cva optima rifle trigger assembly

slugg45-120

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Jan 29, 2008
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fulton co pa
hi
anyone out there had any experience with disassembly & reassembly of the trigger assy, have done a lot of similar triggers in my time but this is one which must require some special jig or a wizard ,that craws out of the receiver once its done.:rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Trigger work

Yep, back when I had my Optima, I took the trigger apart to adjust that 10# pull down to something manageable. Never did get it back together. Sent it back to the factory with $10.00 and they sent me back a real nice 2.5# setting on the assembly. Yes you need a special jig to get that assembly back together.
I would call them and tell them you took it apart and could not get it back together and see what they say BEFORE you take it apart! I don't know if CVA will work the trigger if you just ask, maybe thing have changed since I had my Optima.
I now have the Kodiak Pro. You can adjust (rework, there are no screws) the trigger yourself and it shoots alot better than the Optima under 3" at 200. Good Luck!
 
cva trigger assembly( response )

well guys i'am responding to my own post.
don't claim to be the wizard i mentioned in my original post but quess what ,the cva opitima is back together with a nice 2 1/2 pull .thanks to my many years of experience and there is a trick to the reassembly which i figured out on my own after 2 hours of attemps but unless you have extensive knowledge in gun repair you better not attempt this one. by the way i called cva asking for advise or an exploded view of the trigger and all i got was a sarcastic rep which practically hung the phone up on me. not good for there product sales. from what i understand they do not sell any parts or support any type of outside repair. whats the deal ???
 
I know this thread is old but, heres a tip. You need 3 pieces of round stock the same dia as the pins that were driven out of the reciever. Wood works the best, I used the ends of detail paintbrushes. Cut these just wide enough to hold the assemblies together while slipping them into the reciever. Start with the breakopen lever. If your model has the plastic knob on the end loosen the set screw to remove it. Slide into reciever till the hole lines up and push the real pin through it will push the temp wood pin out the other side. Install the hammer and spring next. No wood is needed for this. Now with temp wooden pin holding trigger assembly together, push assembly into reciever, while holding hammer at full cock helps. When holes line up push steel pin through.

Clear as mud but each step makes sense while doing it. I once used round wooden toothpicks with 3pieces in each hole.

I hate to rain on ol Sluggo's parade, but I really do have years of experience. If he had, he wouldn't have had to ask in the first place. Then not to offer any info in the end to help forum members out, yeah right.

CVA now wants 35.00 to do this, as I was told by the last person who came to me. Good Luck, hope this helps
 
This thread is even older now, but I figure I have something to add for anyone searching for info on a Stalker trigger job. After all, that's how I found this thread a couple of months ago before I started to tinker with my 270 Win Stalker.

First, I'll address the heavy trigger, which this thread is about. My trigger must've been around 6 or 7 lbs. and I couldn't deal with it. When I managed to call my shot good, the accuracy seemed quite good from prone with a sling (about 1" groups @ 100 yards) but I couldn't drop the hammer when I wanted to with the heavy "wait for it....wait for it" pull. I removed the cocking extension and the trigger guard/trigger and hammer pins. I didn't have to remove the action latch pin or plastic finger protector to drop the parts out the bottom. I polished the trigger sear and hammer notch surfaces and put it back together, but it only dropped the pull a pound or so, based on my non-weights and measures approved finger calibration.

I pulled the hammer and trigger out again and went to work on the sear surfaces with my mill. The surfaces were not even close to parallel so I matched them up and also angled the surfaces about 20 degrees from the original hammer notch sear angle and stoned and polished them afterwards. It turns out that I would've probably been better off to just get the trigger sear surface parallel with the hammer notch surface, because the trigger is a bit lighter than I'd prefer (about 1.5 lbs.) It still has no creep and releases crisply but I would've preferred somewhere around 2-3 lbs. of pull. At least it's a break action single shot that only gets cocked when the crosshairs are on the target so I don't feel it is unsafe for hunting, though it's probably best to remove a cold weather glove from the trigger hand. Someday I'll buy a trigger pull gage and see what the pull really is.

My plastic molded sling "stud" broke so I sanded it off with a belt sander and put a Mike's swivel stud in its place. I also modified two Bergara Optima Elite barrels to fit the action--one in .30-06 and one 12 ga. I only had to mill the "tang" area of the barrel lug that's forward of the pin a bit narrower to match my original OEM 270 Win Stalker barrel. Looks like that's exactly what CVA does with their old Bergara Elite barrels to fit them up to the bargain Stalker. The barrels locked up tight and headspaced just fine.

Yup--I've voided my warranty. Yup--you could kill yourself or others by attempting to duplicate any of what I've done and I can't take any responsibility for that, but I will provide more details and answer questions, if anyone is interested.

-Cal
 
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I have a stalker gun and want too know if anyone do trigger jobs beside cva. They have a 3 weeek back log. could respond to me at vince.batts@yahoo .com
lightbulb
 
I have a stalker gun and want too know if anyone do trigger jobs beside cva. They have a 3 weeek back log. could respond to me at vince.batts@yahoo .com
lightbulb
I wish I knew someone, Vince, and I can only gunsmith my own firearms. If I were doing it again, I'd just match up the sear surfaces and not change the sear surface angle. This could be done with only some patient work with a steady hand and a couple of stones (medium and very fine). This would result in a heavier trigger than my super-low 1-1/2 lbs. Of course you have to be capable of doing the dis-assembly and re-assembly and re-assembly requires an appropriate set of dummy pins (which I found at my local Ace hardware store).

