Adjusting trigger on a 1911....

[The Gunslinger]

Hey all, how do you adjust the adjust able trigger on a 1911? Is the screw on the trigger used? any help would be great. I have just gotten into hanguns within the last year. well I had a .22 single six for a few years, but just got my first automatic a year ago(Kimber customII).

[slick_711]

What do you want to adjust it to/for?

The screw in the trigger controls overtravel (how much further back the trigger travels AFTER it hits the discharge point). It is useful to adjust for some competitive shooting, Bullseye type shooting in particular. Be careful not to adjust it too much or leave it loose though, as it can work further back and lock your trigger up if you are not careful.

As to adjusting the weight/crispness of the trigger, that screw is not related. The main factor there will be your leaf spring, sear, disconnector, and mainspring. You can give your 1911 a decent trigger job yourself, but the leaf spring is somewhat fragile if you aren't careful. I'd suggest you have a gunsmith do the work, or perhaps look into something like the Cylinder & Slide trigger kits while will replace all those parts and require little to no fitting.

The stock trigger on a Kim CII should be pretty good though.

[The Gunslinger]

Acctually the trigger is really light. It seems that I could breath on it and it would shoot, not really, but it is very light to me. I was just curious if it would change the creep? I think that is what it is. When I pull the trigger there is a little play before it ingages and begins the pull. from when I first put my finger on the trigger and start to pully there is a little play, but really not much. I was just curous if it was fixable, not completly necessary. I tell ya I tried a glock 9mm before and got a finger workout, when I first rented a kimber and pulled the trigger I was thinkin damn, why weould anyone wan't anything other than a 1911 with a trigger like that. I was talking with this local gunshop owner looking for a 9mm and he said I kinda screwed myself becasue I'm used to the trigger pull on it and won't like the triggers on other guns. thaniks for the info....cheers

[slick_711]

Well there has to be a little bit of travel in the trigger, it can't just discharge the weapon when you put your finger on it (possible but it wouldn't be very safe ). If the travel/creep in your trigger is not smooth though, that can be fixed. Your leaf spring will need to be adjusted though, and that isn't really the kind've thing you want to do if you aren't familiar with it. Personally I still try to avoid messing with mine and I have two 1911s and have done a bit of my own custom work on them.

Next time you field strip your Kimber to clean it, take a look at the side surfaces of your sear/hammer/trigger. You'll need to pop out the mag release button to get the trigger out. If they aren't silky smooth, perhaps use some 600grit sand paper set on a very flat surface (glass etc.) and just a few circular motions to polish the sides of those parts. That will smooth out the trigger a little (all it will do is cut down friction between the parts), but be careful, you don't want to really remove much (or any) material from the parts, just remove any imperfections that you may find.

[Kruzr]

Acctually the trigger is really light. It seems that I could breath on it and it would shoot, not really, but it is very light to me. I was just curious if it would change the creep? I think that is what it is. When I pull the trigger there is a little play before it ingages and begins the pull. from when I first put my finger on the trigger and start to pully there is a little play, but really not much. I was just curous if it was fixable, not completly necessary. I tell ya I tried a glock 9mm before and got a finger workout, when I first rented a kimber and pulled the trigger I was thinkin damn, why weould anyone wan't anything other than a 1911 with a trigger like that. I was talking with this local gunshop owner looking for a 9mm and he said I kinda screwed myself becasue I'm used to the trigger pull on it and won't like the triggers on other guns. thaniks for the info....cheers

The take-up of the trigger before it begins to engage the sear is not creep, it is called pre-travel. Some pretravel is necessary to make sure the trigger resets. If we are talking about a Kimber, then your trigger has the two tabs on the front of the trigger bow that are used for adjusting the pretravel. You would bend them very slightly (VERY slightly) out to let keep the trigger from coming as far foward on the reset. Bear in mind, like most things on a 1911, one change may precipitate another one. If you set the trigger back too far, you may have to refit the grip safety arm so it works smoothly.

As mentioned above, creep is a result of the hammer and sear engagement surfaces. A polish and a good secondary angle on the sear fixes creep........not something you want to try unless you know what you are doing.