Triggers
By Les Voth
P17 Remington:
This was the first trigger I learned to handle really well. It was a two stage military trigger that came on a surplus 30-06 rifle built out of a junk box. I was desperate to buy another "something" and the local gunsmith dug out the parts.
With the 20 inch hacksawed off barrel, sawn off military stock, ground off rear sight wings and hastily drilled and tapped scope mounts, it didn't lend itself to confidence on the way out the door. Then DB, who could shoot anything, shot a tight cloverleaf with it at 100 yards. Then, so did I.
Hundreds of rounds went through that rifle and that mushy two-stage trigger tripped off at exactly the same place every time. The summer I owned that rifle it accounted for more gophers than my .22, and it was my job to keep the yard and pasture free of hole-diggers.
Timney narrow shoe custom:
I eventually would own two custom rifles with Timney triggers. I shot a lot of deer with the one, but only shot the other twice. The triggers were identical narrow curved shoe models, but not particularly noteworthy.
Not having commissioned the building of these rifles, I never embraced them enough to tinker with them. Neither trigger ever got adjusted, just pulled on with my pointer finger.
Nothing noteworthy there.
Savage blade, Marlin blade, Ruger American blade, Ruger RPR blade:
The Blade Brother's Triggers:
Since the advent of the blade trigger as a safety feature I have pulled on quite a few different makes. There doesn't seem to be a discernible difference between them. I've shot game with them, shot them fast and shot them slow. They work . . .
They work unless you push the trigger of one of the more popular and desirable rifles - sideways. If you push it sideways when it's cocked, you will have to re-cock it before firing.
My friend Skinner owns a .223 with one of these blade triggers and has no problem whacking a standing coyote. His wrath is stirred when the critter is in motion, though. For some reason, with the blade trigger, he buggers most of his running shots.
I did that with a .243 Marlin XS7 too, the first time I shot at a running coyote. But it had more to do with overestimating that 'yote's stride in the deep snow. Slowed him up considerable . . .
Jewel custom:
I'd read about Jewel Triggers, but never owned one or pulled on one until my friend Richard gave me a lesson on what a trigger should be on a hunting rifle. He said it should be something you don't have to think about. I'd never thought about it like that.
Going out to his truck, he came back with his Jewel equipped custom .280 elk rifle. Handing it to me he said to touch it off a few times and see what I thought of that. I did, and I thought I had been getting it wrong for too many of my precious years here on earth.
The "shootability" factor of Richard's rifle was higher than with any rifle/trigger combination I'd fondled before. When the crosshairs, ducks, stars and racks converged, there was no thought about grunting with the effort of pulling on a trigger - you just shoot.
Old dogs and new tricks.
Remington custom tuned:
I bought a custom tuned, blueprinted, barreled rifle with a tuned Remington trigger a while ago to learn long range shooting. I learned a lot from good teachers and finely built equipment. But then, the more I pulled on that tuned Remington trigger, the more I noticed the nuance vibrating through it.
There was a notch, barely discernible, some creep, just a little stacking at the end and then it would do its work. Stroke something carefully and purposefully a few thousand times and you'll notice nuance. I came to dislike Nuance and went shopping. There was a Trigger Tech in my future...
Trigger Tech:
Xray came over and put a Trigger Tech trigger in my long range rifle. My groups shrunk. Trigger control improved along with my shooting confidence. Trigger Tech triggers are engineered differently, the feel is completely different than any other trigger I had pulled on before.
I'm not good at describing the difference, so I encourage you to look them up on their web site, watch their video and look at the diagrams of their construction.
On the day Xray installed my Trigger Tech trigger we put our rifles side by side and dry-fired them at least 80 times. There was no movement we could see with the naked eye when the Trigger Tech trigger went off. You just apply pressure and when it's had enough, it releases the sear without any over-travel.
Remington Factory Trigger:
I felt the need for a new-to-me dedicated rifle for varmints, so I bought a Remington ADL with a .260 Remington barrel poking out the front of the action. It had a handle made of cleverly molded recycled milk jugs, dyed black. It was completely stock.
Replaced the factory stock with a HS Precision sporter stock and converted it to a .22-250 Remington through the "Remage" system. Just unscrew the factory barrel and put in a prefit of the caliber you desire. You've got a new unit!
In my case I used a 24" 12 twist Criterion from Northland Shooting Supply. I bought a barrel, barrel nut and the thicker recoil lug. My buddy Bean has all the tools to make this work. I went to school in his shop and came out with a new varmint rifle.
I found out that Remington triggers can have a few features not mentioned on the brochures. This one "stacked" when there was a cartridge in the chamber. Unlike Richards Jewel, which went off when you wanted it to, or the Trigger Tech in my long range rifle, this one needed a vice-grip to trip it.
If you dry-fired it at the tree in front of your house when it was empty, it was fine. Just don't put a shell in it . . .
