I see 2 nuts on the trigger mechanism of my Voere 30-06 when I take it off the stock. I assume these are for trigger weight? There are springs underneath the nuts. What weight is unsafe? I would think a pound but I don't want to mess with it before I know what Im messin with.
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Adjusting Trigger pull weight
- Thread starter Darksith
- Start date
I use my rifle for hunting for sure, but I also am new to reloading and this is my first year at it. This year I put over 150 holes into targets, and I find that for bench shooting (just me for fun, but I strive for excellence) it feels a bit heavy. I am using a scale to measure my pull weight, but its a fishing scale, is there something out there that isn't too pricey that is built for doing this?
I have that scale and don't use it. I found the drag of the peak indicator too great for accurate readings. I use a variation on the NRA method used at matches and made my own tool for it.
I went to a hobby shop that caters to model airplane builders and got a 36" length 3/16" music wire. They stock it for bending into landing struts. I put the rod in a vice to bend it, though I did use a torch to heat it where I wanted the sharper bends at the top and bottom and assisted that bending with a hammer. Basically, its just a right angle at the top to pull the trigger, a dog leg below the butt plate to line it up straight with the trigger, then a hook at the bottom to pick up a plastic milk jug. I also made a Delryn roller for the trigger at the top, but pick up a Nylon spacer at Lowe's if you don't have a lathe and still want the roller? If you don't, a few turns of any kind of tape will protect the trigger finish from the rod.
To use this, I put the rod and an empty milk jug on a kitchen scale and add water to the jug to get the combined desired check weight. Hold the gun muzzle straight up and insert the bend at the top into the middle of the trigger and lift slowly to test pull. To find an unknown pull, add a funnel to the milk jug and slowly pour water in until the trigger lets go. Trickle a little out until you can just pick it up. Weigh the jug and apparatus to learn the trigger weight.
That's all maybe more trouble than you want to go, but it does measure the same way officials at matches normally check for weight limits. It lets you see what they will see.
Keep in mind that most triggers, unlike the 1911 pistol, are on a pivot, so they are a short lever arm. If the shape of your hand and length of your fingers cause your trigger finger to press it up nearer the pivot, the pull will be harder. If you do it down nearer the end of the trigger, it will be lighter. The official determinations only work from the part of the bend in the trigger stirrup that the weight settles in when the muzzle is vertical.
Your finger's perception is affected by the surface area it presses over. A trigger shoe that broadens the trigger will make the pull feel lighter. A smooth rather than serrated trigger stirrup spreads the force more evenly and gives the perception the pull is lighter. More than once I have put a piece of heat shrink tubing over a trigger stirrup—more a trigger sock than shoe—and it smooths the surface and provides a little thermal insulation to stop a metal trigger from chilling the tip of your trigger finger quickly in cold weather.
If you have a two-stage trigger, since human nerve endings sense increasing pressure logarithmically and are typically unable to detect changes smaller than about 10%, if you have a 10 lb two-stage trigger with 9 or more of the pounds in the first stage, it will feel as if there is no distinct break at all. If you can set the first stage to about 2/3 of the total trigger weight, even a 5 lb trigger will feel very manageable and easy to achieve a surprise break with.
Another, indirect factor is the weight of the gun and the position you are shooting from. The harder your hands have to work holding the gun in position, the less sensitive they are to trigger break weight. Many a fellow has got his trigger very light for the bench, where his hands don't apply any serious pressure to the stock, only to find that in a field position he gets a premature discharge, which then gives him a bad case of chicken finger.
I think the earlier advise to avoid anything under about 2 1/2-3 lbs on a sporter weight rifle for the field is good. As a fellow who shoots the 4 1/2 lb. triggers required for service rifle matches and who's had many 1/2 moa groups off the bench with one, I just don't believe trigger pull weight in that range is the overarching big deal some make it out to be. You don't want a very heavy a trigger on a gun that is very light weight. You especially need to avoid trigger overtravel on light guns, but it's not helpful on any. If the trigger breaks cleanly and stops immediately, you shouldn't be surprised to find you can shoot triggers up to 6 lbs or so easily within most field accuracy requirements.
The only trigger I recall I could do nothing at all with was a 9 lb trigger on an inexpensive H&R single-shot in .30-30 that a friend of mine had back in the 80's. It had that very heavy break and a lot of overtravel, so the 9 lb pre-load on the trigger finger really made it slam it into the stop. In a rilfe as light as it was, that slam was fatal to holding position no matter how I angled my trigger finger to keep it pressing straight back. That was a pretty extreme worst-case combination.
