[johnf]

The agri teacher and I went out shooting yesterday and he wanted some pointers from me on shooting. He doesn't do much, I think he said he hadn't shot in a bout three years. We started out shooting my marlin model 60 just to get into the groove. He out shot me at 25 yards with it by a pretty handy margin, so I didn't think there would be much teaching going on. We moved out to 50 yards and I let him shoot my daughters 223 with the red dot on it. He did pretty good keeping about a 2" pattern, which was about .75 bigger than what I can do with that gun. After several shots with that I thought he would be ready.

He's shooting a Weatherly Vanguard in 270 with a Simmons scope. At 100 yards he was shooting about 8". He shot several groups like that and we got the gun sighted in as best we could with that pattern, making the center of the group the point that I set the scope. He asked me to take some shots with it to see if it was him. (By the way it was a very pleasant gun to shoot and didn't kick much more if any than my 25-06) My rest wasn't great and I knew I was moving a bit, but managed about a 1 1/2" group on my one and only try.

It did seem to me that his trigger was tight, probably around 6-7lbs. All my deer riffles have about a 3-3.5" trigger pull and are very crisp. We got back to his house and found the book on his gun. Apparently the trigger can easily be adjusted down to 3lbs by turning a screw.

My advice was to adjust it down to the minimum for better accuracy.

What say ye all on this advice?

 

[John Stiles]

4lbs.:wink:

 

[flintknapper]

Yes.

Three lbs. is not bad, and about the minimum for hunting, IMO. Most folks will use a much lighter trigger, but I'm thinking a hunting rifle should have a bit more pull than a target-only rifle. Reason being that when you put your finger on the trigger with your heart pounding in your chest, it's nice to be able to feel the trigger withour setting it off prematurely. :smack:

Some folks can handle a much lighter trigger than that for hunting, but I'd keep it around the stated 3 lbs. minimum for your friend, at least until he's been shooting that rifle for some time. Just remember that lighter triggers have less sear engaged to hold the striker back; I've been known to test light triggered actions by cocking them and whacking them with a large rubber mallet to see if they will slip. I recommend doing that before you mount the scope-- If you use a Leupold scope, don't even worry about it! :biggrin:

 

[Ginder75]

As Flint already said, before you ever load the first round after a trigger job give the rifle a work over! Cycle the trigger a few times, whack it a bit. It is FAR better to be a little heavy on the pull than to have a ticking time bomb. I am not familiar with that action, but some are know to disengage when the safey is turned off. So, set the safety, unset it, pull the trigger, whack it, ... all to make sure the rifle only goes off when you pull the trigger.

I have shot target rifles with 3 ounce triggers (breathe and it fires) all the way up to a factory rifle with a 9 pound pull (hell to shoot). For a good hunting rifle something in the range of 3 to 4 pounds. That way, with gloved fingers you don't accidently set it off and you know when you are pulling the trigger.

Just my two cents!

 

[flintknapper]

I'm glad Ginder mentioned the safety thing. I forget which ones are prone to slip when the safety is switched off, but it's a good idea to test 'em all before using live rounds.

When in doubt, take the action out of the stock, cock the action with a snap-cap in the chamber, and whack the heck out of it from several different angles to see if you can make the sear slip with the safety both on and off. If it passes the "Guantanamo" test, you're good to go!

 

[John Stiles]

I nearly shot my foot once with a rifle that had 3lbs trigger pull...I still swear I never touched the trigger......I don't want nobody anywhere near me with a trigger lighter than 4 lbs accidents happen regularly and they don't need any help. Oh, my sniper rifle and me made it through a straight year in combat, and we done just fine on 4 lbs!:wink:

 

[Mr. Chitlin]

Good advice above.

Those heavy triggers are partly due to our legal society that we live in at this time.

Another thing to consider is that there are aftermarket adjustable triggers that are available. They are usually adjustable from about 3 to 6 pounds or so. Most of my rifles have triggers that break at 3# or above, although I do have a .30/06 that breaks at 1 lb 8 oz, and a .308 heavy barreled bolt gun that breaks crisply at 10 oz.

 

[snydedawg]

I'd kinda like to wrap my finger..ever so gently.. on that 10 oz. trigger!!! That sounds like a good time!!! Just to see what it is like!!!

 

[Buck-Ridge]

I like a light trigger I'm not sure about the pull weight on mine. But it's hard to shoot well if the force of pulling the trigger makes your gun move.