I took the Remington factory trigger out of that rifle and put in the Trigger Tech trigger that had been in my long range rifle. Now my new varmint rifle shoots five 55 grain Hornady spire points under the same dime every time! A very much enhanced shootability factor is being enjoyed now!
Sold that factory trigger to Bean.
Bix 'N Andy TacSport:
Since I had jerked the Trigger Tech trigger out of my long range rifle I had to replace it with something as good or better. A trip to bulletcentral.com, just 55 miles down the road, convinced me to try a Bix 'N Andy TacSport trigger.
Bix 'N Andy triggers are getting to be known as one of the premier triggers in precision BenchRest shooting. They are sneaking/striding into PRS competition and all long range shooting sports.
I've read many times of how you should spend the money for premium bullets when you are going on a hunt of a lifetime. Guys buy brand new rifles for such hunts that are worth thousands of dollars. They renovate old favorite rifles to prepare for a hunt.
You send those premium bullets down range on a hunt, or at the range, but you bring your trigger back home to reuse - every time.
My long range rifle was shooting very well, as good as I could shoot it. At the 100 yard Zero check line I could put five shots into the .3s when I did my part and all that. I couldn't do any better. I was more than satisfied.
The day I swapped triggers I took my Trigger Tech equipped .22-250 and my 6.5 Creedmoor with its new Bix 'N Andy TacSport to the farm to test them both. I shot the .22-250 until it was warm to the touch, put it aside and laid the Creedmoor over a rest. Then I put my Berger 130 AR Hybrids into the first honest .200 gathering that that 27.5 inch Kreiger barrel had ever printed!
The very first impression I gathered was that the new "Bix" was, by far, the most shootable trigger I had ever handled in a rifle!
Now I think Bean is going to get a used Trigger Tech trigger, my .22-250 is going to be adorned with another TacSport from Bix 'N Andy and the trigger that came in my Defiance actioned 6.5-284 Norma is gonna find its way somewhere else, too. I'm sold!
There are some great people at www.bulletcentral.com who deal with precision shooting parts and supplies worldwide. Heck of a resource to have that close to my door!
les
Learning Les'ons From Everyday Events
Les Voth learned to hunt whitetail deer and coyotes in his native Canada, and has hunted both as often as possible in eastern North Dakota since immigrating to the United States. Life Les'ons, by Les Voth, is available from Amazon.com, Kindle, & createspace.com
By Les Voth
P17 Remington:
This was the first trigger I learned to handle really well. It was a two stage military trigger that came on a surplus 30-06 rifle built out of a junk box. I was desperate to buy another "something" and the local gunsmith dug out the parts.
With the 20 inch hacksawed off barrel, sawn off military stock, ground off rear sight wings and hastily drilled and tapped scope mounts, it didn't lend itself to confidence on the way out the door. Then DB, who could shoot anything, shot a tight cloverleaf with it at 100 yards. Then, so did I.
Hundreds of rounds went through that rifle and that mushy two-stage trigger tripped off at exactly the same place every time. The summer I owned that rifle it accounted for more gophers than my .22, and it was my job to keep the yard and pasture free of hole-diggers.
Timney narrow shoe custom:
I eventually would own two custom rifles with Timney triggers. I shot a lot of deer with the one, but only shot the other twice. The triggers were identical narrow curved shoe models, but not particularly noteworthy.
Not having commissioned the building of these rifles, I never embraced them enough to tinker with them. Neither trigger ever got adjusted, just pulled on with my pointer finger.
Nothing noteworthy there.
Savage blade, Marlin blade, Ruger American blade, Ruger RPR blade:
The Blade Brother's Triggers:
Since the advent of the blade trigger as a safety feature I have pulled on quite a few different makes. There doesn't seem to be a discernible difference between them. I've shot game with them, shot them fast and shot them slow. They work . . .
They work unless you push the trigger of one of the more popular and desirable rifles - sideways. If you push it sideways when it's cocked, you will have to re-cock it before firing.
My friend Skinner owns a .223 with one of these blade triggers and has no problem whacking a standing coyote. His wrath is stirred when the critter is in motion, though. For some reason, with the blade trigger, he buggers most of his running shots.
I did that with a .243 Marlin XS7 too, the first time I shot at a running coyote. But it had more to do with overestimating that 'yote's stride in the deep snow. Slowed him up considerable . . .
Jewel custom:
I'd read about Jewel Triggers, but never owned one or pulled on one until my friend Richard gave me a lesson on what a trigger should be on a hunting rifle. He said it should be something you don't have to think about. I'd never thought about it like that.
Going out to his truck, he came back with his Jewel equipped custom .280 elk rifle. Handing it to me he said to touch it off a few times and see what I thought of that. I did, and I thought I had been getting it wrong for too many of my precious years here on earth.
