PSE TAC 15 and 15i - Installing a Timney Trigger System

[jon.henry755]

The following process outlines the simple steps to installing a competition, single stage trigger in the PSE TAC series crossbows.

These triggers can be ordered in 3lb., 3.5lb. or 4lb. trigger pulls and are very crisp with no creep.

I personally use and recommend the AR-15, 3lb. Timney trigger system with the TAC 15i crossbow, but all of Timneys Triggers are excellent and have been used extensively by desiring rifle shooters for years. Once you shoot your crossbow with one of these triggers, you'll never be able to go back to a stock trigger again.

This process should take no more than about 20 minutes of your time and requires No Gunsmithing or Special Tools.

I'm including a link to a AR-15 Trigger Install Video produced by Timney. I think you may find this helpful, but please remember that it won't fully cover the TAC 15i trigger installation. This is due to the fact that the 15i is a sudo AR-15 frame, so there are some differences from an actual AR-15. They are explained in the process that follows.

http://www.timneytriggers.com/Installations/AR15/index.html

Step 1 - Before attempting any installation, point the TAC 15 in a safe direction and insure it's unloaded.

Step 2A - TAC15 - You must push out the receiver pins, using a punch, nail or ice pic, so you can separate the upper and lower receivers.

Step 2B - TAC15i - On a TAC15i Step 2 is performed by removing the (6) Hex screws (3 on either side of the lower frame along the hand grip and trigger areas of the stock).

Step 3 - Back out the hand-grip Hex Screw, located inside the hand-grip. On the TAC15i this is done by first sliding the rubber hand-grip bottom plate off the base of the hand-grip to open the grip bottom. Then, using a long handled hex wrench remove the threaded hex screw that secures the handle. Once it's lose, there is a small spring and safety plunger (pin) on the side of the hand-grip, make sure you don't lose them when you take the grip off. Put these aside for reassembly later.

Step 4 - Using a thin punch or nail, if necessary, poke out the hammer and trigger pins. Save these for reassembly later.

Step 5 - Take out the "Safety Selector". Save it for reassembly later.

Step 6A - On a TAC15 the trigger assembly can now be lifted out and the receiver should be completely open and empty.

Step 6B - On a TAC15i there's a steel pin located across the top of the trigger assembly, directly over the trigger assembly. This is a uni-directional pin and must be removed using a hammer and punch. It must be punched out in the direction of the side the Safety Selector Switch is on (this is also the side that has the words "Fire" and "Safe" imprinted on the frame). Once this pin has been removed, the trigger assembly can easily be removed. This pin must be retained for re-assembly.

Note - All of the removed parts, except the trigger assembly will be needed
during re-assembly.

Step 7 - Insert the new Timney Trigger Assembly by placing it in the open receiver cavity. Insert the "Safety Selector" in the receiver and line up the receiver pin holes with the Timney Trigger pin bushings. Inset the original trigger pins through the receiver into the pin bushings and slide them in until they're flush with the sides of the receiver. (They should push in easily and feel lose, this is normal).

Step 8 - Pull the trigger while holding the hammer (to keep it from smacking the receiver or receiver pin. Using the enclosed hex wrench, tighten the hex screws in the gold colored trigger housing. You may need to use a small screwdriver to push the spring pins on the trigger aside so you can get at the hex screws in the trigger assembly. Tighten both of the hex screws, then go back and snug them once more. (Make sure these are very snug or the mounting pins could fall out).

Step 9 - Next, insert the 2 additional hex screws, enclosed in the small plastic package that came with your Timney Trigger, on top of the 2 set screws you just tightened. These two hex screws are used to lock the housing screws tightly in place.

Step 10A - Load the trigger assembly by pushing it into the cocked position.

Step 10B - On a TAC15i, after loading the trigger assembly, replace the steel frame pin located above the trigger assembly, in the receiver. Use a hammer and punch to insert this pin from the side of the frame the "Safety Selector" is located on and hammer it until it's just slightly above flush with the frame.

Step 11 - Turn the receiver up side down and reinstall the Safety Plunger, Small Spring and Hand Grip.

Step 12 - On the TAC15i, replace the (6) Hex screws (3 on either side of the lower frame along the hand grip and trigger areas of the stock).

Congratulations, your new trigger assembly is now complete and ready for use.

While you have your trigger assembly open and exposed, I would suggest it might be a good idea to also install some silencing and vibration dampening elements to quiet down the operation of the TAC 15 or 15i . I'll cover these components and steps in a separate article within this forum.

Tight groups and good shooting,

Jon Henry

 

[Len Backus]

After having had several in-depth phone calls with Jon prior to his TAC 15i purchase, I am totally unsurprised at the quality of technical writing this article represents.

Thank you so much for your contribution, Jon. This is lots of fun for me because the TAC 15/a5i is my pet, personal hunting equipment project. It is a personal mission for me to help share tech info with the growing TAC 15 world of users out there.

Here is a picture of the Timney modular AR15 trigger that Jon bought from me and used in the article above. The after-market, Timney Modular AR15 trigger can be bought here at the LRH Gear Shop.

 

[jon.henry755]

You are very welcome Len and thank you for the wealth of information you've been supplying to me and all the other TAC15 owners.

