A friend has just got a No1 and we were talking about the trigger weight - too heavy.

I found an article that indicated early actions with 3 screws were fully adjustable, but on later actions the 2 screws do just about diddly. Also, later actions use sintered components which cannot really be fine-tuned.

Anyone able to give me the benefit of their experience?

(Here in the UK, buying a drop-in replacement is not really an option.)

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Patrick

I just got my old (20+ years) No. 1A back from Ruger. It had a Canjar single set trigger in it when I sent it. I got that back in a bag ! The newly installed Ruger trigger is absolutely aweful compared to the Canjar, but useable. How they can put such a crappy trigger in such a fine rifle I'll never guess. The did the repair for free, and paid the shipping, though.

Anyway, my gunsmith told me the trigger wasn't worth adjusting. He had a string with about 20 Ruger Triggers hanging on it...that's what he thinks about adjusting new Ruger No. 1 triggers.

He doesn't know anything about Canjar triggers either. So I'm looking for someone who will reinstall it for me.

Ben R.

The only adjustment screw missing is depth of sear engagement. I have found that stoning the surfaces so that a slight angle (2.5deg) is made between the adjusting surfaces (instead of being square) makes a big difference to the let off. the sear now engages on the outer part of the notch instead of the toe as delivered from Ruger.

Adjust weight of pull and backlash as normal and a very fine trigger results.

If the linkage isn't to rattly, you can just pitch the adj. screws and re-cut your sear notch and sear to the correct angles.
I replaced the spring from trigger return till I got the pull I wanted. 2lb.s on my "K"Hornet, a bit heavier on my .38-55 saddle rifle.
The factory notch/sear angle are REALLY sloppy...

Putting a Wolff spring in to speed up the hammer fall helps noticably.
If you lighten the hammer as well, you will no longer need a calender to measure the lock-time.

Brownell's is a good source for info. and springs.

Hope your #1 turns out fine!

Regards,
Dave .32-20

BKR, I installed my own Canjar single-set in a No. 1A 7X57mm. The instructions came with it from Canjar. No gunsmithing was required aside from dirfting out a couple of pins & tapping them back in to hold the Canjar parts!! If you have a Canjar SS trigger that was already installed once in your No. 1, it should go back in with no problems at all!! If you can't figure it out, contact Canjar and ask for a set of instructions. If your gunsmith can't reinstall it using the Canjar instructions, he ain't no gunsmith!!

I think there is a Austrian company that makes a trigger kit for the no:1. Take a look in brownells and see what they have.

This makes me worry about how great the best Brittish really are. I wonder if Blair taken influences from Mugabe and deported all gunsmiths

Cheers
/ JOHAN

Good on ya, BKR!! I like the Canjar single-set that's on my No. 1A so much, I keep wondering why I haven't put one of them on all my No. 1's!! (Probably has something to do with a cash-flow problem.) I do have a No.1 in .375 H&H that sure could use one, it's factory trigger is appalling, and I have not been able to improve it!! I use mine unset most of the time, due to my tendency to let the trigger shoe slip before it is set, when my fingers are cold! But unset, it is no more than 3 pounds, and very crisp, too!! I also have a Canjar single-set on a very accurate Mauser in 6mm/284.

Unless the sear angles are RE-CUT to the correct angles and the slop taken out, ANYTHING else done or added (expensive triggers etc., ) is a waste of time as you are not addressing the source of the problem, but just putting a bandaid or make-up over the "chancre" to cure V.D.

Sears have to be slightly "hooked" to pull themselves into deeper engagement to allow for the slop in pin-to-hole fit of various moving parts.
If you get this right, and then remove stock to adj. sear depth of engagement, you can adjust you final trigger pull by swapping trigger sear return springs.
My rifles have been set up no lighter than 2 lbs., tho I suspect it is safe and possible to go lighter if you "blue-print" the moving parts and remove the "slop" of the very shabbily fitted sear/hammer and linkage.

Before doing this, you want to lighten the hammer and add a Wolff spring from Brownells or direct from Wolff, to speed up the lock-time.

I think it is really sad to hear about folks wasting time/$/aggravation/sweat on things like this and refusing to deal with the primary problem BEFORE adding needlessly expensive set-triggers,etc.

Hold hard!
Dave 32-20

I'm rather fond of the Keplinger SS trigger for the #1. Nothing quite as nice as a 6oz set. Mowry Triggers are okay, both can be installed at home with minimal tools or prior knowledge. Instructions help....

I fussed with the Moyer trigger (~$40), and it works well and is a nice improvement over the original. I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it; thought they were the most common.

You can time the stock hammerfall with a calendar, though.

Can someone describe how they lightened the hammer.

This is an excellent thread. One of the first that addresses things that will really improve the #1.

Buy it. Brownell's has a light hammer and spring set for $54.

I work on a lot of Ruger #1s and routinely get the factory triggers to 2 lbs. pull with no creep or overtravel. You can't really do any better than that with the Moyer's so we stopped using them. We do use some Kepplinger's for varmint rifles. These #1 triggers are very usable.

Well, I started this, so I guess an update is in order. We have got hold of a copy of Rifle whick deals with some of the issues, and the number 1 now has a screw through the metalwork where the forend is mounted, holding it firm against the barrel. The last target was nearly cut in two. horizontally, it is now almost perfect, but vertical stringing is still a problem. Still using the factory trigger, but the next thing to attend to is the forend behaving like a see-saw. It's a well-made rifle, but they really lost the plot when attaching the forend.

Patrick

I've heard that the factory triggers can be honed up to work well, but don't hold an edge and require re-work periodically. If you have the time and skill to shape the trigger, swell, otherwise, it's cheaper to buy and install the Moyer's ($40?) or other for that matter, rather than spend the dough on a gunsmith's bench.

They moyer's trigger does not replace the part that needs to be honed and re-worked and neither does the Kepplinger. All they replace is the actual trigger shoe itself. I've used a bunch of the Moyer's but found that they took every bit as much work as the factory triggers with the same end results, so why go to the extra expense. The only thing the Moyer's does is keep you from having to stone the sear engagment on the hammer because it has a sear engagment set screw hwich the newer #1 triggers don't have. This then repositions everything so that you have to grind the safety to get it to work, so the amount of labor is about the same.