Agreed about the Cooper triggers, they are much better than they get credit for. Nice shooting by the way.
Cooper clearly states that they build hunting rifles - not benchrest rifles and so for their intended purpose the triggers are more than adequate. On my Cooper sporters I set them at 1# 8 oz.by doing nothing more than backing out the weight of pull adjustment spring.
By respringing and carefully adjusting sear engagement I have had my LVT down to a safe 6 ounces, and currently have it set at 11. It is not a benchrest trigger nor was it even intended to be.
(I do not recommend setting one this low unless you are proficient in trigger adjustment - if you must have one this low Jard sells a replacement trigger.)
I will add this caveat - On Cooper triggers, due to the design of the safety, if the sear engagement is changed the safety MUST be readjusted. It is not rocket science for someone who understands mechanical interaction but SHOULD NOT be attempted by someone who does not because the safety can be rendered disabled and create a hazardous situation. There is plenty of info on the board about how to do.
drover
This is interesting. I had two Classics and one JSR but I sold them because of the mechanical action of the safety and the fact that for the trigger to work reliably there had to be movement(creep and over-travel). It was admittedly not a great deal of movement and would likely have worked fine in some applications, but it certainly was not in the league of the 5018 Anschutz. Yours may of course be different, but the three samples I had did not have the consistent feel that is necessary for silhouette no matter what I did or who I sent them off to. This seems to be a common feeling as custom Anschutz rifles are by far the norm in that discipline.
But you say this can be remedied? I'd like to know more. Thanks!
Also, I understand that good two stage triggers can be fitted to the Melvin Forbes receiver, does anyone have experience with this? I have felt the excellent Jewell triggered version, but I am more interested in match grade two stage triggers that are highly adjustable for weight distribution. Thanks again!
I do not know what I can add to my statement except to say that if you have creep it means you have excessive sear engagement. It is simple to adjust the sear for a minimum engagement with no creep. I am a bit confused by your statement concerning overtravel - it is necessary to have overtravel or the trigger cannot move enough to release the sear. The overtravel is easily set by the overtravel adjustment screw, you can set it to a minimum by turning the screw in until the trigger no longer releases, then start backing it out a bit at a time until you get the desired overtravel. Jewel's and 5018 both have overtravel and they are adjusted in the same manner as the Cooper trigger.
But I will qualify my post again by saying that the safety must be readjusted anytime the sear engagement has been changed.
If you go to rimfirecentral.com and go to the Cooper forum one of the first things you will see is a sticky concerning Cooper trigger adjustment. The person who posted it recommends moly powder to "slick" them up but I have never had to do that, instead I replace the weight of pull spring with a "softer" spring and then set the weight of pull to what weight I want. As I said - I have had them as low as a safe and reliable 6 ounces but I that was only on one of my LVT's that I was uisng for bench work, so I cannot say that they will all go that low.
I too am a bit of a trigger snob because I am now in my 36th year of shooting rifle silhouette (first match in 1979). I am Master in smallbore Std and Hunter and AAA in high-power Std and Hunter. I have been fortunate enough to win a few State championships and a National championship, I have spent a lot of years pulling triggers and am firm believer that it is more about "trigger time" than the trigger itself, if it has reasonable quality and repeatability.
But in reading your posts and the triggers you are using I suspect that you are using a dedicated Std rifle wheras I began using my Hunter rifle for bot Std and Hunter class a great many years ago so I only have need for a consistent 2# trigger on my 57M, I have my trigger set at 2 lb, 2 oz (2 extra oz to allow for ham-handed certifiers who do not know how to properly lift a trigger weight), and on my Lyman electronic gauge the largest variance I have seen on my Cooper trigger is 3/10 of an ounce over an average of 5 pulls.
Too me the Jewel and 5018 are both the wrong trigger for a Hunter class rifle where the weight must be in lbs, not ounces. The reason IMO is that the thinner trigger shoe on both of them increase the "felt" pull weight because you are pulling on such a small surface area. Wheras with a wider trigger shoe, such as found on Coopers, Timney's, Rem 700 triggers spreads the "felt" weight over the larger area and creates the sensation of a lighter trigger than it actually is.
(Hopefully I have been able to paint a word picture so that you can visualize what I am saying.)
I tried Jewel's and 5018's both throughout the years on Hunter rifles and they just never worked as well for me a clean crisp single stage trigger with the wider shoe, but then I do not like 2-stage triggers either. IMO they are fine for Std rifle or benchrest but just not the right trigger for Hunter class rifles.
But we have drifted a long ways from the OP's question which was
" For a very very accurate 22 LR rifle.....
Older or new manufacturer what would you suggest?"
No match type rifles but I want a tackdriver!"
Not to start a war of words, or taking anything away form Anschutz engineering and mechanics, but fulfilling that statement IMO is where the Cooper shines -
(I am talking base grade rifles with no upgrades for both manufacturers, and I also realize that there exceptions but as a general rule this is what I have encountered throughout my years having owned quite a number of both of them,)
The better Anschutz wood is generally very plain compared to the average Cooper wood.
The Anschutz wood fit and finish is not generally in the same ballpark as the Cooper.
The best Anschutz checkering looks like it was done with a dull fork wheras the Cooper checkering is hand-done and is usually flawless.
Accuracy wise there is little to no difference between them, there is probably more difference between individual guns than there is between the manufacturers.
And finally the fact that Coopers are totally made in the U.S. by American workers.
Sorry that this has gotten so long winded but I wanted to post my credentials as far as triggers and just could not find any way to shorten it up and still be somewhat understandable.
drover
