870 trap hammer

[woodman]

Hello everyone,
My first post and it is a question. I have an 870 express super magnum, the trigger pill is fine at 3.5 pounds but it has lots of creep more that I like. I was looking at a picture of the trap hammer and it looked as though the notch for the sear is much shallower that the stock hammer. If this is true is should reduce the creep.
Has anyone here ever replaced the hammer in their express with the trap hammer and if so did it noticeably reduce the creep?
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/548651 ... ge-tc-trap
The trap hammer is going to be lighter so it will also reduce lock time which is a good thing.

[woodman]

I guess no one has tried this.

[Synchronizor]

It's been done before, here's an earlier thread discussing it.

I know Remington's tweaked the 870 hammer design at least once over the years, but the sear notch should be the same, since there's only one sear listed for all 870s. The picture of the Trap hammer on Midway's site shows the notch at a bit of an angle, so that may be why it looks different to you.

If you're only looking to reduce creep, you'd probably be better off taking it to a gunsmith for a trigger job. Tinkering with the trigger plate assembly is not something to be done lightly, and you need some specific tools and other replacement parts to change the hammer.

[woodman]

Thanks for the info.
I am mostly a rifle shooter and I know a lighter firing pin in a bolt action rifle will make a noticeable difference in lock time so I thought it might help in a shotgun. I'll have to take a good look at the trigger mechanism and see how hard a job this is. Looks like all I will have to buy is the hammer and a hammer pin. If I go ahead and do this I will post back with results.
Thanks again.
I did a search for "trap hammer" and got no results.

[Synchronizor]

I am mostly a rifle shooter and I know a lighter firing pin in a bolt action rifle will make a noticeable difference in lock time so I thought it might help in a shotgun.

I'm sure it won't hurt (though there is a possibility of light primer strikes), but locktime in a shotgun really isn't an accuracy-limiting factor the same way it is for a high-end rifle or match-grade handgun. Leading a target and launching shot mid-swing is an entirely different type of shooting. It might be worth considering if you're trying to get the most out of an all-out slug hunting build with a scope and a fully-rifled barrel, but I doubt you bought a Super Magnum with that in mind.