Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Recognise this trigger? - on a pre-64 M70

I'm in the process of building a hunting rifle round a pre-64 M70 action. All going well but I've a little mystery I'd like some help with. The trigger on this action is non-std judging by the exploded views I've seen of M70s. It functions fine but is definitely over-heavy. I'd prefer someone with hands-on experience to guide me here. Very familiar with M700 trigger adj but this is very foreign territory



thanks
Chris_NZ

The front top screw is the trigger weight screw. The bottom is for over travel. The rear is sear engagement. After you adjust it, make sure the safety works.

Do you set sear, overtravel, and then weight with that one?

I'll first try the weight one alone Malm but will def check it doesn't slamfire

thanks
Chris_NZ

If it is functionaing fine other than weight then that is the way to go. I have no experience with that trigger, but have seen them. I would have thought the top front adjustment would be overtravel, but trust Malm completely.

Me too, but I just did an identical one last week and the top screw had the spring behind it. When I adjust them I give it enough spring to hold the sear in place and then set the engagement. Then I set the weight of pull and last but not least, the over travel.

Chris NZ, with the Winchester 70, the position of the cocking piece is critical to the function of the safety. These triggers don't always hold things in the exact position the original trigger did and thus it is essential that the safety be tested thoroughly to make sure it functions in all positions. Cock the bolt, engage the safety, pull the trigger a few times and then release the safety, it had better hold. If it doesn't, seek professional help as parts are difficult to obtain.

Found your latest posting Malm just as I was about to give you feedback on the adjustments- quite prophetic.

I barely backed the weight screw off and found the sear engagement was dangerously low- it would slamfire with only medium cocking speed. This would explain my observation that (pre-adjustment), if you applied the safety, pulled the trigger then released the safety slowly, it would fire!

Increased the engagement by only maybe 1/4 turn and the problem was fixed. I backed the pressure off a bit and it's definitely better. There's now a very slight creep but it's probably best to live with that rather than a dangerously low engagement/faulty safety

Chris_NZ

With this or any other trigger it is a good idea to be sure the sear isn't the first thing to contact when the bolt is slammed forward. The extraction cam should contact first and the sear should be loaded by contact with the cocking piece only as the bolt handle is lowered. This makes it possible to reduce sear engagement safely without the risk of slamfires or damage to the sear surface. GD

Can you elucidate further Greydog?
Procedure?

Chris_NZ

This is what one of my gunsmiths suggested you meant Greydog:

"the angled front face on the bolt should
touch the angled face on the rear of the receiver that creates the
primary extraction before the sear starts engaging."'

Is he correct?

Chris-P