Triggers: How light is 1.5oz?

My rule of thumb for my collection is 4.5lbs for hunting and self defense rifles (and pistols), 2lbs for semiautomatic target weapons. The only rifles in my collection that have lighter triggers are benchrest-only rifles and those have 2-stage triggers.
 
[QUOTEI have found that super light triggers don't necessarily improve my target scores. I'll take a 1.5 pound trigger with a crisp, consistant, creep free release and zero backlash over a crappy 1.5 ounce trigger any day.][/QUOTE]

How does one come up with a "crappy" 1.5oz trigger?? Inquiring minds want to know! :cool:
 
I think I may be one of the only Shooters that likes a heavy two stage trigger. The Super Light trigers that I have tried in the past cause me to miss more than a slow deliberate trigger. I really like all the take up, that most shooters complain about. I cringe when I think about anyone taking a file to a trigger or modifying it in any way.
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Heh! I cringed when I read your post! :eek:
 
How does one come up with a "crappy" 1.5oz trigger?? Inquiring minds want to know!
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Lots of travel before release, lots of travel after release, breaks at 1.3 ounces one time and 1.8 ounces the next.
I have shot muzzleloaders with cheap double set triggers and they don't help your scores, in spite of only needing ounces of force to release.
In fact, often when you reduce trigger pull weight, the creep becomes even more noticable.
There's more to a quality trigger than low release force.
 
I like lighter triggers on some of my guns, but have also come to realize that a crisp 5 lb. trigger beats the heck out of a crappy squishy 3 lb. trigger.

I got a chance to shoot some "flashlight trigger" guns. They were all bench guns and never had a problem with them. I never attempted to put my fingers anywhere near the trigger before the gun was lined up and once inside the guard, to touch nothing but the trigger - great shots every time (of course combined with custom reloading, no wind, and proper instruction).

Made me a believer in never wanting to compete in benchrest rifles.
 
smile

A couple of the posts here jogged my memory concerning trigger pull weights....I used to shoot "Free Pistol" mathes out at Wilkes-Barre Rifle and Pistol Club. That is a 60 shot, two hour event....all of it with a handgun that has a two ounce trigger.
As shooters finished the Free Pistol
event, they were (if they wished) "infiltrated" into a similar event for air pistols that was taking place in a shed near to the pistol range. Air pistols routinely have 17 ounce triggers. As light as that is, after shooting the Free pistols, it felt like a a ten pound trigger and breaking shots properly was a chore.
Pete
 
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breaks at 1.3 ounces one time and 1.8 ounces the next.
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I'm not being argumentative, and understand the point of yor post, but can you really feel the difference in 1.3 oz. and 1.8 oz in a trigger?
 
I'm not being argumentative, and understand the point of yor post, but can you really feel the difference in 1.3 oz. and 1.8 oz in a trigger?
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Once your subconscious mind gets accustomed to a 1.5 ounce trigger, yes you can. A loaded 12 gauge shell weighs about 1.5 ounce for a point of reference.
 
The trigger on my stock Sako is about 5 pounds and it breaks like you are breaking a thin glass tube. I can hit anything with that rifle.
 
You might be able to set off a 1.5 gram trigger by blowing on it real hard but you would have to blow a lot harder than I can to put 1.5 ounces of force on a trigger.
1.5 ounces is about the weight of a standard 12 gauge shotgun shell.
 
I just took an empty printer cartridge that weighs 3.5 oz, set it on the edge of my desk and blew hard. It moved 12" before it was stopped by a stack of papers. I think you'd be surprised how much force can be exerted with lung power.

Mike
 
The difference is the printer cartridge has a much larger surface area on which your breath can act, compared to a shorter, narrower trigger.

When you're talking about pressure, it's all about surface area. A pressure difference of one pound per square inch doesn't sound like much, but if you're talking about the pressure difference between two sides of a closed door, a one psi difference means that there's about 2,000 pounds of force acting on the higher-pressure side of the door.
 
The narrow end of a 9V transistor radio battery. 1.5 oz. Moved 9 inches. I'm sure a reasonable healthy person can trip a 1.5 oz trigger just by blowing on it.
 
Perhaps, but I still don't think those are very good tests. First off, an object's weight isn't the same as the amount of force required to move it. I can push a 3,000 pound car with very little trouble, because the force required to get it moving is nowhere near equal to the weight of the car.

In other words, to move a 3.5 ounce printer cartridge across a desk requires less than 3.5 ounces of force. A better test would be to see if you can *suspend* a 1.5 ounce object the size and shape of a trigger with your breath. Perhaps put it in a paper towel tube so the air is free to move around it, but you don't have to worry about the object going off to the side while you're blowing.

Then there's the issue of the *length* of the trigger pull. While a quick "huff" of air might exert 1.5 ounces of force across the surface of the trigger, will you be able to maintain that pressure throughout the length of the trigger pull?
 
I call them suicide triggers, If loaded and ready to fire an abrupt movement can set it off or something as innocuous as raising the barrel up and putting the stock down on the floor or table. I tried to fire a friends gun with a claimed 2 oz, trigger but just handling the stock getting it into my shoulder set it off, He laughed, I didn't because I have no idea where that bullet went.
 
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