triggers

[Walks with fire]

Which do you like for hunting? Double set or single non-set?

 

[Birddog6]

I prefer a single trigger for hunting. :thumbsup: I like them light & set at about 2 to 3# of trigger pull.

 

[ssettle]

Single do to cold weather and having to wear gloves sometimes. If I'm hunting tree rats I use double set...being a smaller target I need all the help I can get. :thumbsup:

 

[longrifle78]

single for huntin. I'v never really cared for set triggers, a properly instaled single triger can hav a very smooth and light pull.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Double set triggers will improve one's offhand scores in target shooting. For hunting I much prefer a single trigger. With a single trigger one can hold the trigger back while cocking the hammer to avoid the "click" which is quite loud enough to startle game within 50 yards, as can the click of setting the double triggers. One can fall into the habit of setting the trigger and easily make that mistake while hunting. :grin:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I am not worried very much about game hearing me set a trigger. I hold the action against my body, with my other hand covering the lock on the outside. I have clicked a trigger with a deer as close as 6 feet, and he didn't become aroused! The sound of the "set " still is " LOUD" to me, but that is because so much of what we hear comes through our skeleton to our ears. You have to ask a buddy to set the trigger while you walk further and further away from him to see how far, or "short" that sound travels. The same applies to cocking the hammer. I also hold the main trigger back when cocking so I can eliminate the " click". I do this with both my mlers, and my modern handguns, when possible.

I do use a single trigger- my gun without setting the set trigger --- when hunting, because its usually cold, my fingers are stiff, and like any red-blooded American, I still get excited when I see game coming close enough for me to get a shot. That little shot of Adrenalin makes it difficult to use those small muscles in my fingers for fine control.

The main trigger pull on my rifle is just under 5 pounds, has a little slack in the take-up, but breaks cleanly. I practice shooting the rifle without the set for a couple of range sessions before hunting, so that I again get used to that trigger pull.

I had not thought of it, but the earlier comment about using a set trigger if shooting Squirrels makes sense. I have a .36 caliber rifle in the makings, that is intended for hunting squirrels, and it will have a set trigger for it. Just don't set the set trigger with the gun held out away from your body, as if you were ringing a church bell! :blah: :rotf: :thumbsup:

 

A single trigger, pinned thru the stock, is my favorite. Properly installed, I like them better than single set or double set triggers. I bought a .50 cal Virginia style about 3 years ago that I never shot because the trigger (one of those types where the trigger is pinned to the trigger plate) was installed to far forward and it had an almost 8 lb pull. I was using it as a wall hanger, when my wife decided to change the décor and said it had to go. No room in the safe for so I thought I would sell it, but I couldn't in good conscience with that trigger pull. So I pulled the combination trigger/trigger plate out and fitted a piece of hardwood down into the hole and gorilla glued it into place. Chiseled out a channel for the trigger and had to elongate the hole in the trigger plate a little. That's because I was moving the trigger back for better leverage. Pinned it slightly higher than the sear and when it was re-installed it had gone from 8lbs down to a very smooth, just a over 2 lbs trigger and that makes all the difference in the world.

 

[roundball]

Which do you like for hunting? Double set or single non-set?

Set trigger for everything...as much shooting as I do year round using the set trigger, I found when I first tried hunting using the front trigger only, the habit was so strong to just gently apply finger tip pressure that it took a long time before I remembered I had to take up the slack in the front trigger first and the deer started walking again, etc...managed to get the deer but decided then and there I wouldn't fool with a front trigger any more...and have never had a deer surprise me so bad that I didn't have time to slip off my glove.

Cocking the hammer and/or set trigger under normal hunting conditions has only had one of two effects on a deer close enough to hear the clicks:

1) Either no affect at all and they kept right on walking, or;
2) They stopped walking and paused a moment, which has always worked to my favor;

And since I started using Hammer Stalls a few years ago, once I get settled on a stand I prime and go to full ****...if I see a deer coming I slip off a glove, set the trigger, and slip off the Hammer Stall...so far so good...

 

[renovato]

I hunt with a single trigger gun the most often, but to be honest, I prefer the double set trigger. I generally don't fire it set, but it does give that option if you're taking a longer shot.

 

[nchawkeye]

Both my .40 and .54 have double set...I've never had a problem using them...You can **** quietly
by holding the front trigger, just like a single trigger...If a deer is only 30-40 yards away, I don't bother with setting, just use the front as a single trigger...