The "shootability" factor of Richard's rifle was higher than with any rifle/trigger combination I'd fondled before. When the crosshairs, ducks, stars and racks converged, there was no thought about grunting with the effort of pulling on a trigger - you just shoot.
Old dogs and new tricks.
Remington custom tuned:
I bought a custom tuned, blueprinted, barreled rifle with a tuned Remington trigger a while ago to learn long range shooting. I learned a lot from good teachers and finely built equipment. But then, the more I pulled on that tuned Remington trigger, the more I noticed the nuance vibrating through it.
There was a notch, barely discernible, some creep, just a little stacking at the end and then it would do its work. Stroke something carefully and purposefully a few thousand times and you'll notice nuance. I came to dislike Nuance and went shopping. There was a Trigger Tech in my future...
Trigger Tech:
Xray came over and put a Trigger Tech trigger in my long range rifle. My groups shrunk. Trigger control improved along with my shooting confidence. Trigger Tech triggers are engineered differently, the feel is completely different than any other trigger I had pulled on before.
I'm not good at describing the difference, so I encourage you to look them up on their web site, watch their video and look at the diagrams of their construction.
On the day Xray installed my Trigger Tech trigger we put our rifles side by side and dry-fired them at least 80 times. There was no movement we could see with the naked eye when the Trigger Tech trigger went off. You just apply pressure and when it's had enough, it releases the sear without any over-travel.
Remington Factory Trigger:
I felt the need for a new-to-me dedicated rifle for varmints, so I bought a Remington ADL with a .260 Remington barrel poking out the front of the action. It had a handle made of cleverly molded recycled milk jugs, dyed black. It was completely stock.
Replaced the factory stock with a HS Precision sporter stock and converted it to a .22-250 Remington through the "Remage" system. Just unscrew the factory barrel and put in a prefit of the caliber you desire. You've got a new unit!
In my case I used a 24" 12 twist Criterion from Northland Shooting Supply. I bought a barrel, barrel nut and the thicker recoil lug. My buddy Bean has all the tools to make this work. I went to school in his shop and came out with a new varmint rifle.
I found out that Remington triggers can have a few features not mentioned on the brochures. This one "stacked" when there was a cartridge in the chamber. Unlike Richards Jewel, which went off when you wanted it to, or the Trigger Tech in my long range rifle, this one needed a vice-grip to trip it.
If you dry-fired it at the tree in front of your house when it was empty, it was fine. Just don't put a shell in it . . .
I took the Remington factory trigger out of that rifle and put in the Trigger Tech trigger that had been in my long range rifle. Now my new varmint rifle shoots five 55 grain Hornady spire points under the same dime every time! A very much enhanced shootability factor is being enjoyed now!
Sold that factory trigger to Bean.
Bix 'N Andy TacSport:
Since I had jerked the Trigger Tech trigger out of my long range rifle I had to replace it with something as good or better. A trip to bulletcentral.com, just 55 miles down the road, convinced me to try a Bix 'N Andy TacSport trigger.
Bix 'N Andy triggers are getting to be known as one of the premier triggers in precision BenchRest shooting. They are sneaking/striding into PRS competition and all long range shooting sports.
I've read many times of how you should spend the money for premium bullets when you are going on a hunt of a lifetime. Guys buy brand new rifles for such hunts that are worth thousands of dollars. They renovate old favorite rifles to prepare for a hunt.
You send those premium bullets down range on a hunt, or at the range, but you bring your trigger back home to reuse - every time.
My long range rifle was shooting very well, as good as I could shoot it. At the 100 yard Zero check line I could put five shots into the .3s when I did my part and all that. I couldn't do any better. I was more than satisfied.
The day I swapped triggers I took my Trigger Tech equipped .22-250 and my 6.5 Creedmoor with its new Bix 'N Andy TacSport to the farm to test them both. I shot the .22-250 until it was warm to the touch, put it aside and laid the Creedmoor over a rest. Then I put my Berger 130 AR Hybrids into the first honest .200 gathering that that 27.5 inch Kreiger barrel had ever printed!
The very first impression I gathered was that the new "Bix" was, by far, the most shootable trigger I had ever handled in a rifle!
Now I think Bean is going to get a used Trigger Tech trigger, my .22-250 is going to be adorned with another TacSport from Bix 'N Andy and the trigger that came in my Defiance actioned 6.5-284 Norma is gonna find its way somewhere else, too. I'm sold!
There are some great people at www.bulletcentral.com who deal with precision shooting parts and supplies worldwide. Heck of a resource to have that close to my door!
les
Learning Les'ons From Everyday Events
Les Voth learned to hunt whitetail deer and coyotes in his native Canada, and has hunted both as often as possible in eastern North Dakota since immigrating to the United States. Life Les'ons, by Les Voth, is available from Amazon.com, Kindle, & createspace.com
