Ive had a new 66 for a few years now. I never considered the trigger that bad. But out of all my Smiths it is the ONLY one that doesnt have a smooth trigger pull through its entire pull. The hitch is in the first 1/8th of the pull. It feel like I am coming up against a wall. If you work it quickly it seems to pop over this little hitch a little smoother. But if you go slow its like hitting a wall until you get enough pressure to push past it and then suddenly it breaks free into a smooth trigger pull for the rest of it.

At this point it has had thousands of rounds through it and a WHOLE LOT of dry fire.

Popped it open and polished here and there. Still no love.

One day after popping it open I noticed the trigger was cutting a spot into the middle of the cylinder stop. The little hitch is right around the time the trigger would pop over and clear the cylinder stop.

Threw a new cylinder stop at it and greased the whole area.

Still no dice. I trucked on for a few more months.

I have now replaced the cylinder stop again as the trigger again cut a spot in the middle of it. I replaced the trigger and hand as well as I figured something might be out of spec on the trigger to be cutting a chunk out of the cylinder stop

It STILL has this stupid little hitch. Im kind of at a loss and looking for ideas. It seems directly related to the trigger popping over the cylinder stop.

I think im finally on the right track with getting this fixed

I shortened the ledge that the trigger pops over on the clyinder stop and it's much smoother. Might take a little more off and just call it good

Just make sure that you don't mess with the interaction / timing of the trigger and cylinder stop.

That's a good start and cheap to replace if you fuck it up

Welp I did indeed go too far for science

Luckily I experimented on the older cylinder stop

Threw the new unmolested one in there after going too far on the old one.

Still has the little hitch in the trigger.

It's catching or dragging somewhere and I feel like I'm going crazy trying to solve this

Taking a little of the ledge off did seem to help. But I'm not 100% sure that's really the issue

The hammer does have some side to side play. Maybe I should try throwing shims at it

That’s worth a shot.  

I just got a set of shims and a Wolff spring kit for my SP101.  I polished things up a couple months ago.  

I shimmed the hammer and the hammer dog.  I skipped shimming my trigger as that dimension would barely allow any shimming.  I am not completely happy though.  The return stroke of the trigger on the SP101 has a hitch.  I may put the OEM return spring back in it.   I only have a few hundred rounds on it though.

How does the boring for the trigger return spring look?  Perhaps the catch is inside there.

Edit I used Triggershims.com.  I had my stuff in 48 hours.

Have you considered a lighter weight rebound spring? You can experiment with various weights but I typically stick with a 14lb spring to ensure reliability. It may lighten/smooth up the pull enough that it lessens whatever it is that you're feeling.

Theres a few spots Ive sorta of taken note on

The left high side of the hammer has a pretty good wear mark. The hammer can be moved a little left or right when its all assembled. Its tough to say if maybe its catching and dragging something right in there around where the locking bolt comes through. I Do not feel the hitch manually cocking the gun. Just when working the DA slowly

The new trigger already has a line on its left side too. I cant see anything in there that really looks amiss. There does appear to be a small forging line that perhaps the trigger is rubbing up against internally. Thats gunna be a pretty tough spots to smooth out if its indeed the issue

New trigger is tight and no play. But I do remember the old trigger having play left and right and was much looser on the shaft

The hitch at times can be enough to throw the sights if you work the trigger really slow

All my other smiths are bone stock and smooth triggers all the way through

Ill give the inside of the bore a look. I may as well throw new springs as the cylinder stop and trigger slide just to say I did at this point

Is the top surface of the ejector star perfectly clean and clear?

Yeah the cylinder and all that is clean

It spins fine and I dont think the hold up is there

The trigger starts off fine but quickly encounters resistance. I feel something is binding somewhere slightly

Theres the forging line inside the frame that the trigger might be rubbing against. There just doesnt seem to be much indication of a heavy rub on the inside though

The hammer more so looks like its heavy rubbing at this point. Im hoping those shims will gain me some traction.

In the timing of everything the hammer rubbing up against the locking block/ inside frame would be about right where this trigger hits a wall. Would also kinda make sense that I dont feel it cocking the hammer since the backward pressure on the hammer might not make it pull to the side

I tried pushing the hammer to each side while manipulating the trigger but its kinda hard to say if thats it or not

I guess honestly Im grasping at straws but this is my best guess right now

Shims are cheap enough to try.


Ever try feeling for the hitch with your non dominant hand trigger finger?  If you’re a righty and try it left handed does the hitch go away?  

To me that would indicate that shimming may help.  Most of us sideload the trigger more than we think.  Worse for people with short fingers.

I got the shims today and will give them a shot

To throw a little more info in this thread here are some older pics I have of when I was trying to diagnose the issue

Here is where in the timing of everything that the hitch comes into play. The cylinder stop has dropped but not yet popped up. The cylinder is just starting to turn

Other pic is the gun with the sideplate off and parts pulled to reveal the original cylinder stop damage

Have you tried using a high end snotty Teflon grease on the things?  Gun looks dry.

I did try greasing the cylinder stop area but it didnt change anything

Rest assured it stays oiled up on the insides when its all together ready to go though

Really crossing my fingers the hammer shims solve my issues though. I feel like that has to be it

Played with the shims a bit. Putting two on the frame side of the hammer seems to alleviate a lot of the hitch. Putting a single one there and another on the other side still left the hitch.

It's not 100% gone but boy it's way more manageable now

So I guess that means it is dragging somewhere along the frame side of the hammer

The wear appears it would be from maybe the locking bolt. I pulled that out and polished it a bit too.

Feels a lot better and I think this is the true issue point

I wonder if your hammer axis is good or not.   The pivot pin’s hole in the hammer loose or not bored perpendicular to the flat sides.

Have you tried removing the lock parts?

Here's the frame side of the hammer

I think it is rubbing the locking block

I polished it pretty smooth and think I can see where that flat part of the wear mark is rubbing it

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