Service Six project....trigger work

[zoner]

I wanted a 2 1/2-3" k frame size DA revolver for a long time but just couldn't find the right deal and then along came this stainless 2 3/4" Service Six for a good price($300) so i bought it. Ruger puts strong springs in their DA revolvers so the DA trigger pull was quite stiff...too stiff for accurate shooting so i went to the Wolff site to see what was available. They had RP spring sets for the GP100 and SP101 with several different weight of pull hammer and trigger springs for each but the kit they sell for this gun only had one choice of hammer spring @ 14 lbs and a RP trigger spring so i bought it. Took the gun apart and studied how the parts interact and identified several areas that could be polished up, staying away from sear engagement surfaces. That's polish, not metal removal. That completed i reassembled the gun with the new springs installed. Smoother,but still a very heavy trigger pull. I removed the hammer spring and first cut one full coil of hammer spring and reinstalled spring with the cut end at the hammer strut seat....not much different. Took off another half coil, tried it, alittle better and continued removing half a coil and testing till i got to 2 1/2 coils....much better. Off to the range, fired 50 rds with no FTF,pretty darn good. Went back home, took another half coil....pretty nice DA trigger pull, 100% ignition. Then i used a feeler gauge to measure the gap between the hammer and notch in the frame,same with the trigger and housing. Both "holes" were .010 wider than the parts that rode in em so i took an old feeler gauge and made hammer and trigger shims @ .004 thick. Installed these shims and wow it really smoothed it up. Nice light DA trigger pull, no FTF, i'm really happy with how this worked out. I've got about 12 bucks in this trigger job.....Mike

[StrawHat]

Isn't is great when a plan actually comes together!!!  I generally don't have a problem with heavy pulls as long as they are consistant and smooth, however Rugers seem to be oversprung.  I had a pair of Security Sixes and they needed a bit to make them shootable.  I was not patient at that point in my life so they went to someone else.

[zoner]

th e story you always hear is that S+W revolvers have the nicer trigger and action and Ruger's are more known for their brute strength and reliability and i pretty much bought into that.....till now. Yesterday i got out my 15-3 and my 17-5 to compare them to the ruger. The 17-5 is factory and the 15-3 has had the trigger slicked up by a professional(not me) and the ruger trigger is every bit as good or better than the Smith's...and I never thought i would be saying that. This morning i told "the Queen" that i absolutely must buy another Ruger DA just to see if i can get the same results.....she's giving me that look right now that usually means that i'm in a jam with her

[Mike A.]

Ruger "Six-Series" revolvers are some of the best ever made, and the shorties like yours are excellent carry guns.  US Govt. bought a lot of blue Service Sixes and some Speed Sixes for arming security guards and aircrew in all the services and State Dept.  All were .38 Spl. except for a run of .357 stainless Security Sixes for US Customs, as far as I know.  Too bad the GI .38 Spl. ammo was so feeble.  The surplus rounds I've fired not only had lame 130 gr roundnose FMJ bullets but were loaded very soft into the bargain.  I have talked to vets who carried Rugers and whose issue ammo was somewhat hotter, tho.  So perhaps the batch I got was off-spec.  Uncle Sugar should have retired those 130 gr. bullets in 1899, tho.

They were also fairly common police issue right up until the 9mm bottom feeder craze took over.  Rather have a .38 revolver any day, not to mention a .357.  You still see "Sixes" in use by civilian security guards, especially in Europe and Latin America.

Good job of getting your shortie up to speed--the triggers on these are always heavy out of the box, and they don't seem to lighten up with use (probably a good thing).  Unlike Ruger SAs, their DAs don't seem to "wear in" appreciably.  Sign of a good design, but often too much of a good thing for precise shooting.  But fixable, as you show.