Today was the final day of testing to see which gun I'll use for the State Steel Challenge Championships, my four or six inch S&W 617s. They are almost identical except for the extra 2 inches of barrel.
First thing I did was clean both guns to ensure the cases will drop out freely and to make sure I can run up to 40 reloads without having to clean the cylinders. Both guns passed this test after having reamed the chambers recently. The next was to test the weight of the triggers.
My 6 inch has an Apex Tactical Hammer Kit. It allows me to shoot a lighter double action pull but I set it at 8 pounds so that it would feel the same as my 4 inch in case I need to change guns during the match.
The 4 inch is set just a tad heavier at 9 pounds. The only thing I've done to the action is a little polishing and replacing the rebound spring with an 11 pounder. The original is about 15 pounds and affects the DA pull. Using the stock hammer also means I can't get the DA pull down below 8 pounds. This gun requires 9 to insure proper ignition. Both guns have 8 32 set screws instead of the stock strain screws so I can adjust them on the fly.
I set up an 8 inch Shoot & See target at 10 yards at our local indoor range. I chose 10 yards because I wasn't shooting for groups, just performance and speed. I wanted to pull the trigger as fast as I could to get all hits. Balancing the springs is important. Too low and you can outrun the trigger forcing you to skip a chamber. Too heavy and the trigger will stick which means more time do to the malfunction.
After 250 rounds of Remington Bucket-Of-Bullets, the load that gives me both accuracy and reliability, the winner is the 4 inch. It handles just a little quicker between shots and target acquisition. Even though the trigger is just a little heavier.