Trigger adjust

[streetsniper]

Assembled my gun and it seems the trigger has about an eight inch of play before it actually hits the sear. It's mounted on atrigger plate so I don't want to inlet it any deeper . Is it ok like that or should I solder a piece of brass to the top of the trigger so it reaches the sear? It doesn't affect the firing of the lock, it just seems sloppy. Any ideas?

 

[Stophel]

Although some people are absolutely anal about having no take up, it is totally normal, and in fact, some take up is necessary for reliable functioning.

Generally, the sear is at its lowest point at half cock. If you work the trigger up so that it is touching the sear at full cock and there is no take up, the sear will not go into the full cock notch, which is not exactly a good thing. For most locks you MUST have some take up.

The newer Siler comes close to having the much-coveted "one position sear", so that there won't be so much take up at full cock.

If it is something that you just cannot stand, a small, VERY light spring can be attached to the trigger to make it follow the sear.

If you haven't been able to tell, it's something that doesn't bother me in the least. :wink:

 

[streetsniper]

Thanx, just sometimes I get a little anal about the little things. As a good friend once said, "we jump over logs, but we trip over match sticks". Thanx again, Billy

 

[Stophel]

When I'm fitting a trigger (and I pin them in the wood...those triggers mounted to a plate are just awful), I file it down so that when the lock is at half cock, the trigger is just barely loose...almost touching the sear and definitely not bearing upon it. When the sear is at full cock, it will have a bit more take up, but it's loose and you just touch the trigger and it's gone. It just absolutely bugs the manure out of some people, but not me. Besides, I try to work from an 18th century perspective, and such a thing simply was not a concern.

Another reason to make sure you have at least a LITTLE play in the trigger is that wood moves. As humidity changes, the wood can expand and shrink, and it helps to have a bit of room to accomodate for this. You don't want a tightly-fitted trigger to keep your half cock from working when the weather changes.

 

[Vaino]

I agree that the Chambers' deluxe Siler flitlocks have the same {very close} sear bar position in the half and full cock positions and the uncocked sear position is slightly lower for a rattle free trigger. I make my trigger and plate assembly on my scratch builds and pin in the wood on the Chambers' kits and both yield pulls around 2-1/2 to 3 lbs. On my "home mades" I braze a piece of air hardening stl on the trigger bar at the point of sear bar engagement and the elevated brazing temp hardens the A2. I like a minimum amount of pretravel { a very small amount is necessary to ensure full engagement of sear and tumbler notch} and the Chambers nearly identical sear timing at both half and full cock works out well for this. Just one of many reasons to use Chambers' locks. The pretravel on most of my LRs is less than 1/64" and a "slow go" is needed to achieve this because of the close sear to pivot pin distance.....Fred

 

[rafterob]

The trigger on my Traditions Kentucky pistol probably has 1/4" play after I adjusted the set screw for a decent trigger pull. At first I was thinking about replacing the trigger but after shooting just a few times I could not even notice it. Shoots great as long as I do my part.