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Ruger rifles often get knocked for their triggers. Let�s face it � replacement triggers from the likes of Timney and others provide a vast improvement. Ruger triggers have traditionally been on the heavy side with noticeable creep and over-travel and were something less than smooth. The older M77 triggers were adjustable for pull weight and over-travel, a feature that was dropped in the MKII triggers. The newer LC6 triggers found in the Hawkeye rifles also lack adjustment capability but, in my experience, are an improvement over the MKII triggers.

Redeeming qualities of the Ruger triggers include the simplicity of their design and the ease with which they can be greatly improved. Of the bolt guns in my safe, all but two are M77, MKII or Hawkeye Rugers. With the exception of the MKII VT .22-250, which has Ruger�s 2-stage Varmint/Target trigger, all have had the triggers worked on, some recently and some about a decade ago when I first got my Dremel. Last night I was digging through the safe and testing triggers as I went and came upon two Ruger rifles with triggers that, worked on long ago and acceptable, were not as good as those I�ve worked on more recently. Those two rifles go set in the front of the safe and their triggers will get reworked in the next few days. (One of the great things about cold and snowy weather is the time I spend at the reloading bench�)

The easiest and simplest improvement is to polish out the tool marks on the mating surfaces of the trigger and sear. This does not change any angles or reduce sear engagement (creep). I use Cratex rubberized wheels in my Dremel, starting with medium or fine abrasives depending on the depth of the tool marks. Once the tool marks are gone I use progressively finer grits, finishing up with the extra-fine. This leaves a mirror polish on the mating surfaces. Note that you don�t have to polish the entire top surface of the trigger, only the portion that actually engages the sear. That said, I do the entire surface because it looks nicer. I also polish up the top of the surface below the mating edge because the sear slides down this surface when the trigger breaks. Finally, I �break� the leading edge of the trigger�s mating surface, rounding it out very slightly using the extra-fine Cratex wheels and leaving a high polish on it. This helps smooth the pull, reduce drag (and thus pull weight) and helps the trigger break cleanly. Caution must be taken not to remove too much material as doing so reduces the engagement area. Just knock the sharp edge off the corner. If you round/bevel the corner more than .004� to .005� into the mating surface you�ve gone too far.

Polishing the sear�s mating surface requires an extra-fine wheel with a sharp edge that will fit down in to the notch on the sear. I don�t generally see a lot of tool marks in the notch but what are there on the mating surface get polished out, again leaving a mirror finish. The surface above the notch gets polished as well as this is the part that slides down the side of the trigger after it breaks. It probably doesn�t help in a measurable way but it looks nicer.

One other area I polish is the top of the sear where the bolt contacts it. This might help the bolt slide more easily against the sear but I doubt it has a measurable effect downrange. Once again this is probably just a cosmetic thing.

Reassemble the parts using a dab of Teflon grease on the mating surfaces and in the pin holes. Put the action back in the stock and see how the trigger feels. In my experience there is generally a considerable improvement in how smooth the trigger is with some reduction in pull weight.

Some triggers will still have excessive creep due to too much engagement depth. On M77 triggers the factory-set engagement depth may be as much as .045�, much more than needed. This is easily corrected by reducing it to around .020� to .025�. This may require removing a significant amount of metal by grinding or, preferably, using an abrasive stone on a piece of glass, laying the sear on the glass and working it against vertical edge of the stone. This will be slower than grinding but helps assure the angle on the edge of the sear�s notch doesn�t go off kilter. The best final depth, as measured from the flat below the notch to the outer edge, will depend on the leading edge of the trigger�s engagement surface and how much it was rounded or beveled when knocking down the sharp edge. The more it was knocked down the deeper the notch should be. The goal is to have about .020� of engagement, exclusive of the rounded/beveled area of the trigger�s leading edge. If the above has you scratching your head in puzzlement, get a Timney.

It is possible to reduce pull weight by changing the angle on the trigger�s leading edge of its mating surface. The factory angle is less than 90 degrees and actually causes the sear to lift a bit before the trigger breaks. Increasing this angle to 90 degrees will reduce sear lift and pull weight. Grinding without a jig is generally a bad idea, as with reducing the sear�s notch depth, so the stone and glass method is recommended to preserve other angles. After modifying the angle the edge should be broken as above. I think I�ve done this to one trigger but haven�t found it necessary on the others. Again, if you are puzzled, get a Timney.

Some people recommend cutting a coil off the trigger spring to reduce pull weight. I�ve never found this to be necessary and would recommend a full-length but lighter replacement spring instead.

