Why trigger adj. screw varies between guns?

[HowlinMadMartin]

Hello, thanks for your time. I have noticed a wide range of adjustments when it comes to the length of the adjustment screw in adjustable triggers on 1911s. On some guns you can barely see any of the screw sticking out (looking from the side). Others may have what seems like all of the screw sticking out. Just wondering if this was an indication of anything or nothing to worry about. I would have thought that they should be somewhat similar from gun to gun within one manufacturer. Thank you for your time.

 

[rcmodel]

The over-travel screw in a 1911 trigger bears on the mag release in the frame.

Any variation in the mag release hole location, or trigger bow length among various trigger's makes it contact the mag release at a different setting.

If every trigger bow & frame & hammer & sear & disconnecter were the exact same specs, exactly?
There would never have been no need atall for a trigger over-travel adjustment screw to be invented.

And of course, nothing at all says every gun you looked at were adjusted for minimum over-travel at the factory correctly in the first place.

All that screw does on a 1911 is stop the trigger movement at the instant the sear releases the hammer.
Nothing more.

So different parts on different guns = different over-travel stop adjustments.

rc

 

[twofifty]

some overtravel good?

rc, would you agree there is an accuracy benefit to having some overtravel beyond the point of sear release?

Am thinking that if the triggerpress ends abruptly against the overtravel adjustment screw right after sear release, the force it took to break the shot gets spent into the frame. This could pull the gun off aim before the bullet leaves the muzzle.

 

[rcmodel]

Actually for a strictly target gun, I wouldn't agree.

When I gunsmithed for 5th. Army AMU years ago, we set them up with zero over-travel.

The top shooters scores would drop if we set one of thier guns up with too much.

When you think it through, at the moment the trigger breaks, say you are applying 4 pounds of pressure.
So the trigger breaks, the hammer starts to fall, and you are still holding the same 4 pounds of pressure against the stop. The gun didn't move.

If there is over-travel, the trigger breaks, your 4 pounds resistence is suddenly gone, and your finger gets a little running start & acceleration before bottoming out and moving the gun.

For a combat or carry pistol, I do set them up looser with some over-travel, just for worse case reliability.
Say a speck of dirt or powder gets between the "zero over-travel" adjusted screw and the mag release, and stops the trigger before it can trip the sear??

rc

 

[1911art]

"Am thinking that if the triggerpress ends abruptly against the overtravel adjustment screw right after sear release, the force it took to break the shot gets spent into the frame. This could pull the gun off aim before the bullet leaves the muzzle. "

I've seen that discussed on some of the forums but haven't been able to observe that myself. I shoot bullseye and have several very accurate bullseye guns. At a bullseye clinic this summer I asked Brian Zins about this and he didn't think it was a big issue.

When I set up a trigger on a bullseye gun I just make sure the hammer clears the sear and just a "smidge" more. That usually gives a minimum amount of overtravel and protects the sear from rubbing on the hammer.

On carry guns I adjust for a bit more overtravel with the intention of increasing reliability similar to what RC described.

I also use blue loctite on the screw threads to keep the screw from moving.

 

[twofifty]

thank you