Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Preferred trigger weight

What trigger weight is ideal to you in a hunting rifle? I like a lighter weight between 1.5 and 2.5 lbs for a hunting rifle.

2.5 to 3 but 2.5 works best for me.

Depends on the trigger. If it has very little travel and breaks with no stacking, a 3lb trigger feels really light in a hunting rifle. It's often schitty cold when I'm hunting though, and half-numb hands don't do well with light triggers. If I am hunting in warmer weather, a 2-2.5 lb trigger is nice and effective. If there is a bit of creep with some stacking, I could get away with a 2.5 lb trigger in cold.

I stuck a 1.5 lb trigger with no creep on the rifle I used this past year, just to test out the concept, and it was too light for me and for my son. I'm going to move it to a varmint rifle.

Trigger pull is a subjective thing. I was sitting with the boys at Timney many years ago and they got my old Ruger to a beautifully crisp 3 lbs. Then they moved it down to 2 1/2 and said, "try this." Thirty seconds later it went back to 3 lbs and it's been there ever since! For me, as long as there's no creep I'm good with 3 lbs or even a little heavier.

3-4 lbs.
Light triggers and frozen fingers are not a good mix for a hunting rifle IMHO.

I like it to go off when I just shake it a bit or release the safety.




Seriously, I like about 2.5-3.0 lbs.

This^^^ And throw in medium weight gloves. It's one thing to sit on a stand with a light trigger. Still hunting in rough country I set mine around 3 1/4 lbs.

I like a crisp 3.0 lb trigger on a hunting rifle....Hb

2.5-3 for me as well on a hunting rifle.

All my hunting rifles are set at 3.25 pounds. They are good triggers with no take up and almost no over travel. Break like glass. Mainly Tikkas and Brownings. Get to know your triggers.

Prefer 2.5 lbs. However, as noted. above, a crisp 3 lb trigger is workable. Had an SG&Y rifle one time with a very light Jewell. Could never shoot it accurately...

Light rifles, 2.25 lbs. Otherwise, 2.75 lbs.

Hunting rifle 2.5lbs. Varmint rifle 1.5lbs.

Full auto bolt action......

I like consistency between my rifles, so I use 1.5 lbs on everything. My finger doesn't touch the trigger until I want the rifle to fire, so 1.5 lbs works well for me, whether hunting in deep freeze temperatures or shooting matches in desert conditions.

Yes, light rifles need light triggers for accuracy. In cold weather like Canada, I wear loose gloves or mitts so I can grab on with my teeth and slip my hand out while holding the rifle. 2.25 lbs. seems perfect.

1.5 lbs

.
Same here.

Woodchuck rifles ( warm weather use): about 2.5 #

Deer rifles (cold weather use) : 3.0 - 4.0+++. #

As long as it is a "reasonable pull weight", crisp, consistent, with minimal over travel, I'm ok with 3 -4 # or thereabouts. Shoot anything often enough, and you get used to it. My 1976 Marlin 336A 30-30 bone stock factory trigger is about 4.75#. It breaks clean and it is very familiar. No issues in current form, nor any desires to reduce weight. The rifle shoots WELL under 1.5 moa as is.

I seem to remember reading that US military sniper rifles were set up with 4.0 # trigger pulls, to allow for stress of situation/combat / adrenaline to not cause too early discharge with a lighter trigger pull. If so, they seem to do just fine with 4# trigger pulls.

FWIW, CMP service pistol " leg match" competition require A 4.0 # minimum trigger pull for the event (slow, timed, rapid fire), and they do just fine with that draw weight.

I think it is evident that it is more important to have a "good" trigger, and not just a " light" trigger.

I usually set my hunting rifles at 3 - 3.5 lbs. They have to break clean with no travel. Prairie dog and gopher rifles are set to break clean at no more that 1.5 lbs. And they must be safe....