One of the keys to success is not to hurry. Slow is your friend. Get in a hurry and you may find yourself in the market for a replacement trigger. Frankly, if you don�t have the patience or ability to do the work, a drop-in replacement from Timney or another manufacturer is a better choice to begin with.

I don�t have a trigger pull gage but I do have a Remington M700 with a very nice trigger and a Timney in my Interarms Mark X for reference. Even the best Ruger triggers I�ve worked on don�t equal the Timney. On the other hand, the Timney is on a rifle specifically built for long range work from at a bench and the trigger is a bit lighter than I prefer on my hunting rifles. With the exception of the two rifles mentioned earlier, which will have additional work done to their triggers in the next few days, my Ruger triggers are quite good for hunting purposes and a significant improvement over how they came from the factory. Due to the trigger design I would describe take-up as none, minimal creep, as light as I want them on a hunting rifle, very smooth and, for those without adjustment capability, some over-travel. The Ruger triggers also reset positively to their original position and sear engagement when pressure is let up before the sear breaks. This is a feature assisted by the factory angles on the trigger and is, IMHO, a very good thing on a hunting rifle.

All in all, I�m very happy with my Ruger triggers. Not needing replacement triggers has saved me enough to buy a couple more rifles, too.

Just this year a bought a 77 Hawkeye in 7mm-08. The trigger had a 4 lb. pull which is to much for me. Before installing a Timney to get the pull down I ordered a spring from Ernie the Gunsmith. It now has a two and a half lb pull with no creep. Problem solved for ten bucks. Oh, by the way, it shoots a little over half inch 5 shot groups.

When I did my 77 MKII trigger using This http://www.centerfirecentral.com/77trigger.html I did cut 1/4 turn of spring off then stone the spring to knock the sharp cut edge off the spring. It was a completely successful operation. Polishing did the trick with very little metal removal. I used 400 grit wet sanding paper for the polishing. This trigger Steel is not Hard so be careful.

My Rugers have very good triggers that break clean and crisp at 3.0 lbs. It isn't hard to get them that way if a guy takes his time and observes how it works. I grind the "beak" down on the sear to ensure safe engagement but minimal surface travel. I polish all the other surfaces that come in contact with a hard Arkansas stone, then review the spring. Some times it needs a coilectomy, sometimes not.

The trigger on my SS UL is among the best I currently have or had on any rifle. I'm not sure why they ever stopped making the SS UL. I prefer it 100:1 over the Compact version.

+1 on the ULs. Lot of guys like a 20" bbl. To me 16.5" relegates a rifle to truck gun status or some other very specific use. I believe Ruger missed the boat on that one. To the op's topic, one of the best triggers in my safe is on a MkII Talo UL in .308 that I bought here on the 'fire. Both previous owners say they never touched it and I certainly believe them, but at about 2.75 pounds, it's near perfect, however it got there.
John

I have a few old m77s,and the triggers themselfs are fine,it's the trigger gaurds that aggravate me,I don't know why they put the release button for the magazine INSIDE the trigger gaurd .It makes it too close for comfort with any glove,even the ones that have the thinner material on the trigger finger..

Good luck releasing a magazine on a M77 by mistake, especially with gloves on. Having owned at least 8 M77's, none of them has been easy to release.

I aint worried about accidentally tripping the release.I'm always worried about accidentally firing the gun as I slip my finger into the trigger gaurd.

i changed my ruger frontier in 338 fed from scout scope to conventional this past weekend. i only had a bushnell banner 1.5-4.5x32 laying around so i stuck it on it. i hadn't shot it myself in several years since my son was using it. on my 50 yard range out back it shot 3 shots into 1 ragged hole with fusion 200gr factory loads. i did it about 5 times. hot barrel, cold barrel, it didn't matter. i know 50 yards ain't far but i highly doubt the groups would change much at 100 yards with good glass. as i was drilling these holes i was thinking that the trigger was kind of stiff and could use some work. i don't think i'll bother now.

Deere, you must have a tang safety. Sorry

Yea mine are tang safetys .I still hunt with my old beat up 77,but I avoid wearing a glove on my right hand as long as I can.It's never went off on me ,but I sometimes wonder how come they put the release in the trigger gaurd,and to make matters worse they put it down low in it.I can feel my finger touching the trigger ,and the release at the same time in gloves.

Great triggers. Easy to work on and very simple. Kinda like the pre 64 model 70 triggers....

How are the triggers on the Hawkeye?

