TargetTalk

I just purchased a 52-2 in great condition, however, while I know the 52 has a "two-stage" type of trigger, the take-up on this trigger seems excessive. I previously owned a 52-1 and the take-up was not as significant. Can this be adjusted? Thanks in advance.

Actually, the 52 is a single stage trigger adjustable for pre-travel and overtravel. The pre-travel adjustment is a flat-head screw with a hex socket head located under the rear of the trigger . Remove the slide and inspect the area behind the trigger you'll see the partially obscured flat head of the screw behind the trigger. Don't try to take out 100% of the pre-travel. If you adjust it too close the trigger may fail to reset if unburnt powder and grunge get in between the screw head and the trigger.

Jaybar,

It sounds like you are very familiar with the M-52 trigger. By chance could you please tell me how you can increase (or change in any way) the trigger pull weight of the 52? Most 52s I've handled have very nice triggers, but trigger weights in the 2 pound range - not legal for conventional CF, and certainly not legal for ISSF CF.

TIA,
FredB

S&W makes two sear springs for the gun, differing only in thickness. Installing the thicker one will increase the weight of the trigger pull.

Part numbers are 062390000 for the regular spring and 062390100 for the thicker.

Mister G,

Thanks much!

FredB

Fred,
If you call S&W, please let me know how it goes. Last time I called (about three years ago), they were out of stock on the 'heavy' spring.
Someone (maybe at S&W) suggested a heavier rebound spring might do the trick (increase trigger pull), but as it means digging into the internals of the pistol, I have not tried that yet.
Mike T.

Mike,

In looking at an exploded diagram of the gun, I wondered if possibly a heavier spring to replace part #6232 (drawbar plunger spring) and/or part # 6122 (trigger plunger spring) might work to increase the pull weight? Since these are coil springs, it might be easier to find a suitable replacement locally.

Since I have never had a Model 52 apart, I am clueless about the difficulty involved in replacing any of these springs. Wouldn't replacing the sear spring also involve "digging into the internals"?

Regards,
Fred

Fred,
Thank you for jogging my memory: rather than 'rebound' spring, I now think I was told 'drawbar plunger' spring. It looks like a shim could be placed at the 'dead' end of that spring to increase its force (as an alternative to a stronger spring).
I don't know what effect a stronger trigger plunger spring might have.
I have dug into the internals of a 52-2 to a limited extent. While I find it 'fiddly', it is not difficult - no rocket science there. The sear spring, as I recall (and we know my recall can be faulty), is quite easy to access and replace. Somewhere on the Internet, I did find a description of a detailed stripping of the 52-2 . I'll try to find my copy.
I have a parts list and diagram for the 52-2 and for the 52-1. While it has often been mentioned that the 52-2 has a different extractor design from the 52-1, I note that there is also a difference in the sear design (at least in the diagrams I have). The 52-1 diagram shows a sear plunger and sear plunger spring, as well as a trigger play spring, but no sear spring like the 52-2 has.
Mike T.

Mike,

Very interesting! Please let me know when you find the detailed stripping instructions. (I can't help thinking that we are reinventing the wheel here. Surely someone on TT has already dealt with this?)

Regards,
FredB

I have a 52-1 that I shoot Bullseye with that dropped slightly below legal weight. After wasting a bunch time trying to find a new sear spring I fixed the problem by adding a little curve to the existing spring. It added enough to get me safely above the limit. Not sure if this would help for you or not. For a more drastic change a new sear spring and or drawbar spring would be in order. Taking it apart isn't all that hard. Just pay attention as to which way everything goes in or what I do is usually just take a few pics and you should be fine.

Good luck,

John