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1861 Springfield trigger pull
- Thread starter Jeffnet
- Start date
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jeffnet
Welcome to the Forum.
If you can remove the trigger you may find the top surface of the trigger blade is very rough.
Using some black, wet/dry silicone carbide sandpaper and a small block of wood as a backing tool this top surface can be smoothed out which will help some.
Also, the bottom surface of the sear's arm (the thing that is sticking out from the lockplate on the inside of the lock) can also be smoothed up.
This is the surface that the triggers blade pushes against to release the lock.
If polishing theses doesn't help the problem is probably the sear springs fault.
The sear spring is the U shaped (or V shaped) spring at the back of the lock. It's lower leaf pushes on the top of the sear to engage it with the tumbler.
These springs are often made much stronger than they should or need to be.
If you feel brave you can change the force generated by this sear spring.
To do this, loosen the screw about two turns and insert a knife blade between the spring and the lockplate. This will lift a small tab on the spring out of the lockplate slot that positions it.
Once released it will swing up easily and removing the screw will also remove the spring.
Using a pair of Vice Grips, located in the same position that the lock plate would be clamp the lower leaf.
Use a small flat file to file the lower leafs outer surface to reduce the leaf's width.
File ONLY in the direction of the leaf, never across it. You want all of the file marks running only in the direction of the leaf.
You will want to taper the lower leaf from the bend to the tip that was pushing on the sear so that the end of the s pring is narrower than the width at the bend.
When the tip is down to about 1/8 inch reinstall the spring by putting the screw thru the springs hole and starting the screw into the lockplate.
Once started, use your thumb to rotate the spring down until the small tab snaps into the slot in the lockplate. Then tighten the screw.
Reinstall the lock into the gun and give it a try.
One word of warning about this.
The spring MUST be strong enough to insure the engagement of the sears tip with the full cock and half cock notch 100 percent of the time.
This is a life/death requirement that cannot be ignored in the interest of lightening a trigger pull.
The guns used by the military were never designed to be target guns and they always have heavy triggers so don't expect to get the trigger pull down much below 4 pounds.
Welcome to the Forum.
If you can remove the trigger you may find the top surface of the trigger blade is very rough.
Using some black, wet/dry silicone carbide sandpaper and a small block of wood as a backing tool this top surface can be smoothed out which will help some.
Also, the bottom surface of the sear's arm (the thing that is sticking out from the lockplate on the inside of the lock) can also be smoothed up.
This is the surface that the triggers blade pushes against to release the lock.
If polishing theses doesn't help the problem is probably the sear springs fault.
The sear spring is the U shaped (or V shaped) spring at the back of the lock. It's lower leaf pushes on the top of the sear to engage it with the tumbler.
These springs are often made much stronger than they should or need to be.
If you feel brave you can change the force generated by this sear spring.
To do this, loosen the screw about two turns and insert a knife blade between the spring and the lockplate. This will lift a small tab on the spring out of the lockplate slot that positions it.
Once released it will swing up easily and removing the screw will also remove the spring.
Using a pair of Vice Grips, located in the same position that the lock plate would be clamp the lower leaf.
Use a small flat file to file the lower leafs outer surface to reduce the leaf's width.
File ONLY in the direction of the leaf, never across it. You want all of the file marks running only in the direction of the leaf.
You will want to taper the lower leaf from the bend to the tip that was pushing on the sear so that the end of the s pring is narrower than the width at the bend.
When the tip is down to about 1/8 inch reinstall the spring by putting the screw thru the springs hole and starting the screw into the lockplate.
Once started, use your thumb to rotate the spring down until the small tab snaps into the slot in the lockplate. Then tighten the screw.
Reinstall the lock into the gun and give it a try.
One word of warning about this.
The spring MUST be strong enough to insure the engagement of the sears tip with the full cock and half cock notch 100 percent of the time.
This is a life/death requirement that cannot be ignored in the interest of lightening a trigger pull.
The guns used by the military were never designed to be target guns and they always have heavy triggers so don't expect to get the trigger pull down much below 4 pounds.
jeffnet said:
Try this link:
http://www.nwtskirmisher.com/useful-locks.shtml
Michael Ivancic
Iredell Blues
4th North Carolina, Company A
N-SSA
Last edited by a moderator:
MDIvancic
That's a pretty good link but I intentionally didn't get in to modifying the angle of the full cock notch.
IMO, the little surface is so easy to mess up when trying to stone it that it is just too easy to make a dangerous gun out of a safe one.
It is also very easy to change the surface from one that is pretty close to being right to one that actually increases the needed trigger pull.
A very small change in the angle of the full cock notch can make a lot of difference.
If someone is wondering how to tell if the angle of the full cock is causing the problem the first thing they need to do is to just cock the hammer to the full cock position.
Then, closely watch the hammer as they slowly pull the trigger until the hammer is released.
If the hammer visibly moves back from its full cocked position while the trigger is being pulled it indicates that the angle of the full cock notch is incorrect. The only time to even consider changing the full cock notch is if this movement occurs as the trigger is being pulled.
If the hammer stays in the same position while the trigger is being pulled up to the point that it is released the angle of the full cock is fine so it should be left alone.
The picture of the sear spring shows what I was talking about but it implies that both the upper and lower leaf should be changed.
The upper leaf that is running towards the screw hole can be left as it is.
That's a pretty good link but I intentionally didn't get in to modifying the angle of the full cock notch.
IMO, the little surface is so easy to mess up when trying to stone it that it is just too easy to make a dangerous gun out of a safe one.
It is also very easy to change the surface from one that is pretty close to being right to one that actually increases the needed trigger pull.
A very small change in the angle of the full cock notch can make a lot of difference.
If someone is wondering how to tell if the angle of the full cock is causing the problem the first thing they need to do is to just cock the hammer to the full cock position.
Then, closely watch the hammer as they slowly pull the trigger until the hammer is released.
If the hammer visibly moves back from its full cocked position while the trigger is being pulled it indicates that the angle of the full cock notch is incorrect. The only time to even consider changing the full cock notch is if this movement occurs as the trigger is being pulled.
If the hammer stays in the same position while the trigger is being pulled up to the point that it is released the angle of the full cock is fine so it should be left alone.
The picture of the sear spring shows what I was talking about but it implies that both the upper and lower leaf should be changed.
The upper leaf that is running towards the screw hole can be left as it is.
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