A buddy of mine who is a quasi gunsmith told me that after he does a trigger job he bumps the butt of the gun on the ground. He "drops" it butt first from 2 feet up to see if the sear releases.
How do yall test your guns after adjusting the trigger?
I bump tested several of my older M70's from 2 feet and they all fired , not sure waht to make of it.

Perry

quote:

Originally posted by perry:
I bump tested several of my older M70's from 2 feet and they all fired , not sure waht to make of it.

The take away for me is: Don't drop your rifle with the safety off and a live round in the Chamber! The newer savage accutrigger and glock type triggers were designed partly because of this. I still love the old style model 70'trigger though.

I thought that that was a fairly standard test for triggers?

"quasi-gunsmith" = answer to problem!

Ayyupp! good way to crack a piece out of the toe of the buttstock!

Drop from two feet!? Many triggers will fail when dropped that hard. 6-12" is more reasonable and don't drop on a hard surface unless the rifle has a recoil pad. In my experience a factory Rem 700 trigger can be set to 2.5 to 3.5 and pass a 6-12" drop test, while the old style M-70 trigger will go 3-4 lbs.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Kobe:
Ayyupp! good way to crack a piece out of the toe of the buttstock!

That was my thought too! I layed out a couple of folded over towels then made sure it landed on the recoil pad squarely. Of course then I thought, well hell, what kind of test is this .

As a side note. My Timney triggers set at 2.5 lbs never released.

Perry

When I test mine I lock the rifle in the cradle and run the bolt as if I was chambering a round. I run it hard. If the striker drops it's not right. I normally consider 20 runs to be sufficient. Then again, I don't try to set standard factory triggers to 2 ounces either. You'd be surprised the number of people that want ridiculously low trigger weights on hunting rifles or want their 1911 carry piece to have a 2# pull. Or then again, maybe you wouldn't. Anyway I won't do them.

I bounce test at 12", always have and always will, I guess.
I had a Win Model 70 in 375 H&H that the sear would drop below the trigger cocking piece if the bolt was racked hard and fast after being fired. It did it so often That I would have to carry a small screw driver in my truck to rectify it.
I stoned and polished every surface and re-assembled that trigger mechanism and adjusted the trigger as light as it would go and it never did it again. I then adjusted it to have 2.5 pounds of pull, never had a problem since. It's now chambered in 375 Weatherby.

Cheers.

Well for a me a hunting trigger never goes below 3#. After adjustment I do some testing. Yes I bump it,( but not from 2'), slam the bolt and tap around on the shroud and tang area with a small rubber mallet.

Great minds think alike. I always slam the bolt home and whack the bridge with a plastic hammer. No butt dropping!

quote:

Yes I bump it,( but not from 2'),

More like 4-5" IF it has a recoil pad.

Remington triggers will adjust to low pull weights and stand up to "bump" tests, but adjusted under about 2.5# and let it set in the safe for a month or more and re-do the bump test and it will drop the firing pin. I have done this on two rifles, a model 600 and a model 7. Both of these rifles were unloaded during testing and I reset the let-off tension to a heavier weight of pull and they were fine thereafter, but if you want a lighter pull weight go with an aftermarket trigger such as Timney.

The way I figure it, as long as I refrain from looking down the bore of my loaded rifle while pounding the butt on the ground or throwing the loaded rifle butt first into the back of the truck, I should be OK.
The Model 70 trigger design makes it more susceptible to failing the "drop test" with newer models being a bit worse (heavier trigger lever). Regards, Bill

Bill has it right...the trigger lever itself has weight..therefore ineria. Two foot drop is plain foolish

Is a "quasi gunsmith" the same thing as a 'bubba'?

quote:

Originally posted by lindy2:
Is a "quasi gunsmith" the same thing as a 'bubba'?

I think a "quasi gunsmith" proudly calls himself a gunsmith and probably has some fairly in depth and extensive YouTube or mail order gunsmithing training.

"Bubba" on the other hand. He don't need no fancy-ass, Nancy-boy skoolin or title to fix up guns ! Juss beer.

