I have been told that in order to install an aftermarket trigger in my Win. M54 30-06 the cocking piece needs to be built up.Can somebody elaborate a little on this for me please.I'm thinking this invovles some welding on the bolt??? A gunsmith link would be welcomed as well.Thanx in advance.

First thing the M54 sear acts as the bolt stop.
So you have to make a new bolt stop.
Most people simply machine the action for the M77 Ruger bolt stop.

To put in another trigger such as a Timney, shims will have to be made since the sear slot on the M54 is wider than the M70 trgger you can buy. These shims will go on each side of the unit to center it in the sear hole.

Now comes the fun part.
Yes the cocking pieces are a different hieght and shape and position, from the M54 to the M70.
ALSO there is two differnet cocking cams on the M54.
The older slow lock and the later speed lock, which explains two of the three firing pins the M54 used.
This affects which safety you are going to use to replace the factory unit.

The best bet would be to contact Ed Lapour, he now makes a M70 three postion safety for this gun and has installed quite a few of them.

Jim Wisner
Custom Metalsmith

Something you should consider is the M-54s have taken a dramatic jump in value in the last two years and have become very collectable. Anything you do to one of them will devalue the rifle.

The old timers learned to shoot the 54 triggers and it worked for them. I have no problem with them, I would bet you can do the same, something to consider.

Jim and Ray,Thank you for the replies.
Jim, thank you for the advice and the gunsmith contact
Ray,You are right on about their value.Mine is about 96% so any mods to it would have to be reversable.I have a bunch of pre 64 M70s and hunt with them and wanted to know if the triggers could be made to feel similar.
Really the 54 trigger is sorta like shooting my Garand and I don't have any problem with that.

Thanx again. Good info.