Henry Rifle Forums

Old timer here with lots of revolver experience and adventures...
I really like my Big Boy 357, but I would like to lighten the trigger pull a bit.
I usually go to Wolff or Wilson Combat spring kits for Smiths or Rugers, but there are none for the Henry.
Any advice here?
Thanks in advance.

I'd be interested in hearing about this also. My 357 is actually very good on the trigger pull and Hammer but, we all know we want better.

Tailgunner wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 08, 2024 9:31 am

Old timer here with lots of revolver experience and adventures...

Welcome to the forum. I hope someone here can answer your question.

Welcome!

I don't know about a spring kit for the Henry rifles. The usual suppliers like Wolff and Wilson don't have one that I'm aware of.

The mechanism is fairly simple though, so an afternoon of disassembly and some judicious stonework may get you where you want to be. I'd do that first, before I started clipping coils like you'd do on the trigger return spring in S&W revolvers.

You can look up spring stock on McMaster-Carr, and if you can measure accurately, probably get a replacement that you can mess with, or even go with a thinner wire or less compression to get that lighter pull, but again, I'd try stoning and polishing first. It's amazing how some polishing can make the pull weight feel lighter when it really doesn't measure much less at all.

All that said, remember that these are not benchrest bolt guns, and you probably don't want too light of a trigger pull, especially if you're going to hunt with it.

rickhem, to clarify, it's the revolver I'm referring to...I should have included that in the title.
Cutting springs is never a good solution, my reason for looking into a spring kit.
If you have taken the big boy revolver apart, please pass on some info on doing so. All I have done
so far is removed the grips to observe the hammer/mainspring. I have not removed the sideplate.
Thanks for all the help!

Have not seen the insides of a Henry revolver but possibly reducing Hammer spring tension would help and I find it does with my DA revolvers.
Does the Henry revolver have a Hammer spring tension screw in the grip you can adjust like on a S&W revolver? If not maybe find a lighter tension spring from another application that may fit. I just went with a 2 lb. lighter hammer spring on my Ruger Alaskan and it made a noticeable difference in feel of hammer effort to cock and the DA pull which is now close to my S&W Model 629.

No tension screw. It uses a captive coil spring, similar to S & W J frames. No one makes a lighter hammer spring yet,
so shortening the spring is the only thing I can think of to do. I'm in touch with Henry to see if I can buy a replacement spring
to experiment with. Really like the gun, and it's accurate, it's just heavier in double action than I like.