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Is my trigger safe?
- Thread starter nksmfamjp
- Start date
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Not to offend or insult any one here. I hunt with one in the pipe. Many of nice animals have slipped by because of the noise of racking one in. I'm confident in my equipment and I hunt alone.
Mike Matteson
Well-Known Member
My rifles are set up at about 1.5 lbs pull to start with, and most my pistols are worked over too. If a friend going to use the rifle. We go out and have him shoot to see that point of impact is on for him and learn to handle or understands the trigger. I have my trigger installed by a gunsmith. I do a drop test and aggressive use the bolt too, after the work is done. Hunting depending on animal being hunted. Some I put a round in the chamber, and other time I don't. I would rather have the rifle unloaded and carry when hunting.
SSS
Mike
SSS
Mike
hunter0528
Well-Known Member
The only other thing I would add is in #2 is to check the trigger pull, with a gauge, after each of the steps, just to make sure that the trigger did not lighted with the steps performed.
bdyal1972
Well-Known Member
65WSM
Well-Known Member
Which is safer? The safety that blocks the trigger or the safety that blocks the firing pin. The Model 70 style wing safety is a much better tool when hunting. Particularly when crossing fences, getting in and out of vehicles or blinds. I like to hunt with people with wing safeties that block the firing pin. Then we can use Jewell triggers that are measured in ounces and not worry about it. I have a neighbor that shot two of his sons, one in the gut and the other in the leg, he was unloading the magazine by cranking them through the chamber, in the dark, in the rain, at the finish of the day. Maybe it could have been avoided with 3-position wing safety. These safeties are available for Remington bolts, and are much slicker than the factory safety and shroud, as well as Montana, Kimber and Winchester Model 70s.
azsugarbear
Well-Known Member
As some of you may know, in addition to shooting LR, I also build custom flintlock rifles. These fine rifles were always loaded when hunting in the field. The better quality rifles usually had light set triggers. None of these rifles ever had a safety. Safety was and is always determined by the person holding the rifle. The addition of a safety or light weight trigger does not alter that fact. Period.
I cannot help but smile at some of the comments people make on these threads. They take their local hunting situations and try to impose them on other hunters all across the country without allowing for the fact that circumstances, the game and terrain are often quite different. Like lancetkenyon, I live in AZ where the landscape is usually wide open. Like lancetkenyon, my LR rifles all have a trigger pull of about one pound. My custom triggers are made for just such a pull weight (all mine wear the two-stage triggers made by Huber Concepts). While I have met Lance a couple of times, I have never hunted with him and I don't know him personally. Having said that, I would not hesitate to hunt with him and his LR rigs with one pound trigger pulls. Like Lance, I do not load until I am ready to shoot. It is simply good safety practice - just like being at the range where you are not permitted to load until on the firing line. Our circumstances out west afford us that luxury. It has nothing to do with trusting a man with a loaded weapon. I recognize that other hunters may face different circumstances where this would not be practical. I would never assume to label them as being any more or less safe than myself.
Some posters on this thread arguing for loaded weapons with heavier trigger pulls gave examples such as the need for taking a quick 'snap shot' or likened it to hunting with a shotgun. First of all, while both of these examples are valid, they do not fall within the realm of LRH. The need to take a 'snap' shot at large game is something quite rare out here. Generally, game can't run far enough, and fast enough to outrun a bullet. If I ever found it necessary to hunt in tight quarters, I would use my 20" barreled brush gun with open sights and heavier trigger pull - certainly not a scoped, 28" barreled LR rifle. I do hunt dove, quail and other upland birds with a shotgun loaded and with safety on, but then my shotgun does not wear a 1 lb. trigger either. Different jobs require different tools.
I cannot help but smile at some of the comments people make on these threads. They take their local hunting situations and try to impose them on other hunters all across the country without allowing for the fact that circumstances, the game and terrain are often quite different. Like lancetkenyon, I live in AZ where the landscape is usually wide open. Like lancetkenyon, my LR rifles all have a trigger pull of about one pound. My custom triggers are made for just such a pull weight (all mine wear the two-stage triggers made by Huber Concepts). While I have met Lance a couple of times, I have never hunted with him and I don't know him personally. Having said that, I would not hesitate to hunt with him and his LR rigs with one pound trigger pulls. Like Lance, I do not load until I am ready to shoot. It is simply good safety practice - just like being at the range where you are not permitted to load until on the firing line. Our circumstances out west afford us that luxury. It has nothing to do with trusting a man with a loaded weapon. I recognize that other hunters may face different circumstances where this would not be practical. I would never assume to label them as being any more or less safe than myself.
Some posters on this thread arguing for loaded weapons with heavier trigger pulls gave examples such as the need for taking a quick 'snap shot' or likened it to hunting with a shotgun. First of all, while both of these examples are valid, they do not fall within the realm of LRH. The need to take a 'snap' shot at large game is something quite rare out here. Generally, game can't run far enough, and fast enough to outrun a bullet. If I ever found it necessary to hunt in tight quarters, I would use my 20" barreled brush gun with open sights and heavier trigger pull - certainly not a scoped, 28" barreled LR rifle. I do hunt dove, quail and other upland birds with a shotgun loaded and with safety on, but then my shotgun does not wear a 1 lb. trigger either. Different jobs require different tools.
bdyal1972
Well-Known Member
basinman
Well-Known Member
I like about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds for my hunting rifles. I test them like my buddy does (he was the gunsmith at Gunsite) by slamming the bolt closed and bump testing the butt pad against the floor.
