What would you change?

[Rhett Crider]

Guess a brief summary of "why" by the OP would get better results.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

Can I get you to also ask that they include why they would do (the one thing)?
For example: what are you doing to the trigger?

I ONLY buy Tikka Factory Rifles now, so I just need to replace, the Trigger Spring with one from, Elay Precision, YoDave or Ernie the Gunsmith.
I have put, Timney $ 230.00 Triggers on, my Rem 700's tho.
On ALL my New Rifles, I do, the Triggers,.. FIRST
Hunting pull weight, a CRISP, 2.5 to 3 Pounds,. Varmint & Target shooting a CRISP,..1.0 to 1.5 Pounds.
Then mount scopes,.. Lap / Loctite, etc.
I check, barrel "Free Float" clearance when putting in, the Trig Spring on my Tikka's.
Next I start Bbl Break-in and working up, loads.
Then Bedding,.. "if" necessary.

 

[WildRose]

If you can choose the one best thing you could do to make a firearm shoot better what would it be, which one thing would you change over everything that would make the biggest difference, basically the first thing you would do to make a gun shoot better, but can only do one thing, what's most important.

Barrel float and bedding is always the best place I know of to start.

 

[WildRose]

Go get training. The human is always the weakest link in accuracy. It's not arguable. It's a solid fact. Honestly, if one has good fundamentals, they don't need a special trigger unless your splitting hairs. 1/8 moa type hairs.

If you are talking strictly mechanical? Scope. Get a quality scope. It's not a optical device at its primary function, it's a telescopic sight. If you're sight is cheap and finicky, so will your shooting be.

Are you talking specifically mechanical on the rifle? The stock. The reason I suggest that over say, blue printing, or barrels is because a good stock, or even a modular stock compliments fundamentals of marksmanship….the most important thing of accuracy, right? Having the right length of pull, and the right comb height, or more simply a proper setup is critical for the shooter to be consistent.


Blue prints give small gains, and barrels now a days even from the factory are good enough in most instances. My wife took at cheap ruger American off the shelf and shoots 1/4 moa with it for example with no modification other than a cheek riser.

If you're fundementals are solid, you have a decent scope and a rifle set up for you're body…you're good to go. If you get to a point you want to be more competitive, or further your accuracy, then barrels, and blue prints, even triggers and other gizmos can help with that, but they aren't required.

I have yet to find a factory trigger on any of my Model 70 Wins or model 700 Rem's that cannot be tuned to shoot accurately.

The CZ single set trigger is the best trigger I have ever shot though.

I really see no need for aftermarket triggers but that's just me.

 

[Bret GRAVELINE Graveline]

Proper bedding, neither the best trigger nor the finest reloads will make a poorly bedded rifle shoot to its best potential, but a properly bedded rifle will benefit immensely from quality reloads and tuned trigger,

 

[dfanonymous]

I have yet to find a factory trigger on any of my Model 70 Wins or model 700 Rem's that cannot be tuned to shoot accurately.

The CZ single set trigger is the best trigger I have ever shot though.

I really see no need for aftermarket triggers but that's just me.

After market triggers are great crutches for poor marksmanship skills and poor fundamentals.
Which is why a lot of us like them in competitive nature. We are being competitive, so we will take whatever edge we can get, like when we start slapping the trigger on the 7th or 8th shot as we fidget through our shooting position.

But it spoils people in my opinion, and then they think that's how they are suppose to shoot, and that's how it's suppose to feel; it becomes a baseline. Then when they go to a professional course they have to try to unlearn all those bad habits, or they practice those bad habits until they are kind of good at doing things incorrectly.

 

[WildRose]

After market triggers are great crutches for poor marksmanship skills and poor fundamentals.
Which is why a lot of us like them in competitive nature. We are being competitive, so we will take whatever edge we can get, like when we start slapping the trigger on the 7th or 8th shot as we fidget through our shooting position.

But it spoils people in my opinion, and then they think that's how they are suppose to shoot, and that's how it's suppose to feel; it becomes a baseline. Then when they go to a professional course they have to try to unlearn all those bad habits, or they practice those bad habits until they are kind of good at doing things incorrectly.

That and, "well everyone online says this is the way to go", which sells a whole lot of product for a whole lot of manufacturers but rarely do they makes us any better when we get behind the gun.

I think of the triggers we had on service rifles we were expected and sometimes our lives depended on us getting hits on difficult targets in challenging situations where nothing was in our favor and somehow, even with substandard equipment as we look at things today, we consistently managed to get the job done.

