The Obsession of the Light Trigger

Rick H

Well-Known Member
My Lyman Great Plains Rifle in .54 cal has a 32" bbl, and set triggers. It was a kit gun that I put together. The trigger unset breaks at 5lbs. and when set a touch over a pound (as heavy as I could get it). I have no trouble accessing the trigger with the light gloves I typically wear hunting. (When my hands get cold they go in the muff, yeah I'm a sissy, but it is the best solution I have found for cold hands). I rarely set the trigger.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Now light triggers on target guns? I shot schuetzen for awhile and my Ballard .32-40 has double sets, and my High Wall Special Sporting Rifle has the close coupled double sets. My .308 bolt guns have single stage triggers, one a Timney and the other one has a very sweet trigger and the former owner could not tell me what his smith put in it and his smith has moved away. I have never removed the action from the stock, bad ju-ju is feared.

My new favorite is my Kidd 10-22 with a Kidd two stage trigger that I was told is set at 8 oz./14 oz. I have no idea if that is correct, but I like it for off hand work. If I could just print money like Washington does I'd put two stage triggers in my Bergara B-14 .22 trainer and both of the .308's now.I'd probably go with TT Diamond two stage triggers and have them set at 12oz./12oz. But at 313 dollars a pop I'm just not feeling that financially reckless. Maybe I should sell a bunch of these darned handguns I hardly play with anymore and invest in rifle triggers.

I think I'd set up all my hunting rifles with two stage triggers also. I have a Milazzo MK-II trigger on a Bravo lower that was set by Charlie to be High Power match legal and I think he said it is like 2.25 lbs. for both stages. I shot my last Fall's venison with that and would happily hunt with a trigger like that the rest of my days. I find the take up of a first stage to be very mind focusing if you know what I mean.
 
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jsizemore

Member
Whatever can be hunted in your area. I hunt squirrel to bear.

I used to compete in silhouette like Rick. Daily practice is necessary if you want to shoot high scores. To relax I took up groundhog hunting. Fella I did work for bought a 1500 acre farm. His hobby was buying farms. He leased the hunting and farming rights to locals or friends. The 1500 acres was farmed by a man that also farmed the adjoining 5000 acres. Groundhogs caused problems to his equipment and soybean crop loss. Before no till, groundhogs were abundant. He would let me know where they were and would keep his help off that section so I could do my thing. I only hunted on the weekends because of work and the area being 90 minutes away. When the beans get much over 12" high the groundhogs are hidden. When the beans are 6-12 the critters have a bit more confidence and pop their head up and down to keep an eye for predators. Sight picture is for a short time and a set trigger is a big plus. I had a Cangar with a hair set in the trigger shoe mounted to my Sendero in 25-06. After shooting enough groundhogs to fill up 3 pickup beds, I was pretty sure I could use the set to hunt whatever was in season. The set wasn't engaged till I was in position to shoot. The regular trigger was set to 2 pounds and was great too but wasn't as good as the set especially at 500+ yards.
 

JustJim

Well-Known Member
Never forgot to set any of them, but I was so excited on the first buffalo I forgot to cock that big side hammer, set the rear trigger and slapped the front trigger. Recovering from my private embarrassment, I calmed down and did it right.

Not the first--or the last--person to do that. . . . A fellow once explained to me that he'd broken the sear in a trapdoor trying to fire it from half-cock. I once missed a shot because the Mauser I was using still had the bolt safety (which was on) instead of the side-safety I was used to.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
On a rifle a good, and I mean good, two stage is hard to beat.

My AR for high power competition makes the 4.5# weight bit breaks like nothing else I own. Take up the slack and the actual break is maybe 1.5#.
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
If you can release the trigger and maintain a hold that does not disturb the sight picture until the firearm goes boom, all is good. Preoccupation with trigger pull weights can just be a distraction if not keep in perspective.
/\ I could not state this better.
Thank You Char-Gar.
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
I grew up when handgun actions fit into one of two boxes: single action or double action.
The category of double action included anything that had a double action capability, even if it was predominately shot in single action, like a CZ-75 or a Walther P-38.
That was a nice, well defined world. Then along came Glock. The Glock didn't really fit into either of those two categories. The trigger had a lot of travel and was heavier than a conventional SA trigger but it wasn't really a conventional DA trigger either. It didn't really fit nicely into one of the two "boxes" [SA or DA].

Now, I never hated the Glock but it took me a few years to warm up to the concept. When I finally set aside all of my preconceived notions and just shot the damn thing - I realized that the trigger wasn't all that critical. Yeah, it didn't have that crisp 1911 SA pull but I could score hits with it just as well. The trigger pull just wasn't all that important.

I have shot double action revolvers for as long as I can remember. I rarely place a DA revolver into single action mode. I have a lot of DA revolvers that have absolutely NO single action mode. They are Double Action Only. [DAO]. I have never considered DAO to be an impediment. In fact, I often prefer DAO.

I see people that buy DA revolvers and then never shoot them in double action. Did they just want a single action revolver with a swing out cylinder? Do they want DA capability "just in case" they need it but they never practice in DA?

Char-Gar hit the nail on the head, If you can release the trigger and keep the sights on target - All Is Good.
It's easy to lose perspective.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I shoot my double action revolvers almost exclusively single action.
I like the feel of the revolver and how it shoots, the single/double action nature isn’t really a factor for me.

Ultimately I do what I do because it brings me joy and satisfaction.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I've gone so far as to modify my grip so the left hand operates the gun and the right operates the trigger.
it has caused me a few scars over the years when I 'forget' I'm operating a semi-auto and catch the slide with my left thumb.
but I can 'flip' some lead out of the muzzle of my colt clones, Black Hawk's, or Dan Wesson's pretty quickly if necessary.
 

jsizemore

Member
If you can release the trigger and maintain a hold that does not disturb the sight picture until the firearm goes boom, all is good. Preoccupation with trigger pull weights can just be a distraction if not keep in perspective.
I can't find fault with the shooter's mantra. I can't say I ever met anybody in smallbore rifle silhouette that had a separate standard rifle that didn't shoot it with a lighter trigger. I'm sure there are some exceptions

And like Petrol& Powder said about DA revolvers, why wouldn't you take the time to learn all the capabilities of your firearm.
 

quicksylver

Well-Known Member
LIGHTENED THE SPRINGS ON MY MATCH DA REVOLVERS, AND REVERTED TO USING FED PRIMERS.LOVE DOUBLE STAGE TRIGGERS ON MY MATCH RIFLES, SET AT OR AROUND 2#'SMORE THAN A COUPLE OF MY MATCH SHOT GUNS HAVE, RELEASE TRIGGERS,GREAT IF YOU ARE TRYING TO GET RIDE OF FLINCHES, BUT DON'T LET ANYONE ELSE USE THEM.