Originally Posted by Lightfoot
Originally Posted by moosemike
I bought this 1958 99F and the trigger is like a striker fired pistol. You just keep pulling until the thing finally goes off. It’s not even 2 stage. Just one long steady pull. I can’t even squeeze it at the range. I start panicking thinking it will never fire so I just simply pull the trigger like you do on a shotgun

The negative responses to info requests for improving the trigger pull are driven by the fact that too many people have bubba'd the trigger/sear engagement and made the gun unsafe.

The trigger pull can be improved by simply polishing the mating surfaces of the trigger and sear. But! you have to resist the urge to file off the sear to try to shorten the pull. If you watch the trigger/sear engagement through the full cocking cycle you will see it gets very sort at one point in the travel. When the lever is fully closed the engagement is greater than during the cycle. Hence the seeming long pull. It has to be that way to maintain the safety of the mechanism and prevent slam fires.

So, polish to your heart's content and leave the files in the drawer.

It sounds like your gun needs a serious cleaning.

And so endeth the lesson for the day. Take heed, brethren, lest ye fall afoul of misfortune. (Spoken as someone who's not afraid to doctor, customize, and otherwise despoil sacred artifacts to suit my needs. Look closely, under magnification, at the subtle angles and engagements engendered by the mating surfaces of said 99 trigger/sear engagements. I'll bet the designers/engineers/tool and die makers who perfected the M1899 spit, cussed, and argued until they got it right -what, you think Old Arthur did it all??? - and I for one am quite prepared to let it go, with maybe a bit of stoning to smooth things a bit.) If you want a sweet crisp light clean let-off, buy a Remington/Savage/CZ/etc. new bolt gun, otherwise learn to live with it.....it's not the end of the world.


"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz
"Always certain, often right." Keith McCafferty