I've learned that, if the trigger is very light, it can reduce the shooter's follow-through, needed to actuate the transfer bar when you gently s-q-u-e-e-z-e the trigger. I've read of this complaint with CVA triggers right out of the box from some shooters. A heavy trigger guarantees sufficient follow-through to use up enough of the trigger "let off" to keep the transfer bar in position. With a strong trigger pull, the high force opposing the shooter's finger is released on the finger and trigger finger motion is assured (if you're pulling hard enough to drop the hammer, then you're pulling hard enough to move the trigger enough to keep the transfer bar in position).

I ended up removing the trigger group again and milling a new transfer bar actuator arm for the trigger. It matches the position the bar more precisely. Now the trigger works perfectly and reliably but, without such a mod, I think any reduction in trigger pull results in less certain operation of the transfer bar. I suspect this is why factory CVA trigger jobs reportedly result in triggers no lighter than about 4 or 5 lbs. Anything lighter probably requires custom-fitting of a new transfer bar actuator arm.

-Cal
 
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Here are a few more notes.

DISCLAIMER: Remember, I'm not a gunsmith and I don't play one on TV. You can hurt yourself and others if you actually attempt to fire your CVA rifle with live ammo after doing the things I describe here, and that's your problem and not mine. For the record, I fear that I've not only voided my CVA warranty but also made my rifle unsafe for live fire. Hence, I will never shoot my modified rifle. I performed these modifications only as an educational exercise.

You don't have to remove the top pin that holds the break action latch in place. Just remove the hammer cocking assist nub (left-hand thread) and drop the hammer out the bottom. It's optional to remove the plastic end on the break action latch lever--it would be easier if it's not in the way, but I just left mine in place.

When you punch out the bottom pin, the trigger guard, trigger, trigger return spring, and action latch coil spring come out the bottom. Try to push forward on the trigger guard to keep it hooked in place as you tip the back of the trigger guard down and out. Hopefully, you'll be able to see how everything is situated before everything pops out!

The hammer and hammer spring come out the bottom after punching the hammer pin out. Again, just leave the top action latch pin in place.

You can actually re-assemble the trigger and hammer mechanism on the outside of the frame to see how it works. I recommend using slightly undersized pins from Ace Hardware. (You might have to turn them down a touch--perhaps just with emery cloth in a drill, depending on what sizes you find.) You can optionally install the hammer spring and trigger return spring when doing your investigation on the outside of the frame too. If you leave them out, just use your fingers to apply pressure and manipulate the parts instead of using the springs.

You'll see a 90 degree sear notch on the hammer and the associated sear "tab" on the trigger that engages into the sear notch. On my trigger, the sear only contacted the hammer sear notch surface at the very tip of the trigger's sear "tab." The hammer sear notch is about .020" deep. ideally, you want the sear surface on the hammer contacting along most or all of the .020" deep surface of the hammer sear notch. I think it's best to adjust the surface on the trigger to match the surface of the hammer sear notch. I did much more than that and wish that I'd just done what I'm recommending here. I changed the angles of both surfaces to make the hammer "squirt" more easily off the trigger sear surface. I probably angled both surfaces at something like 20 to 25 degrees away from the standard square orientation, and I used a milling machine to do it accurately. The change in geometry makes the trigger very, very light, and it would likely require a custom transfer bar actuator like I had to fabricate. My trigger geometry still doesn't exhibit negative sear engagement but it is very close to neutral, like the original geometry. It functions perfectly after releasing the trigger from an aborted pull and it is very crisp, like the original, but would be very light for a hunting trigger. Finally, it required a lot of extra work to make and custom fit a new transfer bar actuator. BTW, don't remove the transfer bar actuator from the trigger unless you decide to replace it with a new custom one--it's peened in place on the trigger.

Simple stone work and maybe a file with a "safe" edge should be enough to rework the hammer sear surface parallel to the hammer sear notch surface. After it looks good under a magnifying glass in a test assembly on the outside of the frame, polish the surfaces using a Dremel tool and metal polish, or other method. I also recommend polishing the tip of the trigger return spring that contacts the trigger and the area of the trigger where the spring makes contact. Clean and lube the surfaces. I use a high moly content grease--like moly brake grease with even more moly assembly lube (nearly 100% molybdenum disulfide) mixed-in.. The spring does move a bit on its trigger surface and that causes a bit of friction so dab it with lube too.

If the trigger is still too heavy, it's probably possible to reduce the spring constant with a new and lighter trigger return spring, but it doesn't contribute much to the total pull. I left mine alone, because I surely don't need a lighter pull!

Install the hammer, hammer spring and hammer pin. It's pretty easy to re-assemble everything, if you have a very short trigger pin to hold everthing in the trigger guard while it's being inserted into the frame. First start the original trigger guard pin into the frame just enough to hook the hammer spring arm onto it. Then insert the trigger guard and parts held in place with the short and undersized Ace Hardware pin. Put the action latch coil spring in place and push the trigger guard forward and into the frame to put pressure on the action latch coil spring against the action latch. If you hook the front end of trigger guard into the frame just right, the back of the trigger guard can be levered up and into position. Then drive the permanent pin through to displace the undersized and short "dummy" pin out the other side. it takes some practice.
 
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gun)jbatts here after i harvest a few deer this year.I decide too take my gun apart and fix a hanging hammer feel on cocking and soften trigger pull.Well thanks to mr calin everthing went well now im off to v.a. Too black power hunt.By the way i had already change my stalker over too black power wish i could find a 12ga barrel and it shoots better than a TC that my cousin had trigger job and acc pin installed 3\4 group at 200 yards all day .
 
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