Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Can a trigger be too light/unsafe for a hunting rifle?

Hi all, I'm having a trigger lightened on an M70 and was told that it is not recommended to go less than 4 lbs. Simply for the fact that it is unsafe if the trigger gets too light. If the rifle is bumped or jarred, a light trigger could accidentally fire. This gun will not be used from the bench....it will strictly be for carrying in the field and hunting.

Anybody have an opinion?

With factory triggers, I can get a Rem 700 to around 3lbs with no problem. It won't bounce off. With lighter springs, a 700's trigger can be made a tad ligher safely.

A M-70 trigger is heavier than a 700s, and is more prone to bouncing off, so often a M-70 trigger must be set to high to a higer pull. I am sure these triggers can be set lighter, but regardless of how light they must not bounce off. To test--with an unloaded rifle--I repeatedly slam the rifle down from about a foot in the air on it's butt. If the trigger releases, then it must be reset.

I personally don't like my huntng rifle trriggers much less than 3 lbs, as I want to make sure it takes a definite pull before the gun fires.

Blaine

Short answer, YES. A trigger can be too light for a hunting rifle.

There will more than likely be a whole lot more replies to your question, but, for a hunting rifle, pulling the trigger should be a deliberate act and not a SURPRISE!! The surprise should come from how it breaks, not when.

Mine are set at 2.25 pounds. Love 'em. Thoroughly bounce tested as AFP described, but of course handled safely anyway.

The heavy trigger weight is only one reason I am not a M70 fan... I run my 700 triggers down to 20-24oz and they are safe and far superior to a 4# trigger in every respect.

It would be wise to have someone who knows what he is doing adjust your trigger...
art

Yeah they can be too light on a hunting rifle. You really do need to feel a bit of resistance especially if you have gloves on when you shoot. Three or four pounds is about as light as I like to go on a field rifle.

BCR

None of my Winchester m70s are as heavy as that. Most are around 3 pounds, and your safety is supposed to be engaged till you are ready to fire. With an M70, the safety will prevent a discharge if dropping the gun would release the trigger. Not so with a Remington, where the safety does not block the firing pin. A three pound trigger is perfectly safe with an m70 Winchester, and is a good hunting trigger. Nothing lighter, however, is a good hunting trigger, in my opinion, as your fingers are often numb from the cold when hunting in the North, so it will be harder to feel the position just before the break, and it is likely to go off before intended.

Yes, but too light would be WAAY lighter than 4 pounds, more on the order of 4 ounces.

Fortunately I don't live where I have to shoot with gloves on. I've done it a time or two, but it is not a habit I want to perfect.

While individual preferences vary, I think 2 to 3 pounds with a good crisp pull is about perfect for most hunting rifles. If it broke cleanly 4 would not be ridiculous but I would prefer 2 1/2. BTW to the poster above, my triggers don't surprise me when they go off, but unless I am in a real rush, I never know the exact moment that they are going to break and if they are so heavy that I think I know when they are going to disengage the sear (break) they are, again, waay too heavy and "jumping" the trigger is a major deterrent to accuracy. I also have a life long habit of not putting my finger on the trigger (contact) until I am ready to start squeezing it off.

This all applies to hunting rifles, self defense pistols, military weapons, etc are a completely different ballgame.

BTW, as far as I know, no one makes them for any modern US rifles, but the military 2 stage trigger is a truly superior hunting (or target if there are trigger pull wt limits) trigger if it is set up right and the shooter is used to one.

If it Flies, I agree about the military two stage triggers. I am a military Mauser collector (along with M1 Garand and Carbine, Springfield 03 and a few others) and shooter, and I love shooting the two stage triggers. None of my hunting rifles have them, but I sometimes wish one did. The finger rests lightly on the trigger till you are ready to shoot, and then you take up the first stage to the breaking point and now you hold till a perfect sight picture is achieved, and then the break. Always have loved the two stage triggers on my military guns.

TRH:

What prompted my renewed interest in those triggers is a M96 Swede that I bought a while back. It has a great trigger, two stage of course. As far as I know has never been fooled with by any post Swede gun types.

