BHP trigger job by Tinocker on 1911 Forum

Finished my trigger job today

I started by removing the magazine disconnect and polishing the trigger. Put it back together and
checked it. Started out at 8 1/2 pounds, that took it down to about 7 1/2 pounds. Then I switched the
mainspring to a 28 pound and decided to polish the sear and the hammer notch. I looked at how the
two parts fit together, they weren't seated together very well. I used the field manual for reference and
made some jigs to re-hone the angles so they fit squarely against each other. Then I polished both
surfaces like a mirror and put it back together. I also lightened the sear spring about 20%, carefully
measuring and straightening it a little bit at a time. Polishing the sear face and hammer notch made the
biggest difference in the smoothness of the trigger and brought it down to 6 pounds. Then I took the
slide off and shortened the sear lever spring by 1/4. I did not want to cut off 1/3 like I had read, I went a
little less. Then I polished the sear lever and put it back together again and wound up with about a 5
pound pull.
CWarner

Commendable effort, but the angles should not mate. This will lead to an increase of trigger pull weight
over time.

Something that is very hard to explain on the BHP is how critical the length of the sear is from the pin to
the nose. A difference of .010 can alter the pull weight and engagement with the hammer hooks quite
noticeably.

The drawing Bob provided is correct in that the hammer hooks should fall within that range as far as
location, in relationship to the hammer face.

The hooks themselves should still be 90 degrees in relationship to the sear pin.

There are no real prints floating around for the BHP, so most numbers are derived from experience.

My statement about the mating angles goes back to the much talked about positive/neutral/negative
relationship on the 1911, same principle applies.

Put quite simply, if the full surface of the sear nose and hammer hooks are mated equally, when you pull
the trigger, the sear will be trying to cock the hammer from the bottom of the hammer hooks and slide
out of the hooks, at the same time. This will increase wear and trigger pull, and eventually follow, as that
wear increases.
I have worked on this pretty hard over the last few years, and I still get the occasional gun that may
follow, regardless of what the numbers say. Usually related to something else in the gun.

As for hook height, I find .020-.025 to be Ideal with our sears. I would go no less than .025 with factory
parts.

CW

Bob Reed posted this the other day on the "Handguns and Ammunition" forum:

I hold 90* degree angles on the hammer & sear and mine turn out very well. Some guys do positive
and/or negative angles, but I just hold the factory angles and mine turn out fine with NO hammer follow,
creep or hard pulls.

FWIW: The sear nose is Factory Ground 90* Degrees to the Flat Area on top of the sear (you know, the
Flat where the Pillar is that the sear lever contacts the sear (and in my view, this Is the Way to do it). And
I hold the hammer hook 90* degrees to the sear nose, but take them to a much higher finish.

I've never had hammer follow doing them this way, and they all break like small glass rods with no
creep.

Bob
Chuntaro wrote

They both came out of pistols. In other words, they were original to their guns. The matte black oxide
hammer has been tampered with. The hard chrome hammer is factory as new. The under cut as you call
it creates a hook. The hook has been ground off on the black oxide hammer. There is just a shelf or ledge
that is referred to as a notch on the diagram.

The only one that should be different is center second row, a pre war with the old geometry. The pre
war will work on a new gun as long as you have a pre war strut. Different geometry on the strut. Some
prior owner of that hammer put a post war strut on and bent it trying to get it in a gun. Will not work.

Inglis redesigned the hammer and strut during the war and FN liked it and followed suit post war.

The other five should be the same unless over doctored.

Number six is the one that in combination with a sear gave double trouble. I believe both the hammer
and sear to have been doctored. It is the one used for comparison in the first pictures. Both suspect
parts were replaced. The only two coming out untouched for sure are the two practical hard chrome
hammers. The pre war hammer, I have no clue. Really! Number one and number four came in used parts
assortments.
C Warner

This is kinda what I was seeing.... (ref. mark ups to image above)

BBBBill (response to Q “how do you do a BHP trigger job?”)

I don't think you will find anyone that will tell you specifics. It is mostly removing the factory rough
machining marks and stoning the surfaces smooth without removing too much material and altering the
angles in such a manner to make it unsafe. Precise angles are critical and will vary a little from gun to
gun. They must be checked by observation under magnification of the parts as they interact and an
educated feel in your fingers. Stoning requires a jig to hold the hammer and/or sear stationary and guide
the stone over the surface in a consistent manner. If you try it freehand a large amount of luck will be
involved in keeping it true. I've not found much of that sort of luck laying around. You must not create a
condition where the hammer forces the sear out of engagement. It also affects safety function. Any
material removed from the sear nose or hammer stop surface(polishing removes material) allows the
sear to rotate further away from the safety blocking lug. That, along with reduced hammer hook height,
can cause the safety to fail to block the sear properly. Thumbing the safety off can cause the hammer to
fall on its own in that state. There are ways to deal with that on the sear without replacing it, but it
requires some skill with silver solder or TIG. The problem with factory parts is that the sear is fairly soft
compared to other guns like the 1911. Not a huge issue if you're not shooting the gun much, but gets to
be a problem with more shooting. I replace all of mine with a good hard sear from EGW when they show
wear if not before. I will be using a Warner TR sear on the next one I do. The sear spring is super critical
on the High Power. Do not start tweaking on it. You will get hammer follow real fast.

