Trigger Pull. Tempest in a tea cup?

All depend what game you playing. Also tight related what is your LOP...
Handheld, from a tripod, from a bench rest.... I can say all different posture, different LOP and different TP. Plus the variations in between follow through or just tap it.

Aim mall, miss small, unless your trigger is too heavy

Yep, for me it is critical. I guess that years of BR shooting made me very sensitive to the weight and quality of the release.

Interesting comments.

I just bought a midgrade gun, top grade manufacturer.
It's trigger pull is the highest of all but one other of my air powered guns. BIG freaking deal..! Get used to it.
Not everyone needs 3oz. trigger pulls. The same, not everyone here has Olympic grade shooting skills.

Yeah, I've changed springs before. Sorry...cutting springs IS a placebo !!! It doesn't work like you think. You have to remove way too much material to get a "fake" light pull.
Look in a spring design book, see for yourself ! CHANGE the springs to do it correctly.

Back to my high pressure trigger pull gun. Yeah, I thought about buying a hand full of springs, and start swapping for a lighter pull. I've even used pen springs. Then I thought...just use your body to ADAPT. I'm not...an Olympic grade shooter. Hell, my best days are behind me. If I feel the need for a lighter trigger pull...I can always do some finger, strength exercises !!
Doesn't matter, it seems that even with the higher than normal spring load, I can still hit a decent bullseye with my new gun.

You know...mind over matter !!!

Mike

Trigger means alot for me. I upgrade any trigger i own. Better trigger is always better accuracy,especially on a moving target.

First aftermarket trigger was a Timney for a Remington 700. Bought cause I dropped rifle trying to lighten trigger.
This was a 300 ultra and was a true 500 yard hunting gun for The west and Alaska.
The next trigger that concerned me was on my Sako quad. This was my NRA silhouette gun and sporter benchrest and yes a lighter trigger matters. Would never spend the $400 plus on a Bix &Andy. I would now though if i get back into it. But now those triggers are pushing $600 now

But I have never experienced a trigger like the one on my newly arrived RAW hm1000x

A light crisp trigger pull definitely helps me with my accuracy and I am not a good shot as there is less movement/tension....

Shooting with a good trigger means that you don't have to spend as much attention on it. That means that the attention that you would have spent on trigger-pull can be used elswhere. Such as on a proper sight picture, stance, or grip.

The first thing any new (to me) airgun gets is trigger-work.

Cheers,

J~

DeanB said:

Not a trigger snob but I hate crappy triggers.. I hunt mainly so prefer triggers in at around 2# with a nice crisp break no drag or creep. I can shoot triggers that are bad to horrible but prefer not to as its very distracting squeezing a trigger for 30 seconds trying to make it break Plus by time it breaks the critter your shooting at could be moving when it does.

Click to expand...

I like the way you put it! I dislike anything over 2# for airgunning. I have one gun that started out at 5.5# ! It now worked down to 3# on it's own after 2yr.s worth of shooting ,plus I did some smoothing out of the trigger blade sharp sides that would give you a sore finger form shooting session ( from full to off reg, tube gun). Having been an automatics weapons trainer in a past life , I know you can learn to get along w/ heavy triggers. I don't want to deal w/ them if I can turn screws or change springs if easily done . I agree w/ the remarks of a blog writer from Pyr Air, there is no reason ,on any airgun, springer ,etc, we should deal w/ 5-8# triggers . I am a trigger snob & have specialty handguns w/ triggers under 1#, most revolvers between 2 & 4#, no rifle over 3#. Like said before , pulling through a heavy trigger on game could cause a bad hit or miss. Targets or plinking ,yes you can learn to overcome a crappy one unless it cause's pain,
not a good thing for new/ young shooters ! Trigger shoes can help if you can fit them.

Deal breaker !!!!!!
there out the door with a quickness if I can't get the trigger to my liking. Also I don't pay to much attention to what a good trigger is by the forums.. 1 person's great trigger most likely will not be mine.

The trigger is the main interface with the weapon. The better the trigger, the better the shot will be.

I do not mind a heavy trigger on a weapon as long as the break is clean. 2 - 3 lbs. is fine on PB's that I am lugging around in the field.

My trap gun has a stupidly light trigger but it never goes in the field. It is right around six ounces and breaks like glass. Still haven't broken a century straight yet. One of these days...

As long as the trigger is predictable you can use it. Of course the cleaner breaking triggers are the most accurate from a bench. But even an iffy trigger will work for most purposes.