I thought 1.5 was OK for a deer gun, for years.
Even in the cold.
But I worked under microscopes back then and had a pretty fine touch.

Years later, diff job, banging on stuff all the time, now 1.5 seems too light.

All of the above are about what I would go for as well. I do appreciate the single-set trigger on the CZ 527- you can shoot it like normal at around 3 lb but, if you toggle it forward the break goes to about 1.5 lb.

2.5 pounds on just about everything except for my lightest rifles. Those seem to do better for me set at 2 pounds..

dave

hunting in the cold weather in Minnesota by the Canadian border fingers get cold and don`t feel triggers so easy then, so 3 - 5 lb. triggers work safer for me

3-4 for me. I rarely hunt with gloves, but my hands do get cold enough to lose a little feel. I have never been overly picky about triggers though.

I agree with this with one exception...........Hunting with an AR you don't have the option of this light of a trigger staying single stage

A crisp 2.5lbs on all my rifles. My finger does not need to be re-educated, no matter which rifle I pick up that day.

For my varmint rifles 2.5 lbs, for my big game rifles 3 lbs, for my rifles that are bigger than .375" I like about 4 lbs.

True. I was referring to bolt rifles, but I do have a bunch of non-bolt rifles with heavier triggers due to the lack of trigger options.

Like others, in a hunting rifle 3 to 3.5. Gloves and cold hands don't go well together with a light trigger. My BSA MKIII 22LR has a 12 ounce trigger pull. On a bench rifle I prefer very light pulls.

1.5lb on all my Tikkas. Could only get my rap 260 rem to 2.5lb with the lightest spring I could find.
Big Ed

This is about the same as I like. A lot depends on how the rifle is being used. Sitting in a stand or fogging varmints is a lot different than sneaking through the thick stuff or following up wounded game whether it bites back or not.
I've had target pistols set <1lb and shot older military rifles that were probably 5lb+ with lots of take up and over travel. You just have to learn to adapt to what you have in hand or what the use of the rifle dictates.

28oz on my triggertechs

1.5-2lbs

2.25 - 2.50#

2.75# on most of mine.

3lb for big game

2.5-3# feels perfect to me.

3 pound works good.

Play guns lighter is nice, but for hunting guns I like to
be able to feel it pretty good. They still seem to go off without
really thinking about pulling.


A friend has a 6oz trigger on a 300mag.
Man is that nice to shoot offhand, once you get used to it.
But I would rather have 5# than 6 oz on a big game rifle

Me too. I don't want them much lighter than that. I've bought a couple of second hand rifles where the trigger was rediculously light, one was 1.2 lb. My gunsmith brought them back up to around three pounds with new springs.

#2.5

I have shot so many NRA Highpower matches that a little over 4# double stage feels right especially wearing gloves but, I also like my set triggers in warmer weather.

2.5 # for me. Tried lighter pull weights but didn’t care for them.
GreggH

I like 2lb more or less for varmint rifles, but for deer rifles where I might be hunting with cold finger I like 3 to 3 1/2 lbs.

Two and a half to three for me.

I spent many years shooting varmint rifles with triggers from 2-6 ounces for 6 months of the year. A light trigger doesn't bother me. Today, for hunting guns, I'm happy anywhere from 12 to 24 ounces depending on the weather and level of recoil. I find it difficult to manage heavy recoil where I have to take a pretty firm grip on the tang, yet do the very precise fine motor skills on the same index finger managing a light trigger. Yet I don't get along with heavy pulls. I'm also losing interest in heavy recoil so I guess it all works out.

2.5 - 2.75 #'s.

I normally am hunting with gloves on. I prefer 4 pounds

1-1.5lb for big game hunting. .5 for varmints.

I try to get a crisp 3.o lb pull on my big game rifles. We hunt in some nasty weather and I prefer a little more weight. My varmint rifles are set at 2.5 lbs. @.0 lbs if they are safe that low.

1.5# on all my rifles.

2.5 - 2.75