Trigger Job ?

[tgazzx]

What's a reasonable price for a good trigger job on a Springfield GI M1911-A1? And should the grip safety be looser (i.e. rattle more) after a trigger job? And finally, should a reduction in pull from 6.5 pounds to 3.25 be very noticeable?

I paid $98.00 for my trigger job, the grip safety rattles more than it did, and I can't really feel a difference in the pull (although it was supposedly reduced by 3.25 pounds). I haven't shot it yet...I just got it back this evening...but I have a feeling I've been had. This is my first visit to this gunsmith. I got a bad feeling when he released the slide without a round in the mag or without holding it back to ease it forward slowly. I've learned on this forum that that is a no-no.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid...maybe I'll feel better after I shoot it?

Any thoughts about my concerns would be very much appreciated.

[Canuck-IL]

The only place you can lose 3.5 #s without noticing it is around the waist. There is no reason for a GS to "rattle" after a proper trigger job.

Borrow or make a weight or gauge and try the trigger pull yourself - should be pretty easy to detect 6.5 vs 3.25...not to mention a lack of creep after a good trigger job.
/Bryan

[John]

Quite so, 3 lbs of difference should be quite noticeable. Get a scale and measure it.

[govtmodel]

What's a reasonable price for a good trigger job on a Springfield GI M1911-A1? And should the grip safety be looser (i.e. rattle more) after a trigger job? And finally, should a reduction in pull from 6.5 pounds to 3.25 be very noticeable?


The stated price is typical for "...a good.." .45 trigger job. (I'm not sure why anybody would pay anything for a bad trigger job :nono: )

A trigger job isn't directly related to rattling of the grip safety.

From >6 pounds to 3.25 should be readily apparent. Ask him to weight the trigger for you, using real trigger weights, while you watch.

[John]

Somehow, the fact that the grip safety rattles makes me thing that all the gunsmith did was to lessen the pressure on the sear spring prongs. I may be wrong, but .....

[1911Tuner]

Somehow, the fact that the grip safety rattles makes me thing that all the gunsmith did was to lessen the pressure on the sear spring prongs.

That's what it sounds like...

[govtmodel]

Somehow, the fact that the grip safety rattles makes me thing that all the gunsmith did was to lessen the pressure on the sear spring prongs. I may be wrong, but .....

Brownell's has an excellent article by Jack Weigand on tuning the trigger on a 1911 style pistol. See http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/NewsletterArchive.aspx?p=0&t=1&i=349

for details.

In the Bullseye community, a trigger job typically involves fitting a new trigger with an adjustable overtravel screw, stoning & polishing the hammer hooks and sear nose, polishing most everything else, and adjusting the pull weight. Basically, everything in Jack Weigand's article.

The quoted price is in line with that level of service. What the gunsmith actually did is the question!

[tgazzx]

Thanks everyone. I feel better about the price, IF he did all he said he did, which I'm not convinced of yet. There seems to be as much creep in the trigger as before. I would hate to think that someone would simply adjust the sear spring prong pressure and claim to have done much more.

I guess I'm just too trusting...it shocks me to even imagine someone that deceiving. I will follow up with him.

[Greg Derr]

On the trigger weight- I'll typically weigh the trigger with the customer during inprocessing a gun. This is done by many 'smiths who work on BE guns. Then the process is repeated on pickup. As to the GS it should not be loose to depress, side to side movement may be the manufactures parts fit. Creep should not be present.

Greg