CimarronOK

Pictorial Guide to Non-Gunsmith High-Power Trigger

Like most other folks, the only complaint about my High-Power was the heavy and creapy trigger. Like
most others, I have researched and I have arrived at four steps that can be taken by any HP shooter to
improve his trigger pull to very acceptable levels with only a $5 investment and no work on the
hammer/sear which I'm convienced should be left to a professional.

I have reworked my HP with the SFS system and have a trigger pull that is very crisp and less than 5# in
weight. I did my son's HP on Saturday and took a few pictures to help others repeat the process. The tips
here will work with either the SFS guns or the standards HP's.

Before you start working with your HP, you should probably invest in two resources. First is Stephen
Camps Hi Power Disassembly Guide and the second would be the American Gunsmith Institute
ARMORER'S COURSES video on the Browning Hi-Power ttp://www.americangunsmith.com/view.php?
id=12

There will be a few points that will be impossible to explain here that are made very clear in those
resources.
Overview: There are four basic steps to improving your trigger pull.

1. Dealing with the magazine disconnect.

2. Lightening the hammer spring from the 32# factory to a 26# spring.

3. Tuning and Polishing the linkages

4. Lightening the Sear Lever spring

1. Dealing with the magazine disconnect.

This is usually the most identified issue with the Hi-Power since it has such a major effect on the trigger.

Before you start to deal with this, either invest in a set of pistol punches, or at least a set of "counter
sink" nail punches... the type with the convex end. The biggest problem with dealing with the magazine
disconnect is removing the trigger, especially the trigger pin.

The magazine disconnect pin in my Hi-Power was a roll pin, but the pin in my son's Hi-Power had been
"peened" at both ends so we had to clamp it in a vice and really "work" on it. The suggestion has been
made to use a drill press (bits reversed) to press the pin out.

Personally, I just cut the spring in half and put it back in. It removes the magazine disconnect from
functioning and I won't have to hunt for it if (Heaven forbid) I should sell the gun and want to reinstall it.

While the trigger is out... polish the trigger lever and the lever guide in the frame.

2. Replace the 32# hammer spring with a 26# Wolf spring.

You will notice that I haven't removed the hammer. On an SFS system, it is a major asset not to have to
removed the ambi-safety or the hammer with it's extra parts. Even with the standard model, not having
to removed the ambi-safety is a real time saver.

I have had no problems with the 26# spring. I have not replaced the firing pin spring, but I have put a
$10 Recoil Buffer in each of the guns just to off-set any wear in the lighter hammer during slide recoil.

3. Tune and Polish linkage.

The trigger lever is accessed during the magazine disconnect removal. The sear lever is accessed by
drifting the roll pin in the slide to allow it to drop free. Polishing both of these items reduces friction.

AFTER watching the AGI video and UNDERSTANDING the function of the sear spring, you can "tune" this
by gently changing the tension of the sear against the hammer via this flat spring which has to be
removed to access the hammer spring. Be careful, there must be positive tension, however like most
springs in the gun, this can be lightened IF YOU UNDERSTAND the dynamics. If not... don't mess with it.

4. Adjust the sear lever spring in the slide.

This spring is quite heavy and adds directly to the weight of the trigger since it must be overcome to
allow the sear lever to function the sear. You can replace the spring with a lighter spring, or remove
about 1/3 of the length of the spring. Again, there must be tension to allow the firing pin block to work,
but it doesn't require nearly the weight that the factory spring provides.

Lastly... These are not difficult modifications, although the hammer spring is nice to have a third hand.
Don't do ANYTHING until you understand WHAT you are doing and WHY. If in doubt, either find
someone who has done this before, or take it to a gunsmith. When dealing with springs, remember that
this is like cutting lumber... measure it twice and cut once... you can't "add" back to the length of a
spring. If you drop any of the parts in the sear, read my post Disassembling the SFS Hammer Spring for
information on putting them back in place correctly.

Good luck. You will be happy with the product. I would guess that unless you are (1) a perfectionist or
(2) a very intentional target shooter, that the trigger weight will be very satisfactory. It will be crisp and
MUCH lighter than the factory trigger, but still safe for combat shooting or CCW.