Just read an article in current "Handloader" ( I think, might have been Rifle): and the guy had a computerized $2500 trigger tester. He commented on how wonderfully a 1909 Argentine Mauser 2 stage trigger showed on this machine.

I've got several M70's, all set at 2-1/4 pounds by a GOOD gunsmith. This involved honing the sear engagement and truing the surfaces. They've all been tested and retested, and used in the field. This weight can be safe if a gunsmith who understands the M70 trigger does the adjusting. There's more to it than just backing off the spring tension.

I just got a brand new Ruger 77 Mk. II stainless and was stunned the first time I dry-fired to discover that it is actually usable as is. (Note that I said usable, not perfect.) About 4.5 lbs and not too much creep. I shot it today and found that it probably shoots pretty well, or will as soon as I find a load that gives a bit more consistent velocity.

Others I've handled lately have been much heavier. In Wayne van Zwoll's book "Elk and Elk Hunting" he records a Ruger that couldn't be measured on a 72-oz. trigger pull scale.

John

In short, yes. Like my rifles in the 2 to 3 lb range. About 4 months ago I picked up an Anschutz 22-lr to use on ground squirrels next summer. Two-stage and breaks at 1 ounce. I'm sure I could be a much better marksman if I could afford to have that installed on my bigger guns. I wouldn't want it though where one might jump shoot game. We work in big country with spot and stalk techniques, and have at times built rests and cleared vegetation before taking a shot. We've also sat with game all afternoon waiting for it to get up and pose. Needless to say, there is very little gun handling when they do finally stand. Crisp is very good. Light and crisp is even better. Give very explicit warnings though to others that ask to try your unit. If jump shooting and gloves are part of the game though, I suggest getting back up into the 3 lb range. Good luck, 1Minute

RH,

The 700 safety does indeed block the firing pin. It lifts the sear off the trigger and jams it into the firing pin "catch." I don't dispute the M-70 style safety is a more direct engagement, but both safeties do block the firing pin. The 700 passes the drop test with the safety on or off.

Have you drop tested your M-70s with the safety off? I'm not asking that to start an argument, but it's something you should know regardless of how you keep your triggers in the field.

Blaine

Allow me to piss in the punch.

A 2oz trigger with nothing in the chamber,is a Bazillion times safer than a 64lb trigger,with one in the pipe(regardless of who's action,brand of trigger and mechanical safeties employed).

I simply don't Hunt with a round in the tube and love the advantages a light(VERY light to some),trigger allows me.

I'll spare you my thoughts upon "safeties"...............

I want to thank everyone for their input. This is why I love this website. Everyone is very helpful. If nothing else, I like to hear everyone's different opinions on the subjects.

Big Stick, I agree with you. I never hunt with a round in the chamber. At least while I'm walking, stalking, climbing, etc. I am sure there are times when this might be appropriate but my hunting is limited to Texas and usually includes a fair amount of walking (and usually through thick brush) so it doesn't make sense (nor is it safe) for me to have one chambered until I am ready to shoot.

Thanks again.

Absolutely!

At least when it gets cold out and you have sloves on or your hands are numb. My Rem 700 came with an 8 pounds trigger. Granted it was crisp, but you coould literally pick the rifle up by the trigger and it not go off. I had the local smith tone it down to the 40 oz (2.5 lbs) area, and it was much easier to shoot accurately. This is as low as I would recommend. At any rate, you will need to practice with it and if you hunt in cold weather, get gloves you can use and be extremely familiar with it. It really sucks tripping your rifle off prematurely cause you can't feel the trigger through the gloves (voice of experience speaking).

All of my guns have one in the chamber at ALL times. Wheither there is one in there physically or not. Muzzle control is the only safety that I rely on. I have several M70's with the trigger weight that ranges from 28oz to 2.25 lbs. None of them fails the slam test. I also keep my finger out of the trigger guard at all times until I am ready to fire. This only adds approximately a half of a second to the process.