack of recoil mechanism, which, in an autoloading pistol, extends the felt energy of recoil over a longer time interval, rendering it milder.

I say this fully aware that it seems almost traditional to stick small-framed persons with small-framed handguns (even when they open carry, and thus have no need for concealment).

Just a few thoughts. Good luck figuring something out!

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All good suggestions and I appreciate the effort but here goes,

My wife has TINY hands and fingers shorter than My 14 year old daughters, Her feet are also smaller than my daughters and remember men and women of comperable size are vastly different in the area or strength. A 160 lb man could EASILY over power a 160 lb woman. Same weight and size , different muscle mass and build. We are just built stronger, ESPECIALLY in areas such as hand strength, Men have been playing balls since birth, women dolls and tea partys.

I have tried and tried to convince her to carry one of the Mineature wonder nines and she flat out refuses, they scare her to death. Before you ask "what, why ??? " Don't, she has no defininative reason other than "they just do" I have asked her this question at least 100 times.

If I force her to carry a gun that scares her, it will become a perminant part of hersock drawer, you know how womnen are. If I want her to carry it, it has to be a revolver.

That brings us to cal. The 22mag has more ft. lbs. than .38 spec, flies at incredibly more fps.no recoil and most importantly, she likes it, that means she will carry it.

So you see gentlemen, the choice of caliber was taken out of my hands, the choice of weapons as well. My problem is not which gun to forceher to carry but instead how do Ilessen the trigger pull so she can fire it.

You guys know what it's like to try to teach a woman logic, to make an informed decision based on performance, balistics, terminal velocity etc.

She likes what she likes and the rest scare her.At least shestands beside me and even open carries, I dont want to turn her away by forcing her to do somnthing she's scared of.

So after all is said and done, she lookjed up and said "Can you fix my gun honey?"

To which I replied "Surebaby."

You guys see my delima? Somebody tell me how to lighten the trigger pull not buy another gun.

I truly do appreciate all the suggestions as all were good ideas and sound advise , however , i am dealing with a woman .

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CaptainDan wrote:

You guys know what it's like to try to teach a woman logic, to make an informed decision based on performance, balistics, terminal velocity etc.

She likes what she likes and the rest scare her. At least she stands beside me and even open carries, I dont want to turn her away by forcing her to do somnthing she's scared of.

So after all is said and done, she lookjed up and said "Can you fix my gun honey?"

To which I replied "Sure baby."

You guys see my delima? Somebody tell me how to lighten the trigger pull not buy another gun.

I truly do appreciate all the suggestions as all were good ideas and sound advise , however , i am dealing with a woman .  

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I do understand completely.

My girlfriend is "afraid" of guns, so while she appreciates the safety and protection of my being armed, she is very far from carrying herself (I'm not sure it will ever happen). So, you are fortunate for what you have.

My advice, to answer the question you do have, is that you might want to join a slightly more specific forum to ask your question about lightening the trigger. That's a gunsmithing question for which this forum is a little too general to provide an ideal response, in my opinion. I'd help you if I could, but you're likely to get more advice about models than answers to your actual question, here.

http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php

There are also several dedicated rimfire forums. This one in particular is, in my experience, a good place to ask questions about modification:

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/

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Marshaul

I agree and appreciate the links, definately excellent sources and I will most certainly check them out. I have been a member here for years and was just hoping one of my friends here would have some useful info,I trust most of thease guys here and value their opinion so I came here first, but You are probably right.

It seems to have paid off as the links You sent appear to contain just the info I need.

Thanks again