Maintenance
Revolver Action Work: What Helps, What Hurts and What to Leave Alone
Almost every genuinely improved revolver trigger got that way through smoothing rather than lightening. The spring kit is what people buy first and what causes the most problems.
The short version
- Smoothing and lightening are different things. Polishing bearing surfaces improves the pull with no reliability cost. Reducing spring weight improves it at a cost that has to be tested for.
- Light primer strikes are intermittent, which is the worst failure mode. A reduced mainspring that works on soft primers in a warm room may not work on hard primers in the cold.
- Never run competition spring weights in a defensive revolver. Whatever you do to a match gun, the gun you rely on stays at factory ignition reliability.
- Dry firing with snap caps is free and it works. A few thousand cycles smooths an action measurably without anyone touching it with a stone.
What an action job actually is
A revolver double-action pull is doing a lot of work in one motion. It rotates the cylinder, times that rotation so the chamber arrives and locks before the hammer falls, cocks the hammer against the mainspring, and releases it. Every one of those operations is a surface sliding against another surface under load.
The pull you feel is the sum of two things: the friction in all those sliding contacts, and the spring force the trigger has to overcome. An action job addresses both, but the two have very different risk profiles.
Reducing friction is nearly free of downside. The parts still do exactly what they did, with less resistance. Reducing spring force lightens the pull faster and more dramatically — and it directly reduces the energy available to ignite a primer and to return the trigger forward.
| Source | Fix | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Rough machining marks on bearing surfaces | Polishing and stoning by a competent gunsmith | Very low if surfaces are polished, not reshaped |
| Dirt, dried oil and residue in the lockwork | Proper cleaning and correct lubrication | None |
| Mainspring weight | Lighter spring or adjusted tension | Light primer strikes |
| Rebound or trigger return spring weight | Lighter spring | Trigger fails to reset fully |
| Worn, damaged or out-of-spec parts | Replacement and fitting | Gunsmith work, not a spring kit |
The free improvements first
Before spending anything, exhaust the changes that cost nothing.
- Clean the action properly. Years of accumulated residue and gummed-up oil produce a gritty pull that people attribute to the design. On many revolvers a thorough cleaning transforms the feel.
- Lubricate correctly. More is not better. A light film on bearing surfaces is what is wanted; heavy oil attracts grit and migrates into places it should not be, and in cold weather it thickens enough to slow the action noticeably.
- Dry fire it, with snap caps. This is the most underrated improvement available. A few thousand cycles wears the mating surfaces against each other and genuinely smooths the action — it is a slow, self-performed version of what a gunsmith does deliberately, and it costs only time. Use snap caps, and never dry fire a rimfire without them.
- Change the grips. A grip that positions your finger consistently on the trigger changes the perceived pull substantially, because a great deal of what feels like a bad trigger is actually poor leverage.
Snap caps for dry practice
- PurposeProtects the firing pin and chamber
- BenefitThousands of cycles smooth the action
- Essential forRimfire revolvers, always
- ColourBright and unmistakable
Dry practice is the cheapest action work there is, and snap caps are what make it safe for the gun. They matter most on rimfires, where the firing pin can peen the chamber mouth without a cartridge to strike, but many older centrefire designs are also better protected. Choose a colour that could never be mistaken for live ammunition, and keep live rounds out of the room entirely during practice.
Bottom lineA few thousand dry cycles will do more for your trigger than most spring kits.
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Smoothing: the part that always helps
Professional action work on a revolver is mostly surface work. A gunsmith who does revolvers specifically will polish the bearing surfaces in the hammer and trigger, address the rebound slide and its channel, smooth the hand and ratchet contact, and correct any roughness in the cylinder stop engagement.
Done correctly, none of this reduces the energy available for ignition. The mainspring is still doing the same work; it is simply not fighting friction on the way. The pull gets lighter and, more importantly, gets consistent, which is what actually improves shooting — a pull that is the same every time lets you learn where the break is.
The critical distinction, and the one that separates competent work from damage. Polishing removes microscopic roughness from a surface while leaving its geometry intact. Reshaping alters the angles that control sear engagement, and getting those wrong produces a revolver that can fire when the hammer is jarred or that fails to hold at cock. This is why action work goes to somebody who does revolvers, not to somebody with a stone and confidence.
Springs: the part that carries risk
Reduced-power spring kits are cheap, widely sold, and the most common cause of self-inflicted revolver reliability problems.
Two springs matter. The mainspring drives the hammer, and reducing it reduces the pull noticeably — and reduces the energy delivered to the primer by the same proportion. The rebound or trigger return spring returns the trigger forward after a shot, and reducing it lightens the pull’s return stroke — and can leave the trigger failing to reset fully, which in a double-action string means the next pull does not fire.
Both failures share a nasty property: they are intermittent. A gun with a marginal mainspring will fire hundreds of rounds correctly and then fail on the one primer that sat slightly high, on the cold morning, at the wrong moment.
Whatever you do to a competition or range revolver, a revolver you rely on for defence stays at factory ignition reliability. The trigger you can get with a reduced mainspring is not worth a click on a primer that did not go off. If you want a lighter defensive trigger, buy the smoothing work and leave the springs alone.
