DIY roll triggers?

Hello Folks,
I would like to give a roll trigger a try in my 1911 and the pistol smiths in my area ( So. Cal.) don't seem to have a clue what one is let alone be familiar with the sear/hammer modifications involved! Does anyone have any advice or know of any books or websites that could help familiarize me with what's involved?

I have done more than my share of standard crisp triggers and if I was to give it a try with just what I already know, I think I would try to use a hammer with the longest hook possible and make the thinnest sear nose possible by stoning a relief angle on the opposite side of the nose you would normally relieve for a crisp trigger then get the sear nose and hammer hook as smooth as possible, but like I said, that's just a guess on my part.

Finally, any recommendations you have for a smith that can set me up Should my attempts fail would be appreciated. I have already contacted one person with a solid reputation for building BE pistols and he said he has yet to perfect them in 1911's so perhaps they are a lot harder than a standard trigger to get right.

I appreciate any advice anyone might have.

Thanks,
Dave

KC Crawford knows how to make a super long roll. Joe Fobes has had some success with the DIY kind. If I can't get a trigger I like on my new .22 lower, I'm going to give it to KC.

heres his info: KC
843-267-3773
www.kcskustomcreations.com


his handle on this forum is kc.crawford.7

Dave,
You might want to try a new type of roll trigger by Master Gunsmith Chuck Warner in New Mexico. You can order the hammer and sears ready to install or buy a Jig from him. I really like mine!!!! They are glass smooth!
Hope this helps.
Wes
Here's a link to his website.
http://www.warnerpistols.com/About.html

On the DIY side, the basic roll trigger is nothing more than a creepy trigger that the sear and hammer hooks have been polished. The cheap way is to just put in a new hammer that has full length hooks and polish the hooks and sear. The longer the hooks the longer the roll.

Swarfmonger wrote:Hello Folks,
I would like to give a roll trigger a try in my 1911 and the pistol smiths in my area ( So. Cal.) don't seem to have a clue what one is let alone be familiar with the sear/hammer modifications involved! Does anyone have any advice or know of any books or websites that could help familiarize me with what's involved?

I have done more than my share of standard crisp triggers and if I was to give it a try with just what I already know, I think I would try to use a hammer with the longest hook possible and make the thinnest sear nose possible by stoning a relief angle on the opposite side of the nose you would normally relieve for a crisp trigger then get the sear nose and hammer hook as smooth as possible, but like I said, that's just a guess on my part.

Finally, any recommendations you have for a smith that can set me up Should my attempts fail would be appreciated. I have already contacted one person with a solid reputation for building BE pistols and he said he has yet to perfect them in 1911's so perhaps they are a lot harder than a standard trigger to get right.

I appreciate any advice anyone might have.

Thanks,
Dave

Hi Dave, you've been asking the wrong gunsmiths...!

Will O'Hara is highly respected and did a trigger job on my

1971 Gold Cup, he included the slight roll characteristic

that I asked for. He is in Corona, and has considerable

Bullseye experience. Here's a link through Cheaper than Dirt,

that provides his name, address, phone# and a map.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ffldealers/FFLDealerDetails.aspx?sid=77425

Since I live in Corona, I just gave Will a call and then drove to his house and

had a great face to face talk.

Good luck.

Tony

I've been attempting roll triggers on 1911's for several years, with mixed results until lately.

I had some luck with a classic roll trigger method using a two roller Bob Marvel sear jig following the directions that came with the jig, no secondary cut aka breakaway angle on the sear- just broke the edge and long hammer hooks; .022" to .024"

I got more consistant results when I stoned a secondary angle of about 25% of the sear nose and lightly rounded the edge between the secondary and primary surfaces of the sear. Again hammer hooks of .022" gave a medium roll.

My best, most predictable trigger pulls came using Chuck Warner's True Radius sear jig. Some sears won't work with this jig, they're too short. I found STI sears worked very well and are very hard and priced fairly. The amount of roll is controlled by the amount of secondary cut on the sear, I got a long roll with no secondary cut just broke the edge on a stone. I just finished a trigger job where I started with no secondary cut and then experimented by increasing the amount of secondary cut. I did this 4 times and each time the amount of roll decreased as the secondary cut was increased. A benefit of Chuck's jig is you can get a medium roll with hammer hooks as short as .020". You can increase the roll by stoning a third angle (Jerry Keefer explained this on one of the 1911 forums) on the sear off the secondary angle - this third angle allows the sear to sit deeper into the hammer hooks by a couple thousandths, enough to feel a slight increase in the roll. I've gotten good roll triggers using Infinity hammers, Chuck Warner's hammer, Wilson hammers, Colt hammers and SVI hammers. I stone the hammer hooks carefully to smooth the hook surface, starting with a fine arkansas stone, then a very fine ceramic stone and finishing with a ruby stone.

The TR jig is fairly easy to use as long as you look carefully as you stone the sear, I finish the stoning with a very fine ceramic stone.

Chuck Warner answers emails and is very willing to help you out.

Here's more info:

from Mr. Keefer:

I agree with the machine cut..Although, I am a three angle guy... I cut the primary, a secondary 45 degrees off the primary, and third angle 45 degrees off the secondary, which would be 90 degrees off the primary... I use the third angle to control my engagement.. The secondary is too steep to control engagement, as it reduces the primary by too much if more engagment is needed.
Jerry



This came from this post:

http://www.1911pro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=714&hilit=third+angle

Dave, hope this helps.

Art

Thanks for all of the replies! I just ordered a Warner sear jig, I'll keep you all posted on how it goes.

Thanks again,
Dave