REALLY...bad trigger, then an HW45, Bronze Star

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MikeVV

MikeVV

Member
Jan 10, 2019
3,774
2,691
SoCal, United States
I bought a Beeman P17, the first of the year. Hearing all the good things about an inexpensive (cheap) gun.

Well, this thing has got to have the worst trigger I've ever felt in my 40 some years of shooting (powder fire). Gritty, like rocks, long second stage pull before the let-off. I had to guess when the gun would fire. I can't tell how accurate it MAY be, because I have NO trigger control.

I took the pieces out, polished a few pieces, lowered the sear travel a little. Not much better. I started to lighten the trigger spring. Baby steps, a little stretch, a little more, nope, a little more, better but no. Still a LONG second stage, lighter but with little to no feel. May try to take it apart again and...

So, a bit pissed off about my "cheap" gun...I bought an HW45, Bronze Star..! No one has a Black Star, so this is the next best. I have a Beeman P1 and wanted to see if there is any difference, other than the grip (NOT the handle !). The P1 is a fine shooter, just a little trigger adjust, the addition of a SeeAll sight. I can shoot better with my AP16, but the P1 (and my Sig Sauer ASP, FAS 6004) is a close second (or third), pistol wise. Should be here the end of next week. It'll get a SeeAll sight too, just to make it somewhat equal to my P1, and...since I have a second SeeAll !



Mike
 
Seems like you got a lemon because you rarely hear of anybody having any problems with the trigger on those. Mine has a great trigger. And very accurate too.But I’m sure you’ve heard all that before. I would exchange it. You can’t beat them for the price.
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Same here. Very good trigger out of the box, excellent after addition of second stage screw. As you state, seems many have been more than happy with the pistol.
 
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After putting an adjustable, semi-curved trigger in my Sig Sauer P229, I went back to work on the P17.

Well, the trigger pull, from start to finish is MUCH smoother. No grit feel at all. Once apart, you can clearly see where the gritty feel comes from (about six surfaces, plus ALL corners). Being that the parts are just stamped out of flat sheet metal and bent into shape, one half, of ALL of the edges are rough. JUST "one half" of the sear surface is machined, NOTHING else is deburred.

So now there are no sharp or rough edges, anywhere. The "sheared" surfaces that rub on other surfaces are smoothed, all of the sharp corners are rounded and smoothed.

It seems that the way that you pull the trigger dictates how it feels. If you pull the trigger somewhat quickly once you get to the wall, it feels fine. If you pull the trigger "slowly", the sliding sear surfaces are still too long. I removed some material from both sides, still too long a pull. But it IS smooth and quick when it does release.

Do I remove some more ? Yea, maybe later.



Mike
 
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Did some shooting with my "worked" triggered P17 this morning to see if my work was worth the time and effort.

Worth every second of work to smooth the action. Feels almost like a $500+ gun the way it shoots now.

If you have a P17, some mechanical skills, some small (flat) jeweler's files, take it apart and smooth the rough / sharp edges. put it back together, add a little oil. Makes a big difference in trigger pull, and ultimately center punching the target.



Mike
 
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It's a $30 pistol. Some will be excellent out of the box, some will be OK, and some won't quite measure up. It isn't machined to the highest of specs. But it is a sound low power plinking platform that can be made to shoot extremely well. For $30. As noted previously, I've added second trigger screws to several and it literally transforms the trigger feel from good or even very good to excellent.
 
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There is one single, small area (part of the sear) that is ground flat. The rest of the edges are as sheared, or in other words, broken metal ! These include, edges that have sliding members moving on them. Even the best of the cheaper versions can be improved a lot with a little work.

NO other machining or grinding has been done to the $45.00 (Pyramyd) guns. Possibly the P3 has had the polishing that I did to mine, to it. I would hope so for that price.

Excellence is a strong word. I'd call a polished assembly good to the low side of, very good. NO where near excellent. Can't be done with that mechanism.

Mike
 
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Lemon for sure. My P17 has a great trigger, and is very predictable no matter how I pull it. I pellet tested it yesterday and out of 75 shots (25 pellets types, 3 shots each) I only pulled 2 shots! Yes my trigger is that predictable, but I did polish the surfaces and bit when I first got it. I love shooting this gun as it makes me smile with each shot (that I'm shooting a gun that feels like a $100 gun for $30!)
 
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There is one single, small area (part of the sear) that is ground flat. The rest of the edges are as sheared, or in other words, broken metal ! These include, edges that have sliding members moving on them. Even the best of the cheaper versions can be improved a lot with a little work.

NO other machining or grinding has been done to the $45.00 (Pyramyd) guns. Possibly the P3 has had the polishing that I did to mine, to it. I would hope so for that price.

Excellence is a strong word. I'd call a polished assembly good to the low side of, very good. NO where near excellent. Can't be done with that mechanism.

Mike
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From lots of prior posts on these pistols, I'd say many disagree with you. I certainly do. But you only have to make yourself happy.
 
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Seems like you got a lemon because you rarely hear of anybody having any problems with the trigger on those. Mine has a great trigger. And very accurate too.But I’m sure you’ve heard all that before. I would exchange it. You can’t beat them for the price.
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Plenty others have had trigger problems with the P17's trigger, inluding me. I had two of them-- I returned the first gun because of trigger issues. The second one had issues too, but I found help online and the trigger worked much better.
 
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There is one single, small area (part of the sear) that is ground flat. The rest of the edges are as sheared, or in other words, broken metal ! These include, edges that have sliding members moving on them. Even the best of the cheaper versions can be improved a lot with a little work.

NO other machining or grinding has been done to the $45.00 (Pyramyd) guns. Possibly the P3 has had the polishing that I did to mine, to it. I would hope so for that price.

Excellence is a strong word. I'd call a polished assembly good to the low side of, very good. NO where near excellent. Can't be done with that mechanism.

Mike
Click to expand...

From lots of prior posts on these pistols, I'd say many disagree with you. I certainly do. But you only have to make yourself happy.
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bandg -

Have you actually taken a P17 apart and looked at the parts that make up the trigger ? By your comments, it's obvious that you haven't. Maybe you should, you just may change your attitude...just a little.

Folks can disagree all that they want. Rough edges are...rough edges, period. Check the meanings or the word rough and the word smooth. They are very different.

It's also somewhat obvious that a "good" trigger to some...is NOT a "good" trigger to others.

Plus neither you or anyone else can tell me that all of the rough edges on ALL of the stamped parts are conducive to a smooth trigger pull, unless the P3 parts have been factory "finished", it's just not possible.

None of this is the end of the world. 30 minutes with a file and some fine sand paper...will FIX...the factory induced problems.

Mike

P.s. - Done with this. I never was any good at arguing with people that don't seem to have a clue.
 
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