I went to a hobby shop that caters to model airplane builders and got a 36" length 3/16" music wire. They stock it for bending into landing struts. I put the rod in a vice to bend it, though I did use a torch to heat it where I wanted the sharper bends at the top and bottom and assisted that bending with a hammer. Basically, its just a right angle at the top to pull the trigger, a dog leg below the butt plate to line it up straight with the trigger, then a hook at the bottom to pick up a plastic milk jug. I also made a Delryn roller for the trigger at the top, but pick up a Nylon spacer at Lowe's if you don't have a lathe and still want the roller? If you don't, a few turns of any kind of tape will protect the trigger finish from the rod.
To use this, I put the rod and an empty milk jug on a kitchen scale and add water to the jug to get the combined desired check weight. Hold the gun muzzle straight up and insert the bend at the top into the middle of the trigger and lift slowly to test pull. To find an unknown pull, add a funnel to the milk jug and slowly pour water in until the trigger lets go. Trickle a little out until you can just pick it up. Weigh the jug and apparatus to learn the trigger weight.
That's all maybe more trouble than you want to go, but it does measure the same way officials at matches normally check for weight limits. It lets you see what they will see.
Keep in mind that most triggers, unlike the 1911 pistol, are on a pivot, so they are a short lever arm. If the shape of your hand and length of your fingers cause your trigger finger to press it up nearer the pivot, the pull will be harder. If you do it down nearer the end of the trigger, it will be lighter. The official determinations only work from the part of the bend in the trigger stirrup that the weight settles in when the muzzle is vertical.
Your finger's perception is affected by the surface area it presses over. A trigger shoe that broadens the trigger will make the pull feel lighter. A smooth rather than serrated trigger stirrup spreads the force more evenly and gives the perception the pull is lighter. More than once I have put a piece of heat shrink tubing over a trigger stirrup—more a trigger sock than shoe—and it smooths the surface and provides a little thermal insulation to stop a metal trigger from chilling the tip of your trigger finger quickly in cold weather.
If you have a two-stage trigger, since human nerve endings sense increasing pressure logarithmically and are typically unable to detect changes smaller than about 10%, if you have a 10 lb two-stage trigger with 9 or more of the pounds in the first stage, it will feel as if there is no distinct break at all. If you can set the first stage to about 2/3 of the total trigger weight, even a 5 lb trigger will feel very manageable and easy to achieve a surprise break with.
Another, indirect factor is the weight of the gun and the position you are shooting from. The harder your hands have to work holding the gun in position, the less sensitive they are to trigger break weight. Many a fellow has got his trigger very light for the bench, where his hands don't apply any serious pressure to the stock, only to find that in a field position he gets a premature discharge, which then gives him a bad case of chicken finger.
I think the earlier advise to avoid anything under about 2 1/2-3 lbs on a sporter weight rifle for the field is good. As a fellow who shoots the 4 1/2 lb. triggers required for service rifle matches and who's had many 1/2 moa groups off the bench with one, I just don't believe trigger pull weight in that range is the overarching big deal some make it out to be. You don't want a very heavy a trigger on a gun that is very light weight. You especially need to avoid trigger overtravel on light guns, but it's not helpful on any. If the trigger breaks cleanly and stops immediately, you shouldn't be surprised to find you can shoot triggers up to 6 lbs or so easily within most field accuracy requirements.
The only trigger I recall I could do nothing at all with was a 9 lb trigger on an inexpensive H&R single-shot in .30-30 that a friend of mine had back in the 80's. It had that very heavy break and a lot of overtravel, so the 9 lb pre-load on the trigger finger really made it slam it into the stop. In a rilfe as light as it was, that slam was fatal to holding position no matter how I angled my trigger finger to keep it pressing straight back. That was a pretty extreme worst-case combination.
thanks, the last thing I want is a trigger that is so light or light enough to be unsafe. I will make sure I am carefully as to the weight I select and it will be tested before a round ever goes in many times.
But as to my question at the start. I have 2 nuts one on each side of the trigger, both with springs under the nuts. Do I loosen the front one and tighten the back one to adjust the trigger pull to a lesser weight? How do I adjust the trigger pull weight is what I need to know now before I start messing with anything.
But as to my question at the start. I have 2 nuts one on each side of the trigger, both with springs under the nuts. Do I loosen the front one and tighten the back one to adjust the trigger pull to a lesser weight? How do I adjust the trigger pull weight is what I need to know now before I start messing with anything.
"...but its a fishing scale..." It'll do. A pound is a pound. However, a 1 lb trigger pull is far too light for a hunting rifle. Bump a 1 lb trigger, lightly, and it'll go bang. Three smooth pounds is dandy.
"...How do I adjust the trigger..." You need the manual for your model of Voere rifle. Go here. http://www.voere.com/html/downloads.html
"...How do I adjust the trigger..." You need the manual for your model of Voere rifle. Go here. http://www.voere.com/html/downloads.html