I have three Taurus pistols with the trigger system used in the PT111 G2, 2 PT111 G2s and a PT140 G2. The first one I purchased has thousands of rounds through it and the trigger is very smooth with a pull weight in either single action or double action of just over 4 lbs on average. The second pistol has I would guess about a thousand rounds through it, and the third is brand new (PT140 G2).
The trigger on the PT140 G2, and to a lesser extent, the second PT111 G2 have a gritty feel, particularly in the last bit of their travel before they release the striker. I went on a mission last week to see what I could do quickly and easily (no major disassembly and a process that could be done in 15 minutes or so). Sure, I know I could completely strip the frame, polish all the bits that rub, and have a trigger every bit as good as the oldest one on all three triggers. But, I also know most folks don’t like to do that and I wanted to see if I could find an easy way to get at least part of the benefit of a stoning and polish job. Or, if I could avoid having to expend a thousand plus rounds to get a smooth trigger, so much the better.
The first thing I did was remove the slide from the pistol. I found the striker moves in the slide without any of the gritty feeling and was pretty consistent across all three pistols, so I set the slides aside.
Next, I worked the triggers on all three pistols, paying particular attention to what was moving when they felt gritty. Time for a photo:
What I found is that on the last little bit of trigger movement, when the part marked with a blue arrow above moves, the trigger felt gritty.
I also looked at the well worn in pistol, and its trigger bar looked polished for nearly a half inch towards the muzzle from the disconnector.
The trigger bar can be moved around with a finger. The new pistols felt very gritty as it was moved both up and down and back and forth.
To cut to the chase, I also found I could get most of the benefit of the polish job by applying a lube (in this case a grease, like Tetra gun grease) in the areas in the first photo shown above. It takes a toothpick, to work it all along the top and sides of the trigger bar while holding it down below the disconnector. I applied it liberally and worked it in. Then, I took a cotton swab and cleaned out the excess.
The two newer triggers are almost as smooth as the old trigger with that done. Since the springs are still a bit stiffer, the pull weight is still a little higher on the new ones even after lubricating the trigger bar. I had sprayed CLP and Rem oil on the trigger bar area with no improvement. I also cleaned out the trigger bar and the rear mechanisms as best as I could with GunScrubber before lubricating it again. A lubricant like motor oil, manual transmission fluid, etc may work as well. I think it takes something with more film strength than CLP or Rem oil.
If you have a gritty trigger, give this a try and comment on whether it helped or not. I would love to hear if this works for others. And, have fun shooting those Taurus pistols!
