firing pin/sear problem HELP!!

[Brewster805]

hey guys, i have an old ruger .270 M77 tang safety rifle. i took apart the action to adjust my over travel, creep, and trigger pull weight. and the previous owner had done some metal work to the sear/trigger engagement surfaces to make a crisper/lighter pull. well when i put it back together my trigger breaks like glass now (due to the adjustments i made to the screws) and it feels great, BUT idk what i did now. because before i took it apart i could de-cock the firing pin by pulling the bolt handle all the way up and pulling the trigger and then slowly let the bolt handle down and it would de-cock the firing pin. well now when i do that it does not de-cock the pin when the bolt goes down. and if i wanted to pull up on the bolt with the pin being cocked it releases the pin. with out me pulling the trigger.

 

[Dosh]

Brew, have a licensed Gunsmith repair it. Too critical a safety item not to. Be safe

 

[Brewster805]

here is a link to a video i made to get a better understanding of whats going on.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUQEcCzHat0[/ame]

 

[Defens]

More than likely you tinkered with the sear engagement too much. You generally want to adjust that function first, backing out the screw until the sear disengages, then screwing it back in 1/2-3/4 turn to have a factor of safety. After that you adjust the trigger weight, then the overtravel, making sure that the trigger isn't locked up so tight that it can't be pulled.

If you adjust settings in the wrong order, you can wind up with odd releases, inconsistent trigger pull weight, or worst of all, unsafe conditions.

You didn't by any chance keep track of how many turns you'd made on each of the screws from their working positions did you? Did you do any additional honing or polishing? Unless you polish through any hardsurfacing, in general you're okay if you simply smooth up engaging surfaces as long as you don't change any angles. If you round off sear edges or change angles, you're going to be buying a new trigger.

Try putting the trigger back to its stock configuration, if you know what that is. If that works, you can try adjusting again in small doses and the correct sequence. If it doesn't, then do what Dosh said. BTW - other than having an FFL, there isn't really any sort of gunsmith licensing program with tests and such. Anybody that can obtain an FFL can hang out a gunsmith shingle.

 

[Brewster805]

Defens - Thank you for the detailed response. my trigger pull "weight" screw was all the was out but still in the trigger. this the that is under the trigger. the sear engagement screw was all the way in and i screwed the over travel screw in bunch. i will take apart the rifle and tinker with it some more tonight or tomorrow. the previous modifications done to the trigger/sear were done some time ago but this site shows what was done. Ruger Model 77 Trigger
If i cant get this figured out/fixed myself (there are no smiths that i know of around me) soon then i will just replace the whole trigger with a new setup like a timney or something else?? anyways thanks again!

 

[Brewster805]

Hey guys I got it figured out, the screws were too close together and maxed out. Just backed them up a bit and we are all good and safe!

 

[LoneTraveler]

From the video I think you have 2 problems. There sear engagement is to light and the over travel are set to tight. There is not enough movement in the trigger to engage the sear and clear the sear so the gun will decock when the trigger is held and bolt turned down. Be Careful. That gun is an accident looking for a place to happen. I would take it to a reputable gunsmith, or call Ruger and ask their opinion. They will want you to return the gun to them for repair or take it to their approved gun smith.

 

[Punisher]

Brew, when I am tinkering with triggers, I don't take the trigger out of the action, but remove the stock and place barrel in my bench vise. that way I can test operation as I slowly adjust it down. If I am starting a trigger job by polishing sears, then I remove the trigger, Polish, replace. Then I start adjusting.

It sounds like you got it figured out, I'm glad you tested for correct operation.