Dbl set triggers a bad thing from PC standpoint?

[rootnuke]

When I look at kits and parts for kits, I notice notations where the kit states Single set trigger (Most appropriate)

I really like dbl set triggers.

By installing a dbl set trigger on a rifle that is otherwise completely PC, Is that taboo?

Are people gonna look at the rifle and say, "Hmmm, nice looking rifle, But why did you have to mess it up with the dbl set trigger?"

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Absolutely it is PC. DS triggers were very much in usage, from X-bows up to present day. I just finished up a little .54 rocklock hunting rifle with DS triggers.

One thing I do make sure of, is that he gun can be fired with either trigger. The DS trigger in the field during cold weather is a no go for me, too touchy, so use only the conventional trigger.

 

[2172]

Don't have much experience with really old guns, but the only one I got really close to had a double set trigger...it was an old wreck but the trigger still worked, once it'd been treated with Liquid Wrench...some guys who know more than I do, or say they do, felt the gun was about Revolutionary War era...
I do know that the pistol that Aaron Burr used on Alexander Hamilton had a set trigger, but it was a single set...the set was owned by Hamilton's brother-in-law...never borrow guns from in-laws...Hank

 

[Stumpkiller]

Are people gonna look at the rifle and say, "Hmmm, nice looking rifle, But why did you have to mess it up with the dbl set trigger?"

There's likely to always be someone who will find fault with whatever they observe. It also depends on what you are intending the finished rifle to be. A museum quality reproduction or a practical tool, or both?

Sometimes you just gotta do what makes you happy. The pre-F&I War Jaegers had double-set triggers.

My feeling would be that if you were copying a particular rifle you should stick to the original design. But for me, I would want to do it to see what that rifle was like. Change something significant, and you loose the "experimantal archeology" aspect of the whole project. A 2-3lb pull wide-faced trigger is pure joy to me. I never did get comfy with a double-set, and I much prefer a proper single trigger on hunting rifles. But then, I do most of my shooting in the winter half of the year when I have numb & occasionally gloved hands.

Have you considered a single-set trigger?

 

[Birddog6]

PS = :bull: ............... Build the rifle the way YOU want it & go on.

You could build a PC wheelborrow & someone would gripe about it. Don't worry about it, make it how YOU want it & have fun !

:imo:

 

[horkeye]

My feeling would be that if you were copying a particular rifle you should stick to the original design

SK,

This very item has been bothering me ever since I decided I needed a custom flinter a couple of months ago; I very much like the Herman Rupp longarm featured in Rifles of Colonial America (No.57 page 242), however, this is the only documented Herman Rupp longarm that I am aware of; it features a smooth bore barrel and single trigger, so does this mean that he only made smoothbores, and never used single or double set triggers? Perhaps a member can shed some more light (candle, LED, light-bulb or insect light acceptable :crackup on this matter.

In this case I do not want a smoothy, or a single trigger, but I do want the Herman Rupp style featured in RCA, so if I had one made with a rifled barrel & singel/double set trigger, would it meet PCness for a typical (but fancy) longarm around 1780?

In any Aussie rendy you would more than get by with the style as I have described because it looks OK, but it may not be OK in a US F&I war period reenactment :imo: for example.

:thumbsup:

Lehigh COunty, propa longarms!

:blah:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Oh, I'm pretty sure there is more than one signed Herman Rupp in the known gun world. Maybe someone here with the Kindig and Shumway reference books can dig you up some examples. There is a lovely one in he R.L. Wilson Steel Canvas book, but it does not mention caliber (or if it's rifled :curse. It does have a single trigger, though.

I opted for a cherry stocked, iron mounted Lehigh patterned after a signed John Rupp (the elder). There are a few cherry unsigned suspected J. Rupps, and there are Lehighs with iron buttplates and sideplates, but it's a stretch to put them both together. Oh well, I wanted an iron mounted, cherry stock. I'm not going to put it in a museum or attend juried longhunter treks, and the deer don't care, so I'm happy. The Rupps (both Johns, Herman and Jacob) were all listed as "blacksmith" on town records, so is it that great a stretch?

 

[LSU TIGER]

Hey, Rootnuke! Back away and look at the forest. OK, your rifle has set triggers. You like them. OK, again. Could you modify the triggers to look more PC on the next rifle? I think you could. Could you make a fancy single trigger from scratch? Very likely. What do you want in a rifle that pleases YOU? I can't answer that one... :relax:

 

[rich pierce]

I'll be an outlier here. I don't see much use of double set triggers on Lehigh and Northampton guns. Earlier Christians Spring and Lancaster pieces, yes. But in that pocket, where the distinctive Lehigh style developed, it's rare. Niehardt, Rupp, Moll- rare. If the gun was built as a smooth rifle, it would be way out of the norm (what would be the point since it didn't have rifle accuracy) and many of those guns were smooth rifles.

I also agree you should do what you want, you'll be using the gun. Don't be afraid to go "non-PC" if that's what you like. Just say, "I like them that way and I insisted that he put double-set trickers on it!"

