One of the reasons I bought a 1911 style gun was the enjoyment of "messing" with it. My wife really didn't understand why I would take a brand new $500 gun and disassemble it into little pieces which I think she thought would never go back together. I have never aspired to be a gunsmith, nor a "wannabe" but I like taking thing apart. I've held a HAM radio license for 25 years for the same reason.
The point being... the PT1911 has an excellent trigger, but can it be "tweaked" with little expense and effort? I tackled the challenge. I ordered the following two items from Midway.
255612 1 $6.89 Ed Brown Competition Mainspring
188154 1 $6.19 Cylinder & Slide Light Weight Sear Spring 1911
These are two options that regularly get mentioned as being things to experiment with. The Ed Brown Competition Mainsprings are 19# mainsprings... 5 to a package. They are easy to replace once you do the research. There was an improvement over the 23# standard spring, but it is not overwhelming. Given the cost and effort, it is worth doing.
However, the Cylinder & Slide Light Weight Sear Spring makes a definite improvement both in weight and crispness. I had no problem with either with the standard, but like most I enjoy looking for that magic 3.5# trigger. Cylinder & Slide state that their Light Weight Sear Spring will remove 1.5# of weight from the trigger and lacking a good trigger scale, I am prone to believe it.
Replacing the Sear Spring is more complicated than the mainspring, since I haven't figured out how to do that without removing the grip safety, but you don't have to touch the fire control features (other than making sure the spring is laying correctly on the right spots). It is about a 15 minute job (for my butterfingers) and most of that is the removal of the grips and the thumb safety. This $7 is well worth the expense and will give you about as light a trigger as most shooters can handle... anything less would be considered as a "hair trigger."
A word of reminder. Never do anything on your gun you are uncomfortable in doing! There are too many shooting buddies who will help you do this task for just the asking. If you can't find a friend, save you money... this is not worth a $30 gun smithing bill. But if you are reasonably capable of doing handy man jobs, you can do this. There is no "filing" and worst case scenario you just put the original parts back in and you are good to go.
The point being... the PT1911 has an excellent trigger, but can it be "tweaked" with little expense and effort? I tackled the challenge. I ordered the following two items from Midway.
255612 1 $6.89 Ed Brown Competition Mainspring
188154 1 $6.19 Cylinder & Slide Light Weight Sear Spring 1911
These are two options that regularly get mentioned as being things to experiment with. The Ed Brown Competition Mainsprings are 19# mainsprings... 5 to a package. They are easy to replace once you do the research. There was an improvement over the 23# standard spring, but it is not overwhelming. Given the cost and effort, it is worth doing.
However, the Cylinder & Slide Light Weight Sear Spring makes a definite improvement both in weight and crispness. I had no problem with either with the standard, but like most I enjoy looking for that magic 3.5# trigger. Cylinder & Slide state that their Light Weight Sear Spring will remove 1.5# of weight from the trigger and lacking a good trigger scale, I am prone to believe it.
Replacing the Sear Spring is more complicated than the mainspring, since I haven't figured out how to do that without removing the grip safety, but you don't have to touch the fire control features (other than making sure the spring is laying correctly on the right spots). It is about a 15 minute job (for my butterfingers) and most of that is the removal of the grips and the thumb safety. This $7 is well worth the expense and will give you about as light a trigger as most shooters can handle... anything less would be considered as a "hair trigger."
A word of reminder. Never do anything on your gun you are uncomfortable in doing! There are too many shooting buddies who will help you do this task for just the asking. If you can't find a friend, save you money... this is not worth a $30 gun smithing bill. But if you are reasonably capable of doing handy man jobs, you can do this. There is no "filing" and worst case scenario you just put the original parts back in and you are good to go.
