transfer bars on revolvers

[olafhardt]

I have one centerfire 32 S&W IVER JOHNSON and a TAURUS 22 lr.Both have atrocious da trigger pulls and sa is stiff. When I put lighter springs in them the triggers are good but they miss fire. I can see that the transfer bars just barely graze the firing pins. I think the manufactures put in ferocious mainsprings to insure the glazing blow would be hard enough to ignite the primer. Thought about filing the nose of the hammer so it could push the firing pin farther. The transfer bar and firing pin butt both look rounded. Has anybody fixed this kind of problem?

[Byrd]

I would be leery of doing that. The transfer bar is there to shield the firing pin from a hammer strike if the revolver was dropped on or something smacked it. Try stoning the contact surfaces to make then smoother along with the lighter springs.

[tweedmus]

The hammer spring needs to be strong enough to fire the cartridge and cannot be lightened past this point. The trigger spring must have enough force to reliably return the trigger home. This can be improved and the force reduced by polishing the contact areas of the trigger. S&W used inserts of very hard, highly polished metal for those contact areas.
Single action felt pull can be reduced by reducing the length of the sear notch in the hammer. This must be done very carefully to be safe and the hammer may need to be shimmed to assure minimum lateral (side to side) motion in order to assure the sear engages the sear notch at the same point each time.
It is also important to develop a different technique for double and single action shooting; the trigger finger should be placed with the middle of the first joint on the trigger and pulled straight back. Double action the finger should go over the trigger and the tip should contact the frame; pressure is exerted by the middle joint. This requires some practice to learn, but is well worth it. The purpose of both techniques is to avoid moving the gun out of line when the trigger is pulled.
A trigger pull of 3-5 lb. SA & 8-12 lb. DA is considered normal, but some of the older revolvers can be higher. DA is dependent on the geometry of the gun and can be difficult to tame.