 

[6pakzak]

After market triggers are great crutches for poor marksmanship skills and poor fundamentals.
Which is why a lot of us like them in competitive nature. We are being competitive, so we will take whatever edge we can get, like when we start slapping the trigger on the 7th or 8th shot as we fidget through our shooting position.

But it spoils people in my opinion, and then they think that's how they are suppose to shoot, and that's how it's suppose to feel; it becomes a baseline. Then when they go to a professional course they have to try to unlearn all those bad habits, or they practice those bad habits until they are kind of good at doing things incorrectly.

So a good trigger spoils people, masking their bad marksmanship skills, interesting, how heavy would you have the trigger, I'm thinking 11lbs and with a lot of creep would be good, separate the shooters from the fakers for sure. Anyways now I got a good excuse if my team member beats me at the next bullseye match, only reason you beat was cause of your lighter trigger which is masking how bad you really are, brilliant.

 

[GSPRunner]

If you can choose the one best thing you could do to make a firearm shoot better what would it be, which one thing would you change over everything that would make the biggest difference, basically the first thing you would do to make a gun shoot better, but can only do one thing, what's most important.

Trigger

 

[dfanonymous]

So a good trigger spoils people, masking their bad marksmanship skills, interesting, how heavy would you have the trigger, I'm thinking 11lbs and with a lot of creep would be good, separate the shooters from the fakers for sure. Anyways now I got a good excuse if my team member beats me at the next bullseye match, only reason you beat was cause of your lighter trigger which is masking how bad you really are, brilliant.

Just a regular factory trigger is sufficient to train with. Stop blaming equipment, doesn't matter if there's a little creep. Yes, it spoils you. Which is why you're responding. You have an expectation that a trigger needs to be a certain way. No competition is competitive. Half of competition in PRS open, is gear and flat shooting cartridges.

While I wouldn't go below 1 1/2 lbs, competition is different, AS I STATED, but it DOES mask insufficiencies in proper technique. Sorry if that makes you mad, but if the shoe fits…

If you cant keep the reticle on on your POA without moving around before getting a break during the trigger press, that's a technique problem…plenty of people can shoot a 14x4 inch plate at 1000y with a SASS. Or a about persons torso sideways. It's got a 6-7 lb trigger. If you have a factory adjustable trigger, run it to where you want without bottoming it out, and train with it…but dropping $200 on a gucci trigger isn't going to make you not suck. You still need to mind your grip, you still need to not torque the rifle, you still need to have a stable shooting position, you still need to press the trigger straight back to you, you still want to follow through. Or, you can do things wrong until you're good at it.

 

[Kevin Stailey]

Getting a good trigger is a good place to start but there are many other things that are necessary to improve accuracy: action bedding, barrel bedding (or freefloating), action screw torque. If none of those help, you may have a barrel with a chamber that is not concentric with bore

 

[6pakzak]

Just a regular factory trigger is sufficient to train with. Stop blaming equipment, doesn't matter if there's a little creep. Yes, it spoils you. Which is why you're responding. You have an expectation that a trigger needs to be a certain way. No competition is competitive. Half of competition in PRS open, is gear and flat shooting cartridges.

While I wouldn't go below 1 1/2 lbs, competition is different, AS I STATED, but it DOES mask insufficiencies in proper technique. Sorry if that makes you mad, but if the shoe fits…

If you cant keep the reticle on on your POA without moving around before getting a break during the trigger press, that's a technique problem…plenty of people can shoot a 14x4 inch plate at 1000y with a SASS. Or a about persons torso sideways. It's got a 6-7 lb trigger. If you have a factory adjustable trigger, run it to where you want without bottoming it out, and train with it…but dropping $200 on a gucci trigger isn't going to make you not suck. You still need to mind your grip, you still need to not torque the rifle, you still need to have a stable shooting position, you still need to press the trigger straight back to you, you still want to follow through. Or, you can do things wrong until you're good at it.

Doesn't make me mad, the fact is most if not all people will shoot better with a better trigger, so it's ok for competition but nothing else, so anyone with a good trigger on their hunting rifle is masking their poor marksmanship since it's only necessary for competition, well then you probably just covered 99 percent of people on here, maybe someday with enough practice we can graduate to crappy triggers. You can still have good technique and have a good trigger, or do you disagree with this?

 

[gohring3006]

Barrel, I have had some exceptional factory rifles and still so, but if a rifle is just average and running around a 3/4" or so, triggers never improved it, but a new shilen always improved it. Every single time…

 

[6pakzak]

Barrel, I have had some exceptional factory rifles and still so, but if a rifle is just average and running around a 3/4" or so, triggers never improved it, but a new shilen always improved it. Every single time…