Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Trigger pull weight

Theres probably a million different answers here but, what is YOUR preferred trigger pull weight for hunting?

I usually have mine set at 3.5lbs. As stated in another thread, I bought a Savage Axis youth 243. The trigger was 5 lbs. I just put a spring kit in it, and it now pulls at 1.75lbs. Not sure how I feel about that. I take all precautions/best practices...safety on til im ready to fire, muzzle pointed in a safe direction, etc. Due to my health, I havent been still hunting as much, use a folding chair instead and stay put all day. It doesnt really bother me being 1.75lbs, it actually feels great. But I chamber a round before I walk to my "stand". Again, safety on. Just making me go hmmmm.

What pull weight do you prefer?

For me, the sweet spot I try to hit , is 44 oz on all.

Respects,
Richard

I like a hair over 2 lbs.




P

I prefer around the 3lb mark. I have bought three Ruger .257 Roberts rifles second hand over the past couple of years and all the previous owners had the triggers lightened to 2lb or under, one was just over 1lb. These were hunting rifles not for varminting. Lucky my gunsmith has a good supply of Ruger springs and brought the pull weights up around 3lbs.

I try for around three pounds. Just respect a light trigger. I would not carry it with a round chambered in cold weather.

I like 2lbs.

Two (2lbs) I had adjusted a Tikka 223 down to 1 1/2lbs for ground hogs one summer, started running the coyotes early & I
Never re-adjusted?! 🤡 There goes the yote, dogs close behind, going straight away, easy Peezy, fired two (2) rounds before the cross hair was anywhere near were I wanted it???? Went home that night fed the dogs & went straight to the gun room & put it back to two lbs & will never adjust a hunting gun lower ( ever ) its quiet disheartening when a gun goes off before yr ready!!! 🐾👣

Both my rifles are set at twenty ounces.

My big game rifles are set at about 3 lbs.

My big game and coyote rifles are all set at 22-24 ounces. Varmint (whistle pigs and poodle poppers) set at 8 ounces.

1.5 lbs

What pull weight do you prefer?........... On a hunting rifle I'd have to say in general, about 3.5 lbs..... One that has a good, clean predictable break. I've got triggers from about two pounds to over six on some mil-surps as verified by my Lyman digital gauge. Some break so clean but are higher than I would have guessed so I sometimes think I'm not so good pontificating about triggers because some of the higher poundage ones still feel good to me, just in the way they break.

Nobody benefits from premature discharges. Even when I first started I have never had the problem being able to last as long as needed for precise shot placement.

For a hunting rifle, and that's what mine are, somewhere between 3 and 3 1/2 pounds usually is best for me. I don't like them much lighter than that, because when hunting in cold weather and wearing gloves, I think a trigger can be set too light.

My favored pull weight depends upon what I am doing with the rifle. If the gun only goes to the range, light is OK. If it is a varmint rifle, light is OK. for big game, especially in cold weather, around 3 lbs is right. For me, light means two pounds and under.

After being able to caress a 1 1/2 oz trigger on a BR rifle, I am very trigger sensitive. Triggers above 2lbs allow me to shoot high as I pull hard and the muzzle rises.
1 1/2 ponds for me. I never pull the trigger with gloves or have my finger on the trigger until it is time to lite it off.

I own and shoot rifles with pulls from eight ounces to around 5 pounds. A lot depends on what the rifle's going to be used for. My benchrest rifle's pull is eight ounces, most varmint rifles around 2 pounds, and most of my big game rifles around 3 to 3.5, but a lot also depends on the crispness of the pull. I have an old Winchester lever rifle with a very nice 5-pound pull, that everybody I've had try the pull guess at 3-4.

I also have a few rifles with set triggers, both single and double-set. Mostly they're used with the trigger set, but one of the more interesting is the single-set trigger on my Heym SR-21 .300 Winchester Magnum. Unset, the pull is a very nice 2.5 pounds. When set it's 9 ounces.

Not a gun writer, but 3 lbs for plains game magazine rifles, 4 lbs for dangerous game magazine rifles. Double rifles are a whole different thing, as the rear trigger (left barrel) is set heavier than the front trigger (right barrel) to prevent doubling. I don't change double rifle trigger pull weights, leaving them as set by the factory.

2.5lbs on my rifles

3-4 pounds is about right.


Okie John