Headstamp's trigger group is enroute home with a little twist to it.... not the cockeyed trigger twist, but rather a different tweaking done to it than I have been doing.

Getting a super smooth trigger pull on "easy open" trigger groups is sometimes really difficult due to the annoying crunch and grind between the trigger return spring and its plunger.

If you pull the trigger releasing the striker, then just pull the trigger against its return spring, you will notice on many of these that what you are feeling is, like I said above, just the spring and plunger grinding.

Sometimes it appears to be between the spring and plunger only, but often it is the bottom edge of the plunger rubbing against the rough surface inside its hole in the trigger housing.

I have been doing all sorts of things to clean this up.... For a long time I chucked up the plungers in a drill chuck and spun them against a Wyoming Stone to polish them. Prior to that I'd run a 1/16" pin punch through the plunger and spin it against a buffing wheel to polish the bottom edge smooth.

But polishing these little suckers is sorta like trying to stuff a wet noodle up a wildcat's butt. I have lost a fair number of them. Just a hint.

Always experimenting, for some time I have been reaming the holes larger, smoother, and often angled so the plunger does not rub inside it.

Headstamp's trigger was not going to cooperate. The problem was that the forward tip of the trigger surface the plunger pushes against was angled such that it always tipped the plunger so that the bottom edge scraped on the side of the hole.

Fix: I reamed the hole larger and angled to the rear on top. It still had the pea gravel crunch and grind to it, so I recut the surface on the trigger itself that the plunger pushes on. I angled it so that it pushed on the plunger only on the forward side of the plunger, thus tipping the bottom of the plunger back away from the forward edge of its hole.

Since the hole was now angled, that left the plunger rubbing only on the top, forward edge of the hole. Now the crunch and grind is gone! With the sear surface on the trigger undercut and polished and the tip of the striker both polished with the Wyoming Stone, it is a nice smooth trigger. It breaks cleanly at the 2 1/2# Ray asked for.

Final pull weight was accomplished by snipping the stock return spring back to give the desired tension. At one point I overdid it, then simply stretched out the last coil of the spring to add some overall length back to it and zero in on the pull weight wanted.

I did not keep close tract of the time on this one, but I don't think it went over two weeks residing here on my bench.

Mike

Mike,

That is great! Very unique and interesting sollution you arrived at!

Thank you for posting the experience! The trigger job you did for me on the old style group is the best I have

saving the data for the site... :-)

Thanx guys.

I have the Ecore and Contender triggers down pretty well, but there is always something to learn. NOW..... can't wait to get my hands on a G2!

Whoever gets one first, send it on!

Mike

Mike, reading you post reminded me of something that happened a couple years ago to me. I will relate this to see if you think it was the right thing to do or not.

I had a new stainless Contender Frame that had one of the worst engagement surfaces I have ever seen on a Contender. It was rough and pitted. I phoned T/C, and the promptly sent me out a new trigger. This one was really smooth (and kind of looked like the honed it for me before they sent it out). When I went to replace the trigger, the trigger spring and plunger went to the great unkown. Nope never did find them either. I needed the gun NOW, so did the only thing I could think of at the time. I went to the local hardware store, and they had a spring that fit perfectly in the hold in the trigger guard that the spring and plunger goes into. Yes this new spring was quite a bit larger in diameter. I think I made about 4 or 5 different lengths of this size spring until I came up with the desired 2 1/2 pound pull weight. BY the time the new parts arrived from T/C I had gotten so used to this great trigger pull, I never did replace my home made Trigger Return Spring, and everything is still like when I put it in there.

Well the other day (before I read this post) I was tinkering with my New Contender Frame. I noticed the click you are refering to, so I decided to take it apart to see if I could lighten the pull, and see what the click was. Well I didn't learn anything from the first time, yep this spring and plunger went into the great unkown also. Huuummmm, been here before, and it just so happened that I still have some of the same spring stock I used the first time. I made another Trigger Return Spring from this same spring stock (it is just a tiny bit smaller in diameter that the hole in the trigger guard), and this frame now also has a nice and crisp 2 1/2 pound trigger.

Question : do I order replacement parts from T/C, or just leave the spring in there that I have in there now?

Thanks

Larry

Just got the trigger group today and reassembled it into the frame.

Very Sweet! Clean and crisp with no bump and grind.

We have achieved trigger pull nirvana. Like a totally diferent gun now.

Anybody not into doing this yourself, you will be in good hands with the man in Oregon.

You know, Larry, you may have a good point. If the spring fits the hole pretty well, is the plunger really needed? May not be, and it is just one more thing to crunch and grind. In all these years, I have never found or had made springs that fit the hole like you indicate. I think I will give it a try myself next time.

Headstamp, thanks for the good words. I thought it was pretty decent myself. Glad to help.

Mike

In other words, as long as my Trigger Pull stays consistant, I can leave my home made spring in there?

That's what I was hoping you were going to say, as I still have not found the spring and plunger on my kitchen floor.

Thanks

Larry

So long as the spring does not slip out from under the upper arm of the trigger, I see no problem with it. In fact, I may play with this myself.

I still say you shooters are my best teachers. You raise problems and situations. I just have the opportunity to work with TCs enough to find solutions.... The beauty of which is I get paid to do it and thus satisfy my lusts for all these shootable things called guns. You in general, on the other hand, have chosen different occupations and use the TCs for entertainment. I use them for both, simultaneously. I just don't get to shoot as much as I want, the way I want.

Thanks for the idea.... from me and from all in the fraternity who may benefit from it someday.

Mike

I guess I would call it more of an accident than an idea, or at least that is the way it started anyway.

Thanks Mike

Larry

I think it's a damn good idea Larry. I just can't see why TC uses a spring half the size of the hole it fits in. A full size spring would be better and you could always drill a very small recess in the upper arm of the trigger to keep it in place if you have to.

[ 09-25-2002, 02:01: Message edited by: Jules ]

If any of you guys get in the same situation SD got into, just get one of those throw away butane lighters and tear it apart to get the flint spring. I picked them up here and there for a while till I found a brand that had a spring I liked.
Jeff