If the range is longer, I take my time and set the trigger, take a good rest and have at it...

 

[Emet Huntsman]

Use set trigger also -- for the same reason expressed by Roundball. Got so used to using the set trigger when I tried the single trigger I found myself Pulling the rifle off target and flinching in anticipation. Really bad!

 

[tg]

One trigger, one less thing to think about.

 

[bajabuc]

Thet there flinter I built fer me daughter has the sweetest pinned single trigger. I never tested the pull on it but it never gave me the chance to flinch.

 

[Vaino]

I make my single trigger assemblies w/ a tall pivot to yield pulls around 2-3 lbs and have found them ideal for hunting. Have also used "pinned in the wood" triggers that have the same pull. Both work equally well. Only use double set, double lever triggers if the customer insists or if it's consistent w/ a style like a Hawken. On my elk rifle {Hawken style} there's a double set but the setting trigger has a block so it's inoperable but can be "restored" by substituting a spring in lieu of the block and some addt'l filing. The problem w/ using a double set front trigger that's unset, is the large amount of pretravel. For hunting, a single trigger is better and seeing the shots aren't all that far, a single trigger w/ a 2 lb pull has done a superb job on my favorite squirrel rifle. Of course it really all boils down to personal preference.......Fred

 

[jtmattison]

I prefer set trigger.

HD

 

[Stumpkiller]

Single, non-set. With a trigger bow large enough to accomidate mittens or at least a gloved finger.

Though that single trigger should be set to be crisp and about 4 ounces. Even with a simple pivoting trigger pinned through the stock it's possible to get the right geometry on the trigger for a light and crisp release.

 

[Otter]

I like single, non-set. I like double set. I shoot both, but the one I use most has double set. The one I'm working on to replace/compliment that gun will have a single, non-set.

Hey, Stumpkiller, where do you find a trigger guard to accommodate a mittened hand? One for me would have to look like the loop on Lucas McCain's '92 . . . :rotf:

 

[Stumpkiller]

You 'ol fart. Ain't nobody remember's Steve McQueen in that. "Pa, PA!" Next you'll be bringing up Chuck Connors in "Branded" or Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates in "Rawhide". :wink:

Like my wimmins, I like 'em big.

Best deer hunter T/C ever devised (IMHO) was the percussion New Englander I added the tacks for better grip with gloved or mittened hands. I have the rifled .50 & 12 ga smnooth-bore barrels.

And my .54 Lehigh stone-pole has a slightly increased trigger bow and 1/2" wide trigger that I can get to with a mittened hand by design & specific request.

It gets cold up here in m/l season.

I missed a HUGE buck with my double-trigger Renegade (bobbled the set & put the shot over his back when my wool mitten snagged) so I am ever-after sour to double-set triggers for hunting.

I have also taken what I call "grouse shots" on jumped deer while still-hunting that were easier with just one trigger to worry about or pull. When you only have a heartbeat until it's lost in the underbrush you don't need complications.

Yes, some have double-set, double-pull, but it still requires a hammer pull and then finding the right trigger when a deer is visible for only a flashing second.

Folks here tell me I don't understand long range muzzleloading on the plains. True. But then can they make a kill decision in half-a-second when a deer explodes out from under a hemlock like a grouse thirty yards away and is only visible in the undergrowth for a flash? If you count "one-thousand one, one-thousand two" you've missed the only opportunity you may get for that day afield by the final "two".

 

[Walks with fire]

:thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[BrownBear]

Sorry to sign on late, but I want both.

I want the trigger to be smooth and crisp at 2.5 to 3 pounds. That's great for hunting. But when time allows and I need extra precision like smacking bunny heads, it's real nice to be able to reach back there and set the trigger if I feel the need.

I've got single trigger guns with good triggers and that's kinda nice for quick shooting in the thick stuff. But if you've been practicing shooting with and without the trigger set on a double, it's pretty straight forward to just raise the gun and shoot rather than fiddling with the set trigger first.

And BTW- I used to think the Lyman double sets on the GPR were okay for this, but had no idea how much better the unset trigger could be. More on a whim than anything, I followed advice here on the site and swapped the trigger out for a unit from Davis. Talk abou an improvement. Now I'm gonna have to buy replacements for my other GPR.

Unless you're just itching for a new rifle, I'd sure recommend a trigger change if you're unhappy with the DS you've got now. If the front trigger is good without setting, you can have the best of both worlds.