LC9 customization

[mloamiller]

My wife has a Ruger LC9 and loves it for the most part. However, she has the same compliant I’ve seen on a lot of forums and that is the long trigger pull. In researching some options, I came across Galloway Precision, specifically their hammer/trigger bar kit and their custom trigger. Does anyone have any experience with these, and if so, what is your take – are they worth the money? Any other suggestions for improving the LC9?

[Jim88]

That was my main complaint when I first bought mine but it comes less noticeable after you've run a couple of hundred rounds through it. I would give it some time and re-evaluate it later - although I never saw anything specific about shortening the trigger pull when I considered making mods.

[hpcatx]

Having put more than a couple of hundred rounds through mine, this is still an issue. I've been waiting for reviewers whom I know and trust on this and another board to weigh in, as they currently require you to send them your OEM hammer and trigger bar. If it were a different hammer and trigger bar purchases from them, I'd have already ordered the modification. I'm all ears as to how this goes.

[Maxwell]

I installed the Galloway system on my LC9. I love the hammer upgrade. It shortened the trigger pull enough to be very reasonable. I tried the trigger bar but took it off as it shortens the trigger pull but moves the reset to the very, very front of the trigger travel and made double taps impossible. You literally have to extend your finger completely until you hit the front of the trigger guard to reset.

My recommendation, go with the hammer only. It is well worth it. Oh, and I did get the stainless guide rod. You can't tell the difference in shooting but it does look cool.

I did remove the mag safety which smoothed the trigger out quite a bit also, but not everyone wants to remove a safety...

It's easy to do as long as you take your time and are careful.

PM me if you want to talk more about this.

BTW, I carry my modified LC9 regularly.

[hpcatx]

Thank you, Maxwell! I'll look into the hammer upgrade and stainless guide rod and skip the trigger bar. The Galloway website seemed to indicate it was necessary to get the trigger bar if you wanted to use the upgraded hammer. Is this the case? Should I contact them? The benefit of that, too, is it's more reversible (one part) if something goes wrong.

Also, thanks for the offer to PM regarding the mod!

[mloamiller]

I installed the Galloway system on my LC9. I love the hammer upgrade. It shortened the trigger pull enough to be very reasonable. I tried the trigger bar but took it off as it shortens the trigger pull but moves the reset to the very, very front of the trigger travel and made double taps impossible. You literally have to extend your finger completely until you hit the front of the trigger guard to reset.

My recommendation, go with the hammer only..

According to the Galloway Precision website, it does sound like the hammer/trigger bar have to go together:

“The early break trigger system upgrade for the LC9/380 is the solution for the long heavy false reset of the stock trigger. Our modification to will shorten the stroke by half the stock pull length and break at the half way point of the stock travel, all while maintaining the factory safeties. This will allow faster follow up shots and better accuracy due to shorter pull. Expect around a pound reduction in trigger pull weight.”

It also sounds like they actually modify the trigger bar and hammer, so I’m curious how you “took it off”. Did you have a stock trigger bar that you just put back on the LC9, replacing the modified one?

They also offer a replacement trigger:

“…these trick triggers will work only with our hammer and trigger bar upgrades in place but once installed allows the operator to adjust the overtrave and pretravel to fully tune the trigger system.”

It sounds like the replacement trigger might compensate for the issue with the reset, so all three together may be the best solution. I guess I’ll never know unless I do it.

[The Annoyed Man]

1 question: does the modification result in a gun that is less safe for carry?

[mloamiller]

I finally took the plunge and upgraded my wife's LC9. We went with the Trigger Bar kit (included the Reduced Power Hammer Spring and Firing Pin Return Spring), along with the Short Stroke II Trigger. Galloway now offers these as a kit, so we didn't have to send in our pistol, or modify any stock parts.
The difference was amazing. When going to the range prior to the upgrade, my wife's hand would start to get tired and cramp up after about 50 rounds; now she can go through over 100 with no fatigue at all. The trigger pull is still longer than my SR9 (not an apples-to-apples comparison, I know), so I don't feel safety has been compromised, but it is definitely much more enjoyable to shoot, even for me. I also removed the magazine safety while we had the gun apart, so that may have had some impact as well.
I had never taken a pistol completely down before, which was required to install these parts, but it wasn't that difficult. We found plenty of videos on the web - including Galloway's website - that walked us through the entire process (how did we ever survive before the Internet?). I would recommend getting a set of punches and small needle-nose pliers.

[TomsTXCHL]

Thanks for following-up and posting about your success. My wife has an LCP but I keep looking at the LC9 for myself.

how did we ever survive before the Internet?

You said a mouthfull, especially for those of us who live in the "extreme country" of TX!

[txcharvel]

Thanks for posting this. I really like the feel of my LC9, just hate to shoot it

So is the trigger adjustable on this kit?

[mloamiller]

So is the trigger adjustable on this kit?

No; it's just a "drop-in" per Galloway's website. It has a small set-screw through the middle of the trigger that doesn't seem to do anything but loosen and fall out when shooting, so I removed it.

The benefit of this trigger is the "geometry" as Galloway puts it; it's larger and more substantial than the OEM trigger, and feels much better as a result.

[adwmac6]

With all of these upgraded trigger bars....would anyone be interested in selling their stock LC9 trigger bar? I hate to say it, but mine has been misplaced (kids surprised me by cleaning up the house while i was at work).

[Maxwell]

The hammer works with the stock trigger bar but they do not sell them separately. The hammer alone make a mild difference, but the trigger bar makes a huge difference in the break point and reset point. Good on the break point, very bad on the reset point. The custom bar move the reset all the way to the front of the trigger release which in my opinion makes follow up shots almost impossible.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Max