GOOD TRIGGER WEIGHT FOR A HUNTING RIFLE?

hera200 said:

X47guy, I had just the day before retrieved the malfunctioning rifle from from a local well known gunsmith who installed the new Timney trigger and mounted a new scope I purchased from him. You just assumed that I had been responsible without asking the circumstances? I also had fired 10 rounds earlier on the day of the hunt to be sure all was functioning correctly. It seemed OK except for the light trigger pull which I would have later corrected myself. In fact, both the trigger installation and scope mounting are operations I would always see to myself. In the interests of time I decided to let an expert handle the job. All that was done eventually was to put a REASONABLE TRIGGER PULL on the trigger. Getting too light is only asking for possible failure (no matter whose fault) and I play the odds in everything I do---particularly where safety is concerned.

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I can promise you that if you slammed your bolt, the firing pin would have fell. I back my trigger off, lightly close the bolt, and it is normal. I can run the bolt, slam it, and the firing pin will fall. I can hit the side of my stock and hear it fall. I can bump test it and hear it fall. When it pass those test, it is safe to me. There are several ways to check to see if your trigger is safe. You obviously didn't. Glad no one was hurt. No need to get ****y over your or your gunsmiths mistake.

I am glad to see that a great many hunters are using lighten triggers. I was surprised several week ago that how many like heavy trigger pulls. Going the range and using a lighten trigger pull should get you over the problem of fingering the trigger while setting up to shot. It's not a toy, but a piece of equipment, if use correctly will due the job it was built for.

Mike
SSS

I think there's something to be said about what type of hunting your doing here. Sitting in a stand waiting for a deer to come is much different than spot and stalk hunting here out west. I like around 2lbs. Still heavy enough to feel while my hands are frozen. Still light enough to shoot at elk or deer at 100 yards when your hiking up a mnt. and still plenty good for prone at longer distance.

My rifles vary from 1lb-4oz to 6lb-6oz (the latter a factory AR trigger that I haven[t bothered to replace yet).

For hunting I don't like anything less than about 2-1/4lbs. Most of mine are between that and 4lbs.

More important than pull weight, to me, is the overall feel. Creep and gritty and lighter are far worse than crisp and smooth and heavier.

Measuring my new 6.5 PRC Browning X-Bolt Pro with a Wheeler digital gauge I get 2 lbs. 7 oz. to 2 lbs. 9 oz.
Others with this rifle get over 3 lbs. Maybe Browning has changed the spring in the trigger group since they bought their rifles.

Eric B.

Coyote_Hunter said:

My rifles vary from 1lb-4oz to 6lb-6oz (the latter a factory AR trigger that I haven[t bothered to replace yet).

For hunting I don't like anything less than about 2-1/4lbs. Most of mine are between that and 4lbs.

More important than pull weight, to me, is the overall feel. Creep and gritty and lighter are far worse than crisp and smooth and heavier.

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How 'bout a light trigger that breaks like glass?

Rich Coyle said:

Why?

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Maybe it would better to say "I wouldn't want"

floyd kittrell said:

1 # hunting and 12 oz. Target . Jewell triggers however , NO gloves allowed , only glomits for hunting !

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THANK YOU Floyd! Me2
I had an unplanned discharge as I neutralized my rifle after downing a bull several years ago. It scares me to this day. It happened because--for the first time in over 50 years of hunting my right hand was in a glove with an armed rifle. I hadn't been out of the tent more than five minutes and just inside the trail off the Koyukuk when the bull moseyed towards me nibbling here and there. I was pinned and what good fortune to be so close to camp and the river. Chambering a round everything came down to slow, deliberate and dead. When I shoot an animal I intend to kill and eat that animal; as long as there's movement my rifle speaks... The only time my rifle is armed--chambered round--is when I'm the lead or I'm alone. And although I was alone I hadn't armed the rifle yet, even watching the moose coming to me I wasn't in any rush. Shortening this up: he's down and dead and I'm disarming the muzzle skyward rifle when it fired. The buckskin shooting glove I had on my right hand touched the trigger...

Hair trigger? My reasoning is consistency, consistency, it's all about consistency. Repeatability. Call it what you want. In all but one of my rifles the trigger pull is the same--by measurement. Barehanded. Cheekweld, eyebox and so on, all are mandated for accuracy without which "ain't nun." It was inconsistency that fired the rifle.

1.5 # for bench and 2 1/4# for all the rest!

I'd say think about the temps you might be hunting in. I was hunting antelope in wind chills of -10 last Oct. I sat for 30 minutes waiting for the right shot on one particular buck. My finger was so cold, I had to look where my finger was as I placed it on the trigger. 2.5lbs is my minimum...

Rich Coyle said:

Why?

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Because of the likelihood of unintended consequences.

You want absolute control with a DG rifle because on a charge your chances of getting more than one shot are slim. If you accidentally let that one round go before the exact right moment there's a good chance you won't live long enough to get another and all of this will be happening under the most stressful circumstances of your life.

Rich Coyle said:

How 'bout a light trigger that breaks like glass?

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They are great. Still don't like too light on my hunting rifles - and ALL my rifles are hunting rifles first. Some are pretty fine target rifles second.

aushunter1 said:

2-3lbs is my preference, any lighter & you start getting into dangerous territory imo.
If you get a set trigger then you get the best of both worlds if you want to shoot off the bench.

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I agree and feel that the 2 -2 1/2 lbs of trigger lull is just about right for my rifles that I use for hunting. My 300 and 338 rifles are set at the heaver end. My target rifles are set at 3/4 - 1 lb of trigger pull (depending on which rifle) and I feel very comfortable with these figures.

Crazy the ave trigger weight is 2 lbs. as high as 4. I've been curious for awhile what people were running for trigger weight. I'm a long range hunter and couldn't imagine a trigger as heavy as a pound. I run 8oz and was thinking about going lighter. Most my shots are prone and I don't load my rifle till it's go time. I understand the safety factor. A kid is a different story obviously.
Great thread. Surprising!