This is by far the most accurate crossbow in the industry for medium and long range shooting. There is still a god deal of undocumented information about these units and if we collectively continue publishing our findings everybody will end up with the information necessary to take their shooting performance to the next level.

Jon

 

[Nick559]

He mentioned some noise reduction devices while he had the upper and lower assembly apart in his article. I figured one might be an Accuwedge but what else was he referring too?

Thanks

 

[jon.henry755]

Specifically, on the TAC 15i I mentioned there is a steel pin above the trigger assembly in the frame of the crossbow. This pin acts as a hammer stop or hammer block each time you pull the trigger. I stated it was a uni-directional pin when it comes to removing or re-installing it.

This pin makes a considerable amount of noise each time you pull the trigger and the hammer strikes. It sends the noise and vibration through the frame of the lower unit.

There are two things I would suggest doing to help silence this noise and vibration to a minimum, they are listed below:

1. Remove the hammer stop pin as specified in the Timney Trigger installation instructions associated with this thread.

Then take a small piece of rubber tubing (such as that used in archery to connect your peep site to your bow limb. I believe it's called a "shurz-a-peep".) One inch of tubing is plenty. Slide this over the pin while reinserting the pin back onto the crossbow frame and re-seat the pin with the rubber now across the inside spread of the pin. This is easiest if you add a drop of silicon to the pin before placing the tubing over it and insures that the pin can easily be removed in the future, if you decide to disassemble the crossbow again.

2. Observe the place where the hammer makes contact with this pin. This can be done by pulling the trigger multiple times and reloading the hammer each time. Once you have this contact point marked, you can cut a half inch wide by one and a half inch long strip of self stick mole skin or felt or thin rubber to cover this contact point. I used a soft piece of moleskin, but I'm sure any of the other materials would produce similar results.

If placed in the correct spots, you'll be amazed at how much noise and sound this removes from the crossbow.

Once complete, reassemble your crossbow as before.

To this, I've added the more common Limbsavers specifically for crossbows. The only difference in my application was that I purchased some "Scotch" brand, double sided Foam Mounting Squares and cut them to the exact size and shape as the Limb Savers. I applied these to both the inner and outer Limb Saver pieces and then tightened each one using the supplied Hex Screw. This was to prevent the possibility of movement or slippage during shooting.

Follow this with a pair of typical string leeches and that should reduce your noise and vibration by about 80 per cent or more.

I don't suggest that this is the only way to silence down these components, but I do know it's a good start and I would like to hear other ideas and suggestions from other members who have had the time to do some of this work.

Please let me know if you have any questions or any other comments that might prove helpful to other members.

Straight Shooting,

Jon

 

[jon.henry755]

Nick559,
What is an Accuwedge and how is it used?

Jon Henry

 

[Len Backus]

Accu Wedge

 

[jon.henry755]

Hi Len,
Thanks for the great article on the "Accuwedge".

As you know, there are a few major differences between the TAC 15 and the TAC 15i.

Another one for the record is the fact that the TAC 15i is a proprietary AR-15 lower, which means that it uses the (6) hex screws, (3 on each side of the frame), to hold the upper and lower units together. This provides a much tighter connection and would eliminate the movement and play between the two sections that the "Accuwedge" is designed to fix.

I can't produce a good article on how best to silence down the TAC15, due to the fact that I only own the 15i and therefore have solid working knowledge of all components on the 15i.

I'd image there are also many similarities that can be taken from one and applied to the other, but just like I expressed in the Timney trigger installation, there are definite differences in the two.

We need the expertise and input from some of the AR-15 TAC15 owners to fill in the missing gaps in this section.

I hope we've provided a good start.

Regards,

Jon

 

[LawShark]

I'm using a punch to remove the steel bar from my 2013 Elite and its not moving at all! Help!!

 

[LawShark]

Got it. That was a hard pin to remove.

 

[Twanger]

I did this upgrade. Works great.
As they say... read all the directions first before you start.

There is a safety spring that could fly off into outer space if you're not careful.

I was not careful, but managed not to lose it.

I got the 3.5lb trigger and would recommend going to the 3.0lb.

 

[LawShark]

The trigger is a huge upgrade over stock.

 

[Chyhunting]

Just picked up my Elite two days ago. I had a slight problem right out of the box. The ratchet for the crank gear was not engaging. Just a little tight machine tolerance was the problem. A drop of oil and working the lever back and forth for a while finally freed it up. I am simply amazed at the precision of this bow. Both in quality and performance. I was wondering, does the trigger upgrade really make that much difference? The factory trigger seems fine to me but I'm always up for improvement. Also I have sighted in my top crosshair for 20 yds.(with the factory scope). Which then I noticed that the second crosshair is already zeroed at 30 yds. and the 3rd crosshair is zeroed at 40 yds. I havent had the chance or a place to shoot farther than that yet. Does this continue down the scope? I mean once you zero the top crosshair for 20 yds. is the scope already designed to be zeroed in 10 yd. increments moving down the crosshairs??

 

[Twanger]

With my scope set on 4X and the crosshair zero'd at 20 yards the next dot down is 30, and the next 40.
I'm shooting a Hawke 2-7x30 with illuminated Mil-Dot reticle.

The stock trigger on the Tac15 was a standard 8lb AR-15 monstrosity. While you can grunt your way through good groups at the range, it is a poor choice for hunting.
The Timney small pin, 3.0lb is the bees knees.