I just picked up a used Redhawk. The previous owner replaced the hammer spring with a Wolff spring, and I'm guessing he used the 12lb one, because the DA trigger pull is sublime. I knew it was too good!

So the issue is this. The ignition is 100% reliable (so far, about 30 rounds) in SA. It is also 100% reliable (about 50 rounds so far) in DA *IF* I pull the trigger quickly (no hesitation). Not extra quickly, just normally quickly.

However, if you pull the trigger slowly, like you would if trying to make a precision shot in DA, it gets a *lot* of ignition failures. Like...one or two out of every six shots.

I've already done the hammer filing thing to improve firing pin travel, but that seems to have had no measurable effect.

My question is...what should I do?

a)replace the wolff spring with the 17lb factory spring and suffer with a bad trigger pull
b)assume that the previous owner used the 12lb wolff spring and install the 14lb spring in its place
c)leave the gun alone and never try a slow pull in DA

Thoughts?

Only one spring in the Redhawk.  Well known problem when you use a light spring.

I gathered that. The question is...what now? Try a heavier spring or just accept that I have to make smooth/quick trigger pulls in DA with a super light and fantastic pull?

My Redhawk had a good trigger from the factory. Best Ruger trigger I have ever felt. Try the factory spring, it may surprise you.

Check firing pin protrusion.

If the hammer is rough on the sides, try polishing that up to increase hammer speed.

Otherwise, grab a 14# spring and try that.

I checked the protrusion and took some meat off the hammer to get it to go further. I'm not sure what effect it had. The gun is 100% as long as I don't do a slow DA pull.

I will try polishing the hammer. Though at this point I'm just looking see how slowly I could pull the trigger and still get it to work. When I want it to go bang, it goes bang.

At this point, I mostly want to know if what I'm experiencing is "normal." I can find a lot of info about the Redhawk being "unreliable" in DA if you lighten the spring, but not any specifics about what that means.

I put in the light spring and got a few mis-fires, but not 1 in 6, more like 2 or 3 in 50. I bought the kit with 3 differant springs, so I had to switch to the mid weight.

I had a failure today, so it's not 100%. I'm going to try the 14lb spring and see if that does it.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

Polishing mating surfaces is as better way to get a lighter and smoother trigger weight than simple reducing springs.

It takes more time, more skill and costs more.

Okay, so I put in a 14lb spring (the spring in there was significantly shorter, so I'm guessing it was the 12lb).

I fired 50 rounds of the Winchester white box load, and had one light strike. All 50 shots were really exaggerated slow pulls of the DA, the kind that used to cause one in six light strikes with the 12lb spring, so this is massive progress. Trigger pull feels fine too. Can't really tell much difference.

What do I do next? Go back to factory spring or look for other issues? One thing I noticed is that there are rub marks on the hammer on the left side. Should I polish that or buy a new hammer from Ruger?

Or could this be an ammo issue? This only happens with Winchester White Box .44 Mag 240gr. I haven't shot enough of anything else for a statistical analysis, but even with the 12lb spring, nothing else ever failed to go bang.

Also, I wanted to add, looking at the unfired case struck case, the primer impact looks just as deep as those of a fired case. A second strike will often not set it off, but a third or forth strike will. The one in 50 I had with the 14lb spring went off on the third strike.

Yes, keep polishing out, it'll hopefully increase hammer speed due to reduced friction.

My luck with spring kits in revolvers is very hit or miss.  I quit using them.

Some thoughts for you to consider:

Bowen Redhawk Extra-Length Firing Pin

Bowen Redhawk Ignition Problems Paper