Same trigger as the MKII. Not too good. I have a new Hawkeye in .223. The trigger has a spot in it that feels almost like a 2 stage AR trigger. I have not measured the poundage. With that said, I have shot groups under an inch with a couple of handloads after only 2 range sessions, so I feel good about the possibilities.

I plan to work on the trigger tonight. My MKII in 270 was pretty bad, but I was able to polish it and install a new spring that got the trigger to a crisp 2.5 pounds. I will try to do the same with this Hawkeye, but I do have a Timney that I can install if I'm not happy with the result of my work.

In my original post I stated �The older M77 triggers were adjustable for pull weight and over-travel, a feature that was dropped in the MKII triggers.� This is correct but incomplete and I�m surprised no one caught it. The older M77 triggers were also adjustable for engagement depth, which is felt as creep.

Last night I reworked two M77 triggers I had worked on a number of years ago, my 7mm RM and .257 Roberts. The Roberts came back from Ruger earlier this year and, while it seemed the trigger had been untouched, I wanted to check it out anyway. In doing so I realized what I had been working with in the past was pull weight and engagement depth. There was what looked like an over-travel adjustment screw but I didn�t understand how it worked as it would only screw in to a certain depth and stop long before the trigger contacted it. The last time I had worked on M77 triggers was early 2007, shortly after I purchased a used M77 in .30-06, and clearly my memory didn�t retain much. The written procedure I grabbed off the internet years ago and keep on my reloading bench didn�t mention the over-travel adjustment so it wasn�t a help, either.

At that point I decided it was time to look up the online Ruger manual and review the illustrated parts breakdown. In doing so I re-discovered something I had long forgotten - there are two screws that work together to set over-travel (parts D-44 and D-45 for my 1982 M77). The second screw (D-45) is in the trigger and while it looks like the end of the sear engagement screw, it is separate. The forward screw (D-44) is in the trigger housing. It gets removed to allow access to the second screw through the resulting through-hole in the trigger housing. After adjusting the second screw the first screw is replaced. I didn�t mess with over-travel on either rifle. I�ve got an 1984 M77 in .30-06 I might work on tonight and see just how well the over-travel adjustment works.

It had been several years since I had worked on a M77 trigger and I had forgotten how much simpler the MKII and newer Hawkeye LC6 triggers are. On the M77 the safety shaft has to be removed to get the trigger out and that means removing 5 parts by itself (safety button, connector rod, retaining clip, spring and shaft). Then there is a little thing called the trigger return spring seat that you don�t want to lose. Probably not a job you want to take on while working on a floor covered by shag carpet�

The M77 triggers I worked on last night had been worked on before and both were already much improved over the way they came from the factory. I cleaned the parts, put a higher luster polish on the mating surfaces (one in particular still had remnants of the factory tool marks), reapplied a bit of Teflon grease in the appropriate areas and reassembled the rifles. The triggers were compared to a couple of MKII and Hawkeye triggers before and after the work. Improvement on both rifles was slight as both were pretty good to start with - smooth but a little heavier than the triggers I was comparing them to. After the work both were perceptibly lighter and I judged the effort well worth the time spent.

Might not be the right place to ask, but I'm looking for a complete trigger and sear for a MKII or at least the sear. If anyone has one I would be interested in buying it from them. When I bought my Ultrlight MKII I had a gunsmith rework the trigger. At the time it was really sweet, breaking at 2 1/4lbs. That was around 1994, now the trigger breaks at 1 3/4lbs and won't take a rubber mallet hit or an aggressive bolt operation. I bought a Rifle Basix for it, but with the sear reworked it won't work safely either, so hence the reason I would like to buy a sear or even the whole trigger setup.
I am not disputing Coyote_Hunters post at all. In the future I might try this MKII trigger fix also, but first I need a trigger/sear that has not been reworked.

K22 -

Your best/cheapest bet may be to send the rifle back to Ruger. Ruger will return the trigger and sear to factory new specs. That usually means new parts, as it would on your rifle. Cant say what they will charge but probably no more than a gunsmith and maybe less.

You need to call Ruger, give them the serial number and get an RMA number before sending any firearms back. Tur-around time hs always been good in my experience.

That could be an option Coyote_Hunter. I do know that its been discontinued according to Ruger and no longer available to gunsmiths.

Ruger has one of the best if not the best customer service of any firearms manufacture.

It may be that I've just become comfortable with the trigger on my 358 Win M77 Hawkeye but, I think it is as good, or better than other factory triggers on rifles I currently own. These include Remington 700, Browning X Bolt, CZ (I like this one as well), and Marlin.