Rflshootr
Well-Known Member
Maybe we should just say it depends on the how and where the rifle is going to be used. I run a 4 oz. Jewell on my groundhog rifle and anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 lbs on big game rifles. Which one depends if I'm stand hunting, or spot and stalking and whether then temperatures are extreme or not.
MNbogboy
Well-Known Member
Just got done resurrecting one of my old 700s....adjusted this "walker" last in 1987 or 1988.....the fingernail polish I applied at that time was "crusty" but still intact....had to dig it out of the screw slots & threads.....
After disassembly, a good cleaning and some slight adjustments it was again dabbed with "nail polish" and is back in the rifle.
Btw: the original 25-06 barrel was responsible for launching death pills to over 100 whitetails also a few antelope and muleys. After 2000 "hot" rounds the barrel went south and it now wears a 6.5-06.
Blue loctite or nail polish will not hurt the trigger and will preserve your settings.
nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
I'm right in there with you, Zeke. All my rifles have their triggers set at 2 to 2.5 pounds, and I have never had a problem with any of them. This is comfortable for me, and I sometimes carry a rifle with a round in the chamber. When sneaking through the woods after whitetails, there just isn't time to chamber a round when one bounces out of its bed like a bunny.
When hunting in rough country, I find it better to carry a couple of rounds in one of those handy carriers that have the loops on them, attached to the buttstock. I can get one into the chamber in plenty of time when necessary, and most of the time it just isn't necessary to do that very quickly. When I was growing up in Pennsylvania, we hunted in some pretty steep terrain. With snow on the ground, wasn't uncommon to fall down once in a while. The last thing I would want would be an accidental discharge, so I unloaded the rifle several times a day. I would do this before going into anything where I thought that a fall might occur - steep side-hills, blow-downs, etc. This was accomplished by taking the round out of the chamber, and closing the bolt over the empty chamber. After traversing the rough spot, I would load a cartridge back into the chamber, check the safety, and carry on.
If a guy is hunting properly, he will have the time to load & unload repeatedly. If he thinks this takes too long to accomplish, maybe he's just in too big of a hurry - and a different pastime might suit him better. Hunting is only fun anyway when nobody gets shot.
freddiej
Well-Known Member
As J E Customs stated. I used a sliding scale and an end user feel test to set my customer's triggers.
Most of my experienced hunters get a 2# to 3# trigger. Most of them ask for something between 2.5# and 4#
The target shooters and benchresters get a 1# trigger. many of them want a 12 ounce to a 1# trigger
If the person if comfortable with a certain poundage of their trigger that is exactly what they get.
I also insist the engagement on hunting rifles is more than 0.002" as well. I normally make sure that I have a minimum of 0.008". I like 0.012" for safety in the field. most of my hunters think as I do. lift the bolt to the point that the striker is off the sear so there is no way to trip and the gun goes off.
My personal hunting rifles are set at 3# with a 0.008"+ engagement. I do not own many Rem 700's. I mostly own Win 70's and I do use the original triggers or I use Jewell. I refuse to put Timney garbage in my guns. Yes, I believe Timney is garbage. I get constant harassment over this. I am tired of pulling apart Timney triggers to remill all the parts so they are square. dang water jets do not cut the parts square. Bix'n Andy are awesome, Shilen is exceptional, Trigger Tech is very good, Elftmann is good, CMC triggers are great. my motto is pretty much, "Anything but Timiney."
Lastly, I do not loc-tite my settings, I use clear nail polish. if I use anything. most of the aftermarket triggers I use come with locking nuts so that is good enough for me.
Most of my experienced hunters get a 2# to 3# trigger. Most of them ask for something between 2.5# and 4#
The target shooters and benchresters get a 1# trigger. many of them want a 12 ounce to a 1# trigger
If the person if comfortable with a certain poundage of their trigger that is exactly what they get.
I also insist the engagement on hunting rifles is more than 0.002" as well. I normally make sure that I have a minimum of 0.008". I like 0.012" for safety in the field. most of my hunters think as I do. lift the bolt to the point that the striker is off the sear so there is no way to trip and the gun goes off.
My personal hunting rifles are set at 3# with a 0.008"+ engagement. I do not own many Rem 700's. I mostly own Win 70's and I do use the original triggers or I use Jewell. I refuse to put Timney garbage in my guns. Yes, I believe Timney is garbage. I get constant harassment over this. I am tired of pulling apart Timney triggers to remill all the parts so they are square. dang water jets do not cut the parts square. Bix'n Andy are awesome, Shilen is exceptional, Trigger Tech is very good, Elftmann is good, CMC triggers are great. my motto is pretty much, "Anything but Timiney."
Lastly, I do not loc-tite my settings, I use clear nail polish. if I use anything. most of the aftermarket triggers I use come with locking nuts so that is good enough for me.
