Triggers on hunting rifles, how do you like em...

In my opinion, the trigger on the pre-'64 Model 70 Winchester is about ideal. It's simple, easy to adjust and it WON'T freeze up if moisture gets into the inners of the rifle.

Enclosed triggers like the modern multi-lever triggers are fine on the range and "normal" hunting, but not in freezing fog at 11,000 feet in the Rockies.

Less is unsafe on any hunting rifle.

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Utter nonsense.

A trigger is unsafe if it can be jarred off. But I've shot muzzle loaders with set triggers for many a year, with the triggers set down in the ounces range, and no problem.

I've been shooting / hunting with 1.5 lb. triggers for so long that I can't comfortably shoot them much heavier. I guess woman have a lighter touch than some men do, might be that we typically have smaller fingers? My DIL also hunts with a very light trigger on all her rifles.

BG

2.5-3# on a hunting rifle is about right because I might be wearing gloves.
Personally, I would not go below that except on a bench rifle or precision rifle or a varmint rig.

Another vote for smooth. After firing a revolver double action, even a 6 lb. trigger release feels light. I am also one of those crazies who actually prefers a two stage trigger than a one stage. However, if I was firing at distances over 300 yards, I would prefer a lighter trigger than a heavier one. Set triggers are what I would prefer if I was in the field hunting at a distance because it combines safety in carrying with not interfering with accuracy at a distance. My old TC Hawken type repro muzzleloader has a quite nice set trigger on it.

My .308 Ruger compact has maybe a 3 lb, single stage.

Does very well on the range or field. Just KYFFOTFT and use the safety (which I personally think should have been on the LEFT side, not the right!)

That little gun at 100 yards, using Varget and 150 gr SP, will put five strait shots easily inside one inch from a rest. But being a 5-6 lb rifle, off hand I get a solid 8 inch group at 100 yards (good enough, just, for a off hand shot at 100 for deer.)

You need a good trigger if you are gonna shoot off hand folks. Good crisp trigger.

Deaf

3 and clean

I don't mess with trigger pull weights. My rifles range between 2.5 to just under 5 LBS. All but one trigger is glass breaking Crisp, and the one with a hint of creep breaks my at just under 3.5 LBS. I prefer to buy at shops that permit a dry fire test and pick the rifle with the best feeling break. I just hunt big game, not a varmint guy.

Around 3 pounds crisp for hunting and around 1 -1 1/2 pound with over travel stop on my varmint rifles.
Since I no longer shoot in competition, I don't want or need anything lighter.

Steve

My Marlin 45/70 trigger pull is about 5 or 6th one of these day I have to put the happy trail trigger in.

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For me, whether two stage or single, I like a light, crisp break. My favorite out of box triggers are on the Weatherby Vanguard series II rifles. Current production Winchester M70s and Browning X-bolts are also very nice.

Just ordered some Timeny triggers to replace the Rem 700 triggers impacted by Rem recall. For hunting I went with 4 lbs.

Two pounds max on hunting rifles, and about one pound for my varmint rifles. When I had Jewel triggers on my target rifles I had them set at close to four ounces or slightly less, which is about as light as they can be set without jarring off (bolt slam). Now that I've switched to BixN Andy triggers I'm setting at 12-15 grams with no safety problems.

I am a rifleman and appreciate a good trigger. I had a gunsmith take the trigger on my M700 down to 2.5 lbs. It's crisp and predictable, and much better than the 8 lbs pull Remington sold it to me with

I've hunted with the M1A as well. It has a two stage Natty trigger in it that is heavier than the Rem's, at least in the first stage, but is also crisp and consistent.

Even my AK had a decent trigger in it, esp for what it was.

I grew up varminting, and worked under microscopes.
28 oz for me was a deer trigger.

Job change, older, beat up.............28 oz seems pretty light.
But after about 10 rounds on the bench it starts feeling heavy.

I can run a heavier trigger OK, doesn't mean I want to.

FWIW my Savage 99 (1935) is pretty horrible trigger wise.

The Rem bolt rig with the 28 oz trigger..........that was as light as I could repeatably and safely go (pretty hard testing proved it).

Have had some end up lighter, some heavier. That just the last one I put a scale to.

3.5 on my Tikka out of the box. 3 on a Sears 53 (push feed Model 70) breaks like glass I set that one up. Rem 783, 3.5 out of the box. A few rifles all set at 3.5. A Rem 700P set to break like glass a 2. I don't like a field gun you're walking around with to be less than 3, 3.5 unless it's a varmint gun from a set position or hide.

All the 3 pound fans for hunting in the field are exactly why the R700 has a trigger recall. Sure you can make some kind of case for "defective design" but it's been very clear many had light triggers. Racking the rounds thru the chamber to unload it is another risky effort when you close the bolt on a gun with just a three pound trigger.

What is the standard weight - worldwide - on guns carried and used daily in the field traveling over rough terrain, getting dropped, roughly handled, almost never unloaded unless by pulling the trigger? Six - 6 - pounds. MILITARY standard. I am suggesting that anything less is what causes all the ND issues we here about hunting. People are screwing down the weight on their trigger to "race gun" levels and justifying it "because." Reality is that they are simply escalating their own social position as a statement of who they think they are. Apparently, too good to fail. That is NOT the record and certainly more than arguable considering what we suffer from it.

Keep that target trigger on a bench or range gun, use a common sense weight in the field where you are working ground overland and things aren't a mowed flat grassy slope. I realize I'm in a minority here - but then again, I've been hunting with military sporting rifles since 1976 with an HK 91 as my first deer rifle. A six to eight pound trigger doesn't stop them from being hit. It does stop me and my hunting companions from risking ND's from light target triggers in the field.

We make way too much of having light triggers as if they are required - when in reality, they aren't, and our results would be the same taking game. It's simply a matter of practice and getting used to it. Plenty of marksmen shoot Service Rifle or qualify with NY weight Glock triggers and do just fine.

Just for the record, the Army's latest sniper rifle has a preset non adjustable trigger and the operator just has to get used to it. Nobody is complaining much about it. They do just fine with them.

I like my Mod 70 FWTs trigger set at 3#; I like Timneys and Shilen triggers. I do well with 2.5 to 3, I used to go lower but my older, stiffer fingers let a few go before I was ready, ha. I like a set trigger for targets/varminting, but I want that unset stage around 3. My old BAR 270 has a crisp 3# from the factory. I like single stage ( though have used many two stage through the years) and I want that proverbial "break like a glass rod" feel. I can't stand creep or a spongey trigger. To me, nothing worse than a beautiful rifle with a horrible trigger!

I guess I'm with most here when I say I like them between three and four pounds. But the deal killer for me is overtravel. I'll take a heavier trigger with no overtravel rather than a lighter trigger with overtravel. I don't like take-up, but seem to manage it far better than overtravel.

I like 3# if its crisp and smooth. I usually run around 1# on my varmint rifles and under 2oz on my bench gun. 1# takes some getting used to, 2oz takes a lot of getting used to.