Primers, weather and the ignition margin
If you do reduce spring weight, you have narrowed the ignition margin, and you now have to know where its edge is.
Primers differ in cup hardness and in sensitivity between manufacturers and between types. A reduced-power mainspring that ignites one brand consistently may produce occasional failures with another. Competition shooters resolve this by standardising: they pick a primer their specific gun ignites reliably at their chosen spring weight, and they buy it in quantity and use nothing else.
Temperature matters too, in two ways. Lubricant thickens in cold and slows hammer fall, and cold ammunition ignites slightly less readily. A combination that works in July can be marginal in January. Test in the conditions you will actually shoot in rather than assuming.
How to test properly: after any spring change, fire a substantial number of rounds of the exact primer or ammunition you intend to use, in the conditions you expect, and treat any single failure to fire as a failure of the setup rather than as a bad primer. One light strike in three hundred rounds is not an acceptable result; it is a warning.
Modifications that do harm
- Amateur stoning of sear surfaces. The angles control whether the hammer stays at cock and whether it can be jarred off. Altering them without knowing the geometry produces an unsafe gun that may pass a casual function check.
- Bobbing the hammer with a file. Removing the spur is a legitimate modification for carry guns, but done badly it changes hammer mass and balance and looks like what it is. Have it done properly if you want it.
- Over-lubricating. Heavy oil in the lockwork collects grit, migrates into grip wood and stains it, and thickens in cold. A light film is the target.
- Shimming and stacking washers to take up endshake without addressing why the endshake exists. It masks wear rather than correcting it.
- Any of the above on a collectible gun. Original internal parts are part of the gun’s originality. Keep everything you remove.
Hollow-ground screwdrivers and bench block
- ScrewdriversHollow-ground, parallel-sided
- BlockSupports the frame around pin holes
- MalletPlastic or rawhide, never steel
- TrayContain spring-loaded parts
Whatever level of work you attempt, the side plate has to come off with the correct screwdrivers or the screws will be visibly damaged, and it has to come off by rapping the grip frame rather than by prying. Work over a tray or in a clear bin, because revolver lockwork holds parts under spring tension and the rebound slide in particular has a reputation for departing at speed.
Bottom lineNon-negotiable if you open the gun at all, regardless of what you intend to do inside it.
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Where owner work ends
A reasonable division of labour.
| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Cleaning and correct lubrication of the action | Owner |
| Dry practice with snap caps | Owner |
| Grip changes | Owner |
| Front sight change where the design allows it | Owner |
| Reduced-power springs on a range or match gun | Owner, then test hard |
| Polishing and stoning bearing surfaces | Gunsmith |
| Any change to sear geometry | Gunsmith |
| Timing correction, endshake, headspace | Gunsmith |
| Cylinder machining for moon clips | Gunsmith |
| Fitting any replacement part | Gunsmith |
A cylinder that does not lock into position before the hammer falls on every chamber; a hammer that will not hold at full cock or that falls when the gun is jarred; any failure to fire that you cannot attribute confidently to ammunition; visible cracking at the forcing cone. None of these are shooting problems. Stop using the revolver until it has been looked at.
Frequently asked questions
What does a revolver action job actually do?
Two separate things. It reduces friction by polishing the bearing surfaces in the hammer, trigger, rebound slide and hand-to-ratchet contact, which lightens and smooths the pull with essentially no reliability cost. And it may reduce spring weight, which lightens the pull further but directly reduces the energy available for primer ignition and trigger reset. The first is close to free of downside; the second has to be tested for.
Will a reduced-power spring kit cause misfires?
It can, and the failure mode is intermittent rather than obvious, which is what makes it dangerous. A reduced mainspring may ignite soft primers in warm weather perfectly and fail occasionally on harder primers in the cold. If you fit one, test extensively with the exact ammunition and in the conditions you will use, and treat a single light strike as a failed setup rather than a bad primer.
Can I improve my revolver trigger for free?
Substantially, yes. Clean the action thoroughly — accumulated residue and gummed oil cause a lot of what feels like a bad design. Lubricate lightly rather than heavily. Then dry fire it several thousand times with snap caps, which wears the mating surfaces against each other and genuinely smooths the action. Changing grips so your finger sits consistently on the trigger also changes the pull more than people expect.
Should I lighten the trigger on a carry revolver?
Have the smoothing work done and leave the springs alone. Polishing bearing surfaces improves feel and consistency without reducing ignition energy, which is exactly what you want on a gun you rely on. Reduced-power springs narrow the ignition margin, and a click instead of a bang is not a trade worth making for a lighter pull.
Is dry firing bad for a revolver?
For rimfires, yes, without snap caps — the firing pin strikes the chamber mouth and can peen it. Many centrefire revolvers tolerate limited dry firing, but snap caps protect the firing pin and its channel and are cheap enough that there is no reason to go without. Check the manufacturer’s guidance for your specific model rather than generalising.
How do I know if my revolver needs a gunsmith rather than a spring kit?
If the cylinder does not carry into position and lock before the hammer falls on every chamber, if the hammer will not hold at cock or can be jarred off, if there is excessive fore-and-aft cylinder movement with the action closed, or if there is any visible cracking at the forcing cone. These are mechanical faults, not trigger-feel problems, and no spring will address them. Stop shooting the gun until it is corrected.