Yes.
I bump-test and slam-fire test after a trigger job but nothing like from 2'.
I like about a half pound lighter hunting trigger than some of you guys but that's what make this game so great. CHOICES!

Zeke

I look at the scores at the National Matches fired with iron sights and 4.5# triggers. If they can do that, I can try. I try to get consistent trigger pulls anywhere from 3&1/4# to 3&1/2 pound. If I "touch up" a factory trigger, I never change the trigger, sear, hammer angles (unless they were wrong to start with - those go to a real gunsmith). Using the Geissele 3.5# trigger (they SSA-E) has taught me how accurate a 3.5# trigger can be in my hands.

I feel no need to ever go below 3#. As a callow youth, I set a Remington 700 trigger to 1.5#. My brother-in-law set the stock onto the ground, safety on, just a bit firmly. I will never forget the look on his face after the negligent discharge (all my fault) rocketed nearly straight up into space.

A half hour with the turn screws, and fingernail polish remover, followed by using the RCBS pull gauge, got every rifle in the pile up to 3.5#. After that corrective action, none of the fire sticks would go off, even with some mighty whacks from the rubber mallet.

That winter, I took out all (five) of my Remington triggers, put serial numbers on them, and mailed the triggers to a gunsmith (now deceased, RIP). He cleaned up the triggers, removed the creep, and had all of them firing at 3.25#, and with not much overtravel. The note said: "Don't ever take off the locking compound."

Back then, he did all five for $125.00. Money very well spent. These days, I really like Ed Lapour safeties and Blackburn triggers in Mausers. AHR triggers and Lapour safeties in CZs, old style Remington, or Timney triggers in Remington 700s (I'm now starting to retrofit the Remingtons with Model 70 style triggers, and so on. All my model 70s get worked over by a real gunsmith. Steyrs with their decocking mechanisms are the cat's ass, and I am even saving up to put Lapour safeties on the Sakos. I am also more judicious about who I lend my rifles to. I have a couple Rugers set at 4# as loaners.

Sure, I can adjust that trigger for you. Gotta beer for me:

All my Remington 700 factory triggers are set at 2.5 pounds. Test is done per sniper country.

Check by:
•Slam the bolt closed a dozen times, check to see if the pin dropped each time. If the pin drops, back out the engagement screw 1/4 turn, and do again.
•Cock the pin, set the safety, pull the trigger, release the trigger, and release the safety, a dozen times... if the pin drops, increase the spring tension (shouldn't be necessary, unless you're down around 10-15 oz's, and this trigger is not reliable at that light a pull.

All have been fine for at least 20 years now also included is a Model 7, 2 Muzzle loaders all with the same trigger system.

Al

I employ that method on all my rifles, but I drop from 1-1/2feet onto a 2foot square of anti-fatigue matting.

I do it with a primed case in the chamber (no powder or bullet)
and it guarantees a loud noise if the rifle fails this test

AD

Here's a horror story involving a quasi-gunsmith and a Remington 700 'trigger job'.

He fancied himself a real trigger guy. He was the son of a close friend and to decline his offer to do a trigger job would have been awkward. So he messed with my trigger, indeed lightened it, and did the drop test a couple times to show me it was safe. I shot it 20-30 times as I was prepping for an upcoming hunt.

Couple weeks later I was in the Outback of Australia, whacking donkeys and other things with Bob Penfold. This involved some extreme shooting; there were times we would shoot for several minutes as fast as we could load. First day I put about 600 rounds through the rifle and the trigger sear stopped engaging. Don't know if it was wear on the sear engagements or the springs, but the rifle quit working. We were in a tent camp hundreds of miles from anything but finally managed to do a bush fix by tightening up the adjustments on the trigger (to about 4 pounds!) and was able to continue whacking things and putting over 2000 rounds through the rifle. Upon return I replaced the trigger as I simply didn't trust whatever he had done to it.

While it's true the rifle was subjected to considerable use/wear in a short amount of time, I learned that half-assed trigger work can be bad ju-ju.

I wouldn't feel bad about having to replace the trigger. Remington's replaced millions of them.

No, I don't drop customer's rifles...as far as they know.