Trigger overtravel - needed or not?

[Razor18]

Hi Guys,

I'm a bit confused, need opinions. Some experts say trigger overtravel is undesirable and should be eliminated, others say it's a must to avoid any follow-through trigger influence, while the shot breaks. I do tend to believe the later one, but would be curious what others say.

Thanks: Razor18

 

[Crane]

I prefer no over-travel. I even put an over-travel screw stop on my Turkey shotgun after honing the sear. Sometimes I get a little bored on a rainy day.

 

[Broz]

As I tend to like the over travel limited, I do know you can limit it too much. This can be very dangerous as if the trigger just partly dropps the sear, it will most likely fire as you lift the bolt handle. The problem with this is it may only do this one out of 20 or 50 firings. So I tend to leave a bit more over travel than I use to.

Jeff

 

[cornstalker]

Probably not a big deal rested on bipods and with a rear bag, but when position shooting with a sling I can see a slight bounce after the trigger breaks due to excessive overtravel on my .22 Mag.

I suspect that the problem is less prevalent in lighter triggers, and increases relative to pull weight.

I think the way to determine if overtravel is a problem for you and your gun would be dry fire practice. If the trigger slams too far back after breaking and causes a bounce in the crosshairs not related to the firing pin dropping, then it needs to be addressed.

A cheap experiment would be to put pieces of leather or something behind the trigger to eliminate excessive overtravel and see if it reduces the bounce in the crosshairs after the trigger breaks. (dry firing, of course)



Hope that helps.

 

[Razor18]

I'm not sure if the bounce occurs if you DO have overtravel, I think the bounce can come rather when you DON'T have any overtraqvel, and the trigger reaches the trigger stop when you break the shot.

 

[cornstalker]

I'm not sure if the bounce occurs if you DO have overtravel, I think the bounce can come rather when you DON'T have any overtraqvel, and the trigger reaches the trigger stop when you break the shot.

In my case it occurs after the trigger breaks, then the trigger gains unrestricted momentum for 1/4" then slams to a stop.
If the trigger stopped a shorter distance after it broke, it would not be allowed to move far enough to create as much bounce.

 

[kiwi3006]

Read this article here

http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/trigger-dwell-time-1.php


Stu.

 

[J E Custom]

I think it's just a matter of likes and dislikes.

I like a trigger with almost no over travel because with it I seem to anticipate the trigger
breaking if there is very much travel.

As cornstalker said the lighter triggers are not as effected buy over travel.

And if the over travel is properly adjusted It has no effect on safety.

Also if you squeeze the trigger and don't jerk it it should not move the rifle.

J E CUSTOM

 

[cornstalker]

Read this article here

http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/trigger-dwell-time-1.php


Stu.

That's helpful. It confirms that the problem with my .22 Mag goes back to the trigger weight, not the overtravel. If I did not have to pull so hard to begin with, the trigger would not hit so hard after it breaks.

Thanks Kiwi!