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I bought a Smith & Wesson 438 and I'm having a heck of a time with the 18 lb trigger & hammer. Cocking the hammer quickly for single action shooting actually made my thumb bleed! The long and hard trigger pull in double action shooting made me miss the broad side of a barn.

Which revolver has the lightest trigger?
Colt Python? 10.1 lbs da, 4.1 lbs sa.
Ruger Sp101? 14 lbs da, 4 lbs sa.
Smith & Wesson J Frame? 18lbs da, ? lbs sa.

I'm thinking of getting one of the above revolvers for concealed carry with a 3 to 4 inch barrel. Which one has the lightest trigger/hammer and can accept night sights?

Thanks,


P.S. With a little googling, I answered my own question. I guess I'm gonna have to look for a Colt Python.... The tritium night sights for the Python is over $500!!! Maybe I'll just go without night sights....

If you get one with an exposed hammer, the single action of all is very light.

From you list, I would say the Python. It may not be any lighter (who knows) but I can tell you it will be the smoothest!

Rather than spend all the extra money on a Colt, have you considered getting a good revolver smith to do a trigger job on your 438?

G.A. Heath wrote:Rather than spend all the extra money on a Colt, have you considered getting a good revolver smith to do a trigger job on your 438?

This is the best suggestion.

Double-action revolvers have inherently heavy triggers out of the box, but can be lightened by changing the hammer and rebound springs, and all parts smoothed to be easier to pull and deal with. Also, many triggers, like that on my Model 60, are squared in front and have sharp edges. Having the trigger 'radiused' and the sharp edges smoothed out will help with being able to pull a heavier weight.

A good trigger job may cost you 1/3 the price of the gun or more depending on the work performed, but it is usually well worth it in the long run.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was told that if I had a gunsmith work on the trigger to lighten it, the reliability of the gun goes down. The gun was designed to work with the heavy weight trigger. Also, there may be some warranty issues with modifying the gun....

Yeah, those old Pythons are expensive.

drjoker wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was told that if I had a gunsmith work on the trigger to lighten it, the reliability of the gun goes down. The gun was designed to work with the heavy weight trigger. Also, there may be some warranty issues with modifying the gun....

Yeah, those old Pythons are expensive.

This is why you get a good revolver smith to do the work, they know how far they can take it without hurting the reliability. I would suggest contacting Cylinder and Slide, Smith & Wessons own performance center, or other well known high end shop. Additionally you could contact Brownells and Numerich to see who they would recommend as they do supply the industry. As far as Warranty issues Smith and Wesson often refers owners to take their firearms to qualified gunsmiths, my understanding is that as long as the work is performed by a qualified gunsmith then it will not harm the warranty. Also it is interesting to note that the Smith & Wesson warranty is only one year IIRC.

Ruger LCR 38+p - In my experience has the best dao trigger pull and the smoothest trigger out the box. I have yet to have any of my friends or range folks say other wise after shooting mine.

G.A. Heath wrote:Also it is interesting to note that the Smith & Wesson warranty is only one year IIRC.

S&W provides the original handgun owner a lifetime warranty.

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Echoing getting a gunsmith to work on it. A good smith can lighten it right up without affecting the reliability at all. And a S&W custom shop trigger job will lighten it up without voiding the warranty.

Your problem isn't so much the trigger weight, which is probably not bad in single action. The problem is the shrouded hammer. They work, but they are much harder to get a purchase on than an exposed hammer model. I have 3 "enclosed hammer" models (the hammer is not externally visible), a 642, a 640, and an M&P340, and one full on exposed hammer model 29 in the safe. I personally never saw the point of the shrouded hammer models, precisely because they seemed to be biomechanically difficult. If I wanted an exposed hammer on a pocket pistol, I'd just buy one with a regular hammer and I'd grind part of the spur off, leaving enough to get a decent purchase for cocking, but taking off enough to keep it from snagging in my pocket. Cocking a full hammer is easy-peasy. I love my Model 29 for that reason. I rarely ever shoot it in double action mode.