Trigger Adjustment.

[PestController]

Very often when we aquire new rifles or even new second hand rifles, we all try to improve them and make them personal to us, by making adjustments and adding recoil pads etc.

That in itself is normal, you'd have to say, because we always want to get the best out of our tools of the trade, as it were, and to make them perform to our specification as well as the manufacturers.

But there's one subject that always makes my hair stand up, and that's the subject of trigger adjustment.

We know that predominently with all makes of guns and rifles, there's room for improvement and lighter trigger pull pressures, and that some manufacturers explain in detail on how to adjust the trigger adjustment effectively.

Having said all that, why do I feel uneasy about lightening a trigger pull?

Is it because I'm wondering whether the seer is slightly worn?...and that the gun may discharge on the slightest knock?

Even though I know lightening the trigger pull will improve my performance I don't go there....

Is it because I have a mistrust in mechanical things?.....am I too careful?

And how far do you go before the trigger has been made dangerous.....

What do others think....welcome any opinions..

[Cranfield]

In all the years I have owned shotguns, firearms and air weapons, I have not conducted any modification, adjustment, maintenance, etc., myself.

 

All weapons have been dealt with by a Gunsmith.

Mainly because I am concerned that I do not possess the ability, to safely meddle with the weapons.

Nor do I think many other shooters have, despite what they may believe.

 

To kill, or maim yourself would be dreadful, but to do it to someone else would be horrendous.

 

None of it is worth the risk, regardless of the cost.

[Poacher]

In all the years I have owned shotguns, firearms and air weapons, I have not conducted any modification, adjustment, maintenance, etc., myself.

 

All weapons have been dealt with by a Gunsmith.

Mainly because I am concerned that I do not possess the ability, to safely meddle with the weapons.

Nor do I think many other shooters have, despite what they may believe.

 

To kill, or maim yourself would be dreadful, but to do it to someone else would be horrendous.

 

None of it is worth the risk, regardless of the cost.

 

If I need anything doing it always goes to the gunsmith.

If you take your gun to the smiths they'll know how to adjust your trigger to a sensible yet effective pull.

[Devon Fox]

As above for me

[njc110381]

I used to play with the triggers of my guns when I was a teen without any problems. There is nothing wrong with it unless you go over the top, and I never had any problems. That said, they were air guns. I know that all guns should be treated with the same respect, but I would feel much more uneasy about playing with a live round rifle. Thinking about it, I'd do the same with my air gun too now I have the money. Better left to a gunsmith I feel.

[lurcherboy]

I have never nade any adjustment to a trigger as I have felt they were set right by the maker.

 

 

 

 

LB

[PestController]

I used to play with the triggers of my guns when I was a teen without any problems. There is nothing wrong with it unless you go over the top, and I never had any problems. That said, they were air guns. I know that all guns should be treated with the same respect, but I would feel much more uneasy about playing with a live round rifle. Thinking about it, I'd do the same with my air gun too now I have the money. Better left to a gunsmith I feel.

 

 

Thanks for replies guys, all err on the side of safety, which has to be good.

But when I penned the topic, what was going on in my head was this....

If you take a brand new rifle, with high tolerance crisply machined internal parts, ie trigger seers, and you take it to a gunsmith even, he would say that it is safe to adjust and do the business.

But in fact what he has done is to take the tolerance of several years of use, or say maybe 5000 firings, away from the trigger, has he not?....because surely then the trigger seer has less to wear before becoming dangerous....and if the gun is not serviced again for ages, raises a potentially dangerous situation.

I've read about folks adjusting triggers and it makes me feel uneasy..

Or am I wrong on this....

[njc110381]

You've mentioned a good point there. It's one of the reasons to always get your gun serviced regularly

[deadeye ive]

Is it because I have a mistrust in mechanical things?.....am I too careful?

And how far do you go before the trigger has been made dangerous.....

What do others think....welcome any opinions.. :(

As with all professions there are alot of chancers masquerading under the profession of gunsmith ........I have seen some right shoddy pieces of work recently ........It's like a trade where all the experience has retired all of a sudden and not been adequately replaced

 

That said there is nothing wrong with being careful and if in doubt leave it to a recommended expert .......but if you possess basic common sense and a mechanical understanding and have confidence in your ability then lightening your own trigger pull on a rifle should not be a problem ..........Shotguns I've always found ok anyway but rifles come with a 6lb pull as standard which is too heavy any way whereas 2 lb is ideal .

 

After adjustment by dropping the butt(stock) of the rifle down on a hard surface should not set the trigger off ................But this is where common sense applies .........Never walk around with a loaded rifle relying on the safety

 

If you take a brand new rifle, with high tolerance crisply machined internal parts, ie trigger seers, and you take it to a gunsmith even, he would say that it is safe to adjust and do the business.

 

Some rifles might possess the above but in the mass production business most need fine tuning .........Like I said especially American Rifles come with a hard trigger pull because of H/S safety reasons

[JohnGalway]

Never walk around with a loaded rifle relying on the safety

 

Well said Ive. IMO that and always knowing where your muzzle is pointing, especially with a rifle, are the top two safety issues to be aware of.

 

I just recently adjusted the trigger on my Tikka down to 2lbs from 4lbs. I'm by no means mechanically minded but it's very straight forward on a T3, all you need do is read the instructions and turn the allen key the desired way to adjust the weight. It's quite light, but not a worry to me since I don't chamber a round until I intend on using it.

 

Common sense applies.

[Graham M]

Well said Ive. IMO that and always knowing where your muzzle is pointing, especially with a rifle, are the top two safety issues to be aware of.