 

[TANSTAAFL]

DS triggers are as PC as the American long rifle itself. Everything else as to how many, who, where and when installed are mere opinions, and like a certain bodily orifice, we all have one.

 

[CrackStock]

<<< In this case I do not want a smoothy, or a single trigger, but I do want the Herman Rupp style featured in RCA, so if I had one made with a rifled barrel & singel/double set trigger, would it meet PCness for a typical (but fancy) longarm around 1780? >>>


By my candle light, I have found about seven guns made by Herman Rupp. All are single triggers with no mention as to whether they have a set trigger feature or not. They run in a very specific style with only a few variations in decoration. These were all smooth bore ranging from .47 to .62. Seems to have been a marked preference here.

There are very few rifled barrels from the Allentown/Bethlehem school listed in my sources.

However, there are a few.

The closest in your design preference are a rifled .40 caliber signed by John Rupp and Peter Niehardt has a .62 rifle. These are not exact, but reasonably close. There is more variance in the Niehardt guns which would permit a more plausible possibility for your desired project. I would go with a single set trigger as his are not doubles either.

You might begin the rest of your research there.

YMHS,
CrackStock

 

[horkeye]

CrackShot,

Thanks for the reply; I really wasn't expecting this to get anywhere!

eace:

:redthumb:

Lehigh County, propa longarms!

 

[davidesau]

Boy I'm glad to here all this. I built an early Virginia a long time ago. It has no patch box, and dbl. set trigger. I heated the rear trigger and laid it back, cause thats the way Hershal House did his. I didn't know how far back it was pc. All I knew was it was like Hershal's. Yeager's had um,and were carried by Rangers. I think? I've hunted with it unset for 30 yrs.and its handy set when your eyes are old, and your not so steady. If your comfortable using it, then use it.But thats just me. :thumbsup:

 

[TANSTAAFL]

No way could I get the groups onto paper I do without the DS triggers, by the time I tickle the front trigger, the gun has gone off before I can flinch. :crackup:

Seriously, I think they are great for target work. I do build guns with a large trigger guard to allow plenty of room for gloved finger when hunting and using the trigger conventionally only.

 

[Doc Arroyo]

Last summer I had the privalege to handle a rather rare rifle. It was a .85 caliber Austrian wheel-lock with gold, silver and mother of pearl inlays, an ebony rammer tipped in ivory and dated 1651. By the way, it had double set triggers. :master:

As for American longrifles, I believe that double set triggers were a fairly expensive option on the rifle. Sort of like a variable power scope was 25 years ago. You could get one if you had the money, but if you were heading to Africa for dangerous game, you stuck with iron sights. Strong and reliable. So my guess is that although set triggers were available, most of the over the mountain boys probably stuck with the single trigger. eace:

 

[Stumpkiller]

I would also suggest that where the winters get cold the single trigger was more common. I have had the occasional "oops" when trying to wrangle a numb finger, or one in a glove or mitten back into the trigger bow after setting the rear trigger. :redface:

I much prefer a single trigger & a bunch of room in the bow for hunting. I've seen some pretty darned nice single trigger longrifles, so I think it had to be more than cost that determined the choice. As Doc noted: "strong and reliable" is a blessing in some situations. In the 1700's there were things in the woods just as dangerous as any African game, some on two legs.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

That is why I build with the large trigger guard to insure gloved finger room when trigger is used conventionally.

 

[Darkhorse]

Rootnuke,
Exactly which kits are you looking at that make that statement?
The reason I ask is; TOW's Isacc Haines kits state they only offer a single trigger option for this kit. The real reason for this is that the stock is preinlet for one particular trigger plate and that plate is tapered and wider than the plates for double set triggers. If installing a double trigger in one of these stocks there will be a gap of .060 or so on each side of the trigger plate for about the first third of the plate.
In practice, this area will be hard to see once the gun is finished. A workable solution is to take slivers from the test piece provided with the stock and glue them into the trigger plate mortice, then work them down along with the rest of the stock. If careful attention is payed to grain direction and fit then after the rifle is completed these type fixes become almost/totally, invisible.
For what its worth, my .54 Haines has a single trigger for cold weather hunting with a 2 1/2 lb. pull. I can shoot it almost as accurate as set triggers. It is perfect for its intended purpose. With gloves or without.
The .40 I am building now (or will be when my barrel arrives) will have double set triggers. This rifle will be used solely for targets, small game and turkey hunting. And for these purposes I personally need and prefer a double set trigger.

 

[Birddog6]

If you want the double set triggers on your Isaac Haines, I suggest you order it from Dunlap Woodcrafts and tell Wayne you want it "without" the trigger or the triggerguard inlet. For this application you would use the DST-6 Davis double set triggerr and the large Bivins triggerguard as illustrated below. This give you aprox 1/2" more room in the triggerguard bow for the larger double set triggers & adequate room for a gloved finger on the front trigger. You can order the complete kit from Dunlaps & also you can have it done with or without inlets or ONLY the inlets you want, which makes it very nice. Also they have a Superb selection of stocks & a large variety of grades.