M win 73

[MBFields]

The trigger pull on my m Winchesters are stronger than would like. Do not know exact weight but shot a trapper 73 with 18 oz trigger and was about perfect, mine feel maybe twice or more the effort to pull. Can anyone explain how to lighten up trigger on mine? Before take apart and wing it thought I would ask for help first.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

The hammer and sear (upper trigger, as Uberti calls it) come together on the lower front edge of the hammer at the main trigger notch. Uberti has been cutting these with a very "positive" angle over the last year or so, and I've measured trigger pulls up to about 9 or 10 pounds on some new guns.

 

The two surfaces (hammer notch and sear tip) have to be stoned to get them to match almost perfectly, and the sliding surface that they touch on has to be at almost exactly perpendicular to a line drawn from the hammer pivot hole to the notch. This makes it a neutral angle, so that as the trigger is pulled, the tip of the hammer stays in it's starting position, rather than the hammer being pushed backwards (positive angle) or even worse, the hammer creeping forward so that it almost falls by itself (a negative angle). Careful work with a dial indicator will measure whether the hammer tip moves as the trigger is pulled. A slightly positive angle (2 degrees) on the hammer notch is safe and adds little to overall trigger pull.

 

The angle of the notch being perpendicular to the sear tip travel makes the trigger pull even and fairly light. Too much positive (like the factory) and the hammer moves away from the receiver by five thousandths on an inch, and the weight of the pull gets heavier as pulled (stacking). Too much negative, the hammer eases forward toward the receiver, trigger pull gets lighter as pulled, and may "go off by itself" if bumped when way too negative.

 

The smoothness of the final stoning work makes the trigger feel smooth.

 

The weight of the hammer mainspring (and weight of the trigger return spring) makes the rest of the difference in how light the trigger feels.

 

A little smoothing on the flats of the hammer makes the hammer fall as quickly as the spring will drive it.

 

All this can be done by a good cowboy gunsmith as part of an action job, which goes for about $125 to $150.

 

If you have done trigger work before, a careful home tinker can do almost as good a job with a few fine stones. If you have not done trigger work, realize that spare sear and hammer parts are real scarce right now (I've had a sear on order from VTI for over 9 months now), and really expensive, so having the job done professionally would sure be an economical choice as well as a minimum down-time choice for most folks.

 

You will need a good trigger pull gauge to keep track of how much improvement you are making. You really don't want the trigger pull lighter than about 2 pounds (32 ounces), even though it's "just a SASS gun". Really light rifles have a tendency to AD with super target weight triggers in SASS matches. For a long range rifle, yeah, a one pound trigger helps. CAS is not the same trigger game that precision shooting is. Good shooters slap a 73 trigger usually.

 

Here's a recent related thread:

http://sassnet.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=221773&hl=%2Bsear+%2Bupper+%2Btrigger#entry2868028

 

Good luck, GJ

[John Henry Quick]

The hammer and sear (upper trigger, as Uberti calls it) come together on the lower front edge of the hammer at the main trigger notch. Uberti has been cutting these with a very "positive" angle over the last year or so, and I've measured trigger pulls up to about 9 or 10 pounds on some new guns.

 

The two surfaces (hammer notch and sear tip) have to be stoned to get them to match almost perfectly, and the sliding surface that they touch on has to be at almost exactly perpendicular to a line drawn from the hammer pivot hole to the notch. This makes it a neutral angle, so that as the trigger is pulled, the tip of the hammer stays in it's starting position, rather than the hammer being pushed backwards (positive angle) or even worse, the hammer creeping forward so that it almost falls by itself (a negative angle). Careful work with a dial indicator will measure whether the hammer tip moves as the trigger is pulled.

 

The angle of the notch being perpendicular to the sear tip travel makes the trigger pull even and fairly light. Too much positive (like the factory) and the hammer moves away from the receiver by five thousandths, and the weight of the pull gets heavier and heavier (stacking). Too much negative, the hammer eases forward toward the receiver, trigger pull gets lighter as pulled, and may "go off by itself" if bumped when way too negative.

 

The smoothness of the final stoning work makes the trigger feel smooth.

 

The weight of the hammer mainspring (and weight of the trigger return spring) makes the rest of the difference in how light the trigger feels.

 

A little smoothing on the flats of the hammer makes the hammer fall as quickly as the spring will drive it.

 

All this can be done by a good cowboy gunsmith as part of an action job, which goes for about $125 to $150.

 

If you have done trigger work before, a careful home tinker can do almost as good a job with a few fine stones. If you have not done trigger work, realize that spare sear and hammer parts are real scarce right now (I've had a sear on order from VTI for over 9 months now), and really expensive, so having the job done professionally would sure be an economical choice as well as a minimum down-time choice for most folks.

 

You will need a good trigger pull gauge to keep track of how much improvement you are making. You really don't want the trigger pull lighter than about 2 pounds (32 ounces), even though it's "just a SASS gun". Really light rifles have a tendency to AD with super target weight triggers in SASS matches. For a long range rifle, yeah, a one pound trigger helps. CAS is not the same trigger game that precision shooting is. Good shooters slap a 73 trigger usually.

 

Here's a recent related thread:

http://sassnet.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=221773&hl=%2Bsear+%2Bupper+%2Btrigger#entry2868028

 

Good luck, GJ

 

 

Excellent info! I just did a search at Brownells for "hammer jig Winchester" "sear jig Winchester" "sear jig Uberti" and "sear jig 1873" and only came up with jigs for 1911's and Evil Black Rifles. Are there any jigs out there, or do cowboy gunsmiths never use such aids?

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

JHQ,

There is a jig for pistol triggers and hammers from Brownells. I haven't actually looked for a rifle jig. When I was earning my way working on CAS guns, I made my lawn jig to correct rifle trigger/hammer problems.

 

Coffinmaker