Aftermarket Trigger Spring Hype!

Just a bit of a public service announcement here. I got roped into the hype about swapping trigger springs to improve trigger pull, both on my X Bolt and my T3X.
Long story short, both rifles ended up becoming, in my personal opinion, unsafe. The main issue, with both, was that the pull weight was not consistent....like really, truly, scary inconsistent. The differences from pull to pull would vary by nearly a pound, and when you are shooting for a pull weight of 2 Lbs., this can become obviously unsafe, when the the trigger arbitrarily and unexpectedly breaks at 1 Lb. It is also very annoying, not having a consistent break. Yes, I saved a bunch of money going the spring route vs new trigger, but the new trigger would have been money well spent. I am not going to bash particular brands here, I will just say that my experience was with two of the most well known brands, and both had the exact same issue, on both rifles. Buyer Beware!

Good advice. Did you figure out what made it unsafe?

I had an MOA trigger that did that. It lacked the spring force to fully reset. A custom trigger is more that a lighter spring. It generally starts with precision machined hard components at just the right angles. Spring may be lightened due to the precise machining.

As you lighten a trigger, if the crispness starts getting worse, that is your sign that the sear surfaces need to mate more at the higher pull weight.

That said, my new T3X is pretty good. Adjusted down to 1.5 lbs, looks safe, but it is loosing a touch of crispness. I will up the pull weight and dry fire more.

I use M*Carbo springs in all my Browning rifles. I've never had an issue so far. I hate your experience wasn't as good with whatever you used.

tim1457 said:

I use M*Carbo springs in all my Browning rifles. I've never had an issue so far. I hate your experience wasn't as good with whatever you used.

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Same here. I always do a drop test and up to this point, no problem. Mine have also remained consistent in pull weight over the years.
Everyone should be cautious when dealing with any trigger work.

Use mcarbo and ernie the gun smith in multiple rifles--- I've had zero issues with both brands-- I usually set mine around 2-2.5 pounds though and don't try to go ultra light break. I also "drop test" for safety just like in the instructions

Was the "unsafe" because of the 1# pull weight of the trigger? Or did it fire inadvertently due to search engagement issues not holding upon bolt close or bump fire?

I have three Browning A-Bolts with the Timney springs in them. I've never had an issue and they break consistently around 1.5lbs, just where I want it to. I have a Savage with a Timney trigger in it, it works well. I had it breaking just under a pound, like 10-14oz, for a while. It was safe-ish, the sear would never disengage on a drop test and I hit it on the floor pretty hard. I did notice at one point that the sear would disengage when I was working the bold quickly, so I increased it to about 1.5lbs, unfortunate because I really liked the 10oz trigger.

tim1457 said:

I use M*Carbo springs in all my Browning rifles. I've never had an issue so far. I hate your experience wasn't as good with whatever you used.

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I think that it depends upon the firearm that one is working on. Personally I am very cautious when the trigger pull is getting below that three pound breaking point. I try to get the lightest "safe-pull" for the particular application for the firearm. In my opinion if a person is asking themselves if they think that the trigger pull is too light to be safe, they already have answered their question!!

To be clear(er)...I drop tested the rifles multiple times, and they passed. In my mind, the wildly inconsistent pull weight is a safety issue, even if it passes drop testing. Here is where we get into personal opinion, because I want a gun to "behave" the same every time I shoot it, and if it doesn't, and I don't know what to expect from session to session, shot to shot, then to me it is a safety issue. Both guns are hunting rifles, so I wanted around a 2# pull weight, and in both cases the pull weight arbitrarily varied between a little over 1# to as high as 3 1/2#.

griffin ordway said:

The differences from pull to pull would vary by nearly a pound

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griffin ordway said:

the pull weight arbitrarily varied between a little over 1# to as high as 3 1/2#.

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Originally you said NEARLY a pound and now it's 2.5 pounds?
If you are getting almost 2.5 pounds difference between trigger pulls there is definitely some type of problem.

OP, I think there are some other issues vs spring, which would be how the contacting surfaces mate together.

I have replaced a bunch of springs on Browning A Bolts for myself and family with absolutely no issues. I am not familiar with other models of A bolts. Trigger pull on the A Bolts with upgraded springs runs between 1 lb to 2 lbs, and none have ever been any kind of problem. As you gain experience in tuning springs, you can get down below 1 lb, but this may not be safe for you or your gun. I use a large ink pen spring as they usually come in two sizes, measure dia with a caliper.

I would examine how the spring is being cradled, and if you can, if the spring is perhaps a tad bit too short...in which case you would pull it apart a little. Also, there maybe a bind in the pins, those holes need to be lapped with fine valve grinding compound, flitz, or other.

I personally can live with a heavy trigger (within reason) if it is crisp. 4 or even 5 lbs. is ok with me if it breaks like ice. I prefer 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. on a hunting weapon, but on a competition gun will go down to a few oz. Had a 2 oz. trigger in one of my Prarie dog rifles. Friend of mine took a few shots with it and told me it was too light. I was fine with it because you never wear gloves when shooting it.
I put a M'Carbo spring in my Encore and liked it so much that I bought 2 more for a couple of handguns. They were all fine in my book. One had to be smoothed up a little for the trigger to return properly.

When shooting long range, a heavy trigger over 2 lbs starts to interfere with my "release". When the cross hair hits were I want it to be, I don't even like to think about pulling the trigger, it just happens.

I do let others shoot my rifles at the range, but I get them to dry fire the gun 5 times before they insert a live round.

My P. dog rifles run 2 oz Jewel triggers. My coyote rifles run 1-2 lb triggers, and my deer rifles run 1-2 lb triggers depending on the application. Any loaner gun has a 3.5 lb trigger unless family that I have worked with.

You think that you may know a guy, up to the point where he starts handling a gun. I have seen vehicles shot three times in my life, dumb and stupid gun handling.

If you have a "gut feeling" that the trigger is unsafe, listen to that gut feeling....take appropriate action but do not ignore it.

griffin ordway said:

To be clear(er)...I drop tested the rifles multiple times, and they passed. In my mind, the wildly inconsistent pull weight is a safety issue, even if it passes drop testing. Here is where we get into personal opinion, because I want a gun to "behave" the same every time I shoot it, and if it doesn't, and I don't know what to expect from session to session, shot to shot, then to me it is a safety issue. Both guns are hunting rifles, so I wanted around a 2# pull weight, and in both cases the pull weight arbitrarily varied between a little over 1# to as high as 3 1/2#.

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So it is the pull weight of just over 1# to 3# variation. It keeps you honest that way.

As for pull weight... you might not want to know what I run my triggers set at (3oz to 8oz max).