1 LB trigger OK for sporting gun?

[rajb123]

I just modified a CZ 455 22lr sporting bolt action rifle to reduce the trigger creep and install a smaller trigger spring.

The trigger pull came out really light and it is now about a 1 lb pull. I did several bump tests and the rifle does not go click.

I will use this to punch papper and occasionally for hunting.

I think it is safe but I need some other views. Is this a dumb idea and should I put a bigger trigger spring in the rig?

 

[joed]

That's awful light, I generally go for 2 lb on target and varmint rifles. Hunting rifles see about 3 lbs.

 

[Sensai]

1 lb is a little on the light side for walking around. That's target/varmint range.

 

[chrome_austex]

I installed a YoDave kit on my 452, and it was failing my bump test for all but the heaviest of the included springs.

My bump test is a drop on the buttplate from about 2-3 feet. If my gun discharges when falling off a table, I think thats bad for a sporting gun.

 

[rcmodel]

I agree 1 pound is too light for any hunting rifle except a dedicated varmint rig you will single load and shoot off a bench or rest.

You can't even feel a 1 pound trigger with cold numb fingers, or even warm fingers with gloves on!

rc

 

[Maverick223]

Too light for my taste. I like about 2lbs for a rimfire or varmint rifle or 3lbs+ for a centerfire big game rifle. I like my dedicated target rifles to be about as light as possible.

 

[grilledcheese]

The only sporting activity I could participate in with a 1 pound trigger would be the wildly popular sport of Shooting Myself In The Foot.

But then I was never much into sports...



Jeffrey

 

[kwelz]

Way to light to even consider.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Yes, that is too light for a hunting rifle and it is well into the realm where it will be considered a "hair trigger" in terms of legal liability.

 

[Geno]

All of my hunting rifles have Timney 1.5 pound triggers. My Rem 700 Police in .308 Win has a 4-ounce trigger, but that is for varmint and target. If I were to use it for deer, I do have an extra Timney 1.5 pound trigger for it as well. It takes me a total of about 5 minutes to do a switch-out. For me, this is the weight to which I am accustomed. I absolutely never touch the trigger until I am on the desired target, and am certain of my intent to fire.

Geno

 

[murf]

i vote - too light for hunting. 2.5lbs. minimum for me. more important to me is the quality of the pull: take-up, break and overtravel. fwiw

murf

 

[firearmnut]

ya to light i like about 4-5 for a hunting gun.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Too light for a field gun. I take varmint rifles and target rifles that low (and lower), but my hunting rifles are 3-5#

 

[Doug b]

I agree 3lbs.pull for a hunting rifle.

 

[Davek1977]

a three lb trigger would be much safer, IMO, and wouldn't have a detrimental affect on accuracy. One lb is just too light for most people to be comfortable with. I like to squeeze my triggers, not simply blow on them!

 

[dnthmn]

I would stay 3+ lbs for a field gun. Too easy for an AD any lighter.

 

[StrawHat]

I prefer heavier trigger pulls on all my firearms. If the firearm can not hang from the trigger without releasing, it is too light for me. I also like a clean break, the proverbial "like a glass rod breaking", as it makes the trigger pull seem lighter and much more manageable.

 

[mljdeckard]

I set to 3 lbs for pretty much everything.

 

[taliv]

imho, field guns should be >3.5 lbs and preferably over 4.5 lbs.
guns you shoot off a bench can be whatever you like.

however, generally, light triggers just mask poor shooting technique and position. If your position and technique is good, you can shoot fine with a heavy trigger, even 6 pound creepy AR trigger. Some disciplines force this, like CMP/NRA High Power Service Rifle.

 

[Tirod]

I'm building an AR for hunting use, and installing an overtravel screw did more for the trigger than lightening it.

Pull weight is just one factor of a good trigger. Too many focus on having a light trigger because it's supposedly able to make the shooter more accurate. I don't see how if they still wobble all over the target, have a poor sight picture, or the travel is excessively long and gritty.

Install an overtravel screw, the pull becomes short, the actual sear engagement surface is what you then deal with. And a light pull weight means little - if you aren't keeping the sights on target with a 6 pound trigger, something else is wrong. Stop pulling it sideways. Also note carefully, most of the great triggers out there are travel limited. Very few don't have that screw adjustment.

In a hunting or combat rifle, most guns only need 2MOA, that covers a 8" circle at 400 yards. Medium game won't just stand still and let you blast away very often, you get the rifle up, target it, and PULL. That gentle squeezing stuff for high scores on a target is NOT a fast fire technique that gets lead on flesh. Target practice helps develop good technique, but slacking off for a second to get a few inches incrementally better isn't always an option. Save it for prairie dogs and antelope.

Point of reference, the military uses 2-4 MOA red dots for fast acquisition. Target scopes keep the cross hairs thin and the magnification up. Two completely different jobs.

That's why using target gun features and techniques on a hunting gun make them a cross breed not really optimum at either. But, sometimes it's all you got.

 

[Art Eatman]

rajb123, passing the bump test with a one-pound trigger sounds like a lot of luck, to me. One of those "all the time, every time?" deals. Since I don't really see a problem with trigger pulls around three pounds, I tend to go along with that general consensus that's come about from many decades of experience.

It's less about one's ability to shoot the danged thing than it is about the occasional Oopsie that causes the dreaded Negligent Discharge.

 

[kwelz]

One thing I am curious on and I mean no offense here. But I wonder how many people talking about 1 and 2 pound triggers have ever actually put a scale on the trigger to find out. I dont' think people have any idea how light 1# really is.

 

[Art Eatman]

Dunno 'bout the rest of the world, kwelz, but one of the items that's important in my collection of tools is a little spring scale for just that very purpose.

An imaginative fella could make a fishhook from a piece of coat hanger. Some string. And butter comes in one-pound blocks, right?

 

[MachIVshooter]

however, generally, light triggers just mask poor shooting technique and position. If your position and technique is good, you can shoot fine with a heavy trigger, even 6 pound creepy AR trigger. Some disciplines force this, like CMP/NRA High Power Service Rifle.

I would agree that generally it is not that difficult to shoot well with a heavy trigger.

That said, when I'm trying to hold on a 3 pound praire rat that is 5 or more football fields away, I'd rather be focusing more on everything else than trigger control. My Ruger M-77 .220 is actually at 3 lbs 2 oz, but my 700 LVSF is down to 1 lb 3 oz, and the Howa .223 I had before it was at 9.6 ounces. That rifle shot very well.

 

[CraigC]

I'm gonna buck the crowd and say that it depends on you. Safety is between the ears and as long as YOU can operate it safely and YOU are accustomed to the trigger and that anyone else who picks up the rifle will be warned about its trigger, you are okay. That said, I prefer mine around 2lbs, even for handguns. I do have a lovely custom 10/22 with a 14oz KIDD trigger that sees field use but it's a two-stage. Yes, I have a scale.