 

I just recently adjusted the trigger on my Tikka down to 2lbs from 4lbs. I'm by no means mechanically minded but it's very straight forward on a T3, all you need do is read the instructions and turn the allen key the desired way to adjust the weight. It's quite light, but not a worry to me since I don't chamber a round until I intend on using it.

 

Common sense applies.

And indeed you can also replace the spring with a lighter one as well.

There is a lot of BS talked about lightening triggers, but the main thing to remember is this - a light trigger with a load of creep is no-where as good as a heavier trigger that breaks like glass.

A Tikka or a Sako are amazingly easy to adjust, whereas my old Howa was a nightmare, and unless done properly was bloody dangerous if lightened too much or had too much “catch overlap†removed. I have even seen rifles that have been lightened to the point where they have discharged when the safety has been let off.

If you have a good trigger unit then it isn’t too hard to improve the let-off. But if you have a cheaper trigger unit, then let someone who knows about these thing do it for you.

G.M.

[rarms]

I just fitted an Eric Brooks kit to my BRNO and that is fine.

 

On one of the springs it was firing on a very hard knock, remove one of the parts and used a harder spring and now it seems fine.

 

I use it only for target so it is never even loaded until it is pointing down range (i.e. safe).

[Hodmedod.one]

I have never nade any adjustment to a trigger as I have felt they were set right by the maker.

 

 

 

 

LB

 

You have obviously never tried to hit anything with a new-out-of the-box Ruger 10/22 then :(

 

When I got mine the trigger was set at 7 1/2 pounds

 

The bloody thing was useless until I got it sorted by SYSS

[PestController]

 

Some rifles might possess the above but in the mass production business most need fine tuning .........Like I said especially American Rifles come with a hard trigger pull because of H/S safety reasons

 

 

Ive,

That's an interesting point you made there about American rifles. I've heard the comment before and also read an article about it, which I found on an american marine corps website. I'll try and find it, but it refered to modifications that were made to specifically Barrett rifles, I think it was, for the sake of the sniper school.

I think they were refering to the Barrett 50 cal, and had had complaints of trigger malfunction after firing so many rounds of armour piercing bullets, or something, and I remember it puzzled me at the time.

I'm guessing all internal trigger parts are made of high carbon steel are they?.....but I suppose like anything else, they'll be varying qualities even in that.

The trigger on my Tikka rifle is standard and just as someone described in the thread, it breaks like glass, but I always think the pull pressure seems excessive, and even with it being heavy barrel as well it always seems to flip up on firing, and I wondered how much of that was down to me and the trigger, if you know what I mean, rather than just "natural recoil action".......

Another thing worth mentioning, is that regardless of what folks say about .223 c/f mine kicks like a mule witth Federal ammo, but is surprisingly accurate for all that.

[deadeye ive]

The trigger on my Tikka rifle is standard and just as someone described in the thread, it breaks like glass, but I always think the pull pressure seems excessive,

 

Don't know if the trigger is the same as it's predecessor 595 but it's very easy to adjust down to 2 lbs ......to go lighter would require a modification as the adjustment screw hits a a bolt or something ,can't remember ........

[Graham M]

 

The trigger on my Tikka rifle is standard and just as someone described in the thread, it breaks like glass, but I always think the pull pressure seems excessive,

 

Don't know if the trigger is the same as it's predecessor 595 but it's very easy to adjust down to 2 lbs ......to go lighter would require a modification as the adjustment screw hits a a bolt or something ,can't remember ........

Just remove the car valve spring that Tikka fit :( and replace it with a nice soft one from a cheap ball-point pen. Takes the trigger right down to less than 1lb if you are daft enough.

G.M.

[PestController]

 

The trigger on my Tikka rifle is standard and just as someone described in the thread, it breaks like glass, but I always think the pull pressure seems excessive,

 

Don't know if the trigger is the same as it's predecessor 595 but it's very easy to adjust down to 2 lbs ......to go lighter would require a modification as the adjustment screw hits a a bolt or something ,can't remember ........

Just remove the car valve spring that Tikka fit :( and replace it with a nice soft one from a cheap ball-point pen. Takes the trigger right down to less than 1lb if you are daft enough.

G.M.

 

 

Don't think I'll be going there somehow Graham, thanks.....

It's interesting to see the varying replies about trigger adjustment though, and have to say I'd be inclined to leave mine alone, even though I employ all the usual safety techniques re loading and firing etc. I'd still feel uncomfortable not really knowing the degree of safety that was inherrent in a modified situation.

Thanks to all for posting.

[Graham M]

Actually changing the spring was a genuine comment as I have done this myself without any problems. My comment about being “Daft enough†was directed towards taking the weight too low.

Replacing the short, and very stiff, spring to a lighter and more flexible one does give a softer, more gentle feel to the trigger, but without loosing the strength of the trigger/sear fit.

And as daft as it may seem those little springs out of a ball-point pen were absolutely ideal for both my Tikka and my Sako Finnfire. All you have to remember is not to reduce the weight to a point where it goes off by just touching it.

Common sense applies as with all things, so if you want to be certain that you are safe, get it done by a gunsmith.

G.M.

[Heppy1148]

Roger,

A few things to calm the nerves:

a. You should never be handling a rifle in such a way as to point it at yourself or others whether loaded or not, and with the safety catch off.

b. What i do when setting my trigger is to dry fire it a number of times, and bang the stock when i think it is light to check i wont go off.

c. Also check, when i do dry fire, is to check the safety catch operates very efficiently.

d. To finalise my adjustments i take it to the range and test fire. (which i do prior to stalking too).

 

Basically even if the gun does go off, which highly unlikely, it should still be safe. But do not be scared to lighten your trigger, i have seen some real feather triggers over the years and mainly on keepers tools which are thrown around everywhere, and no probs.

 

Take care chat soon mate

 

Heppy