Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing How much do trigger jobs usually cost?

How much do trigger jobs usually cost? i going to need one soon on a ruger m77 and im going to want it down aroung 2.5-3 pounds

Around home 50-100 depending on time spent

I had a trigger job (the factory trigger lightened and adjusted) on a M77 MKII last year; I was charged $65.00 by my local gunsmith. The same gunsmith charges $75.00 for a Howa or Vanguard trigger job - he says they are harder to work on.

I gotta raise my prices...

Before I started doing my own it ran about 30.00 for a Winchester/Remington and 40-50 for a Ruger around here.

Last time I had a Ruger trigger done it was $30 or $35 which included lapping the rings. It's now perfectly crisp, creep free, and breaks at approx 3#, which is all I need/want/desire in a hunting gun. All that said, I'm still amazed at the folks that would rather spend more to replace the trigger w/ an aftermarket design.

Ruger 77 triggers are very easy to improve yourself. No need paying someone to change a trigger pull spring in that trigger.

If that's all you're going to do, you're right..

However, a good job on a Ruger is a lot more than that Don..

I'm an amateur smith at best, but I've done four of my Ruger triggers now and have been very happy with the results. 15-30 minutes from start to finish.

I agree with DMB, don't know why someone would pay a 100+ to replace it when it can be re-worked and provide a very good hunting trigger with very minimal effort.

what all do you have to do to do the trigger job your self?

Snip a coil off the spring, file a little off the sear engagement, polish the bearing surfaces. Probably something else could be done, but that's what most amateurs will do. You can do a search on it, and some sites will have diagrams with what to file, what to polish, etc.

Hoooboy..

yeah, do that. make sure you do it hastily, un square the engagement surfaces, whilst messing up the angles. Use a dremel if you must.

If you don't already know the proper way to do it, and how to execute the proper way, then spending the money is your best bet.

You could buy all the tools and look at a diagram, but you'd probably want spare parts handy if you screwed something up IE more $$$.

Seriously. A good set of honing stones, some kratex, and a trigger breakdown diagram detailing the points to modify are critical.

Pretty much what the local guys charge.

Mmmmm! Dremel! All these little stones in the accessory kit, which one to use!

Seriously, doing a good and proper trigger job is much, much closer to watchmaking than blacksmithing. Even if you know how and have the correct tools it takes practice on moving the tools properly. Which is why you pay a gunsmith for his expertise, unless you want to do a lot of re-work to learn it yourself.

So I don't kill myself or someone in the future, what'd I do wrong? I used the instructions here for more clarification than my brief description above: http://www.centerfirecentral.com/77trigger.html

File is the first mistake. Stoning should be all that's needed

lots of people just buy a Timney and throw it in then adjust it.

I see that the instructions you reference (assuming they're right for now) specify dimensions in thousandths of an inch. Can you hit those dimensions accurately while keeping edges crisp and flatness to about a tenth of that? That's what I mean by it's more like watchmaking. It's hard to do without practice even with the best tools.

Certainly you can improve a trigger while allowing more tolerance than that, tolerance on the side of safety, but more precision means a better result.

+1, I totally agree. Ruger triggers are very easy to work on. 20 minutes is all I need to get 2.5 pounds crisp and no creep.