Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Recommend a trigger pull gauge?

I’d like a trigger pull gauge to satisfy my curiosity about how heavy (or light) are the trigger pulls on my guns. A quick internet search tells me I can spend anywhere from $20 to well over $100.

What’s a decent trigger pull gauge that won’t break the bank?

I’m liking my $50 Teslong borescope I purchased based on recommendations from here on the fire, so I figured this is the place to ask about a trigger pull gauge.

I use a variety of Wagner force gauges for measuing triggers and recoil springs.
They cost too much new, but I get them surplused by industry on Ebay.

$560 new
https://www.radwell.com/Shop?source...lZEw9hRYkfoxchyN3YdPqA_s9VRoCv_sQAvD_BwE


$25 used
https://www.ebay.com/i/333136624383?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1

I use a Timney spring gauge, which I've tested with check-weights and found pretty darn accurate. It also gets good reviews from various sources, indicating mine is not an aberration. You have to apply it correctly and consistently to obtain repeatable and accurate readings, which can take some practice, but with that caveat it works well enough for most of us.

I use five or six 1/2 lb lead weights on a heavy wire hook. Take the bbl action out of the stock and hang those weights on the trigger while making trigger adjustments until it just trips. I usually get the weight to just hang off the trigger and release with a slight touch.

I’ve used a 1st generation Lyman Digital Pull Gauge for years with great success.

2nd gen version is $45 at Opticsplanet, etc.

I've had an RCBS Premium for probably 20+ years. Back when I first got it the Highways Weights and Measures was one of our better customers. I asked the boss we dealt with there to check it for me, he said it was pretty much right on the money all the way thru the scale. I assume it still is. Good enough for me.

Recently bought the Wheeler Digital for some trigger jobs on double action pistol triggers. Very happy with it. Have an RCBS mechanical that I replaced.

+ 1 on the Lyman …. I've had mine around 14 years .

Don't expect to get the same reading twice in succession.

I've used a Brownells spring trigger gauge for quite a while. It's pretty accurate but adjustable (spring tension) and I calibrate it by hanging a known amount of weight to make sure it's correctly adjusted.

Which gauge are you talking about?

And how much difference are you talking about? +/- an ounce? +/- a pound?

RCBS gauge for me. I don't care if it might be off an ounce or two, makes no real world difference.

Also must add that many (if not most) triggers will vary some from pull to pull. In my experience how much depends on the trigger than an accurate gauge.

And the most consistent pulls are NOT always modern triggers. In my modest collection, one of the most consistent pulls occurs in a Marlin Model 1893 .32-40, made about a century ago. It breaks at 3 pounds 2 ounces just about every time.

I am not a gunwriter, however I use a Wheeler Trigger Pull Scale that has been compared to calibration weights in an instrument lab for an ISO 9001 certified company. The lab checks measurement tools to traceable measurement standards.

I also have a digital luggage scale that has been compared to similar calibration weights. I use it to measure overall rifle weight, and pull weights for my archery equipment.

In 20+ years as a research and test engineer, I've never seen simple instruments be so accurate and low cost until the past few years. Prior to that, most low cost spring scales needed to be calibrated before and after the measurement.

Same for me. It works perfectly fine..

As JB said, a big factor is using the gauge in a repeatable manner. This includes placing the gauge at the exact same spot on the trigger. I have a Lyman digital.

I adjust triggers to feel right, not to weight. Got curious one evening so I checked the trigger pull with a paper cup, some string, and a box of bullets for weights. Elegant - not. But the price was right for a one time deal and no waiting for delivery.

Me too. It's so simple even a cave man (me) can use it.

RCBS premium works for me.

Exactly... I give a damn about some gauge number. I set trigger pull where I know the feel, just before the trigger breaks, and some cushion for cold weather and gloves perhaps.