For offhand shooting I like a much heavier pull. I "punch" the shot as I come across the target. A too light trigger goes off without my permission often. A bit more pull is much easier to control when timing a shot.

Springers tend to jump forward into your finger. A trigger with a hard wall behind the break tends to "hook" your finger on the shot. I think a trigger with a little room behind the break helps it be less "recoil sensitive". Most guys don't like a lot of room behind the break. But on a springer it can be helpful. Especially a hard kicker.

Depends on the specific airgun how tolerant I am of a mediocre trigger, for instance, a vintage SLR98 or any Theoben gas ram generally don't have a "great" trigger like the HW97, but with practice penny size groups at 25 yards are achieveable....I've shot many and their a joy to shoot, but for "guilt edge" accuracy, say .250" CTC at 50 or 60...or more...yards, it doesn't take very much movement of the cross hairs to produce a "flier"...not much at all. Without writing a book about it, for me...the better the trigger the better I can shoot.
(Taipan Veteran, and HW97's) They meet my standards.

The less HAND TENSION one needs to apply in getting shot to fire .... less will be the guns motion once it recoils from the shot & even when the recoil is quite small.
Recoil has many facets ... That of equal and opposite reaction "Newtons 3rd law of physics" or the muzzle blast pushing the gun rearward. Then you have what the Shooter is doing if his grip to said gun is light and loose the guns recoil is more natural to forces moving it and will generally shoot the same place over and over if the sequence is similar. NOW GRIP A GUN HARD and hold firm you how have placed TENSION and while it may look stable prior to shot, once recoil comes into play the "Tension" the shooter has placed upon said gun will now create motion not directly related to the recoil forces. This can move the gun off your POA before projectile leaves muzzle !!

*** Thus why Light / Match grade trigger normally also prove the more accurate as it removes "Tension" placed there by the shooter/operator of the gun.

I used to dislike bench shooting and only used it for making sure my guns were ready for the field.
I shot a 100 yard bench rest competition this year and got schooled hard. I joined an indoor league and have started to learn bench shooting techniques. Chief among them is trigger control and proper trigger pull. A lighter, quality trigger is a must if you are target shooting seriously and for hunting you may want something a bit heavier but still something that breaks clean with very little to no creep.
I will be spending more time on a bench and constantly working on trigger pull.

I do maintenance if it's heavy, gritty, or somehow feels irregular. A lot of times a trigger and sear assembly just requires a decent cleaning, a check for burrs, odd wear or drag marks, and then applying a little lube on the bushings, pins, and on the sliding surfaces. Other times, with odd wear or drag marks, a good polishing really helps.

I've got a couple of vintage pumpers and a few PCPs. I've had my Benjamin 397 for 30 years and I've shot a lot of game with it. Never thought about the trigger. Fast forward 20 years and I get my Benjamin Marauder, with the nicest trigger I never thought about (sans lawyer spring). I often shoot both in the same session and what I can say is this: I get accustomed to the wildly different triggers easily, possibly because I've shot both guns so much, but the Marauder trigger is fantastic compared to the old 397.
The 397 can be forgiven its harsh trigger due to its vintage status and the fact that it is a proven hunter over and over. I can accept a less than stellar trigger in a vintage airgun as long as it is typical of the model and not a defect. When I look at new PCP airguns, I start with guns that have a reputation for a good trigger.

Having shot a wide variety of rifles ranging from cheap springers to old military rifles to fine 10 meter airguns I've experienced all kinds of triggers.

As long as the trigger is not overly heavy, creepy or gritty, if it's consistent, I can get used to it and use as is. Unacceptable triggers will be cleaned, deburred, polished and shimmed as required to make them smooth and consistent.

I've repaired too many triggers that have been lightened to the point of being dangerous. In many cases, there's a point where too light a trigger hurts accuracy rather than helps it.

In controlled situations like 10 meter, bench and long range high precision shooting, light triggers make sense. But not on a rifle used when wandering around hunting small game.

These days many airguns have adjustable triggers and often sport really fine 2-stage match triggers. This is great if they are adjusted to suit the application, not set to a couple of ounces just because can be.

I'm a bit concerned with manufacturers shipping airguns with triggers set very light - like a couple of ounces light! My new HM1000x trigger was factory set to 4.5 ounces! I'm used to light triggers on my 10 meter airguns so no problem for me but, IMHO, that's way too light for the average shooter. I've experienced that with other brands as well. Think that the manufacturers should ship airguns with more moderate trigger weights and have the shooter adjust to their application and trigger experience dictates.

Anyway, I'm not a trigger snob. I do appreciate a nice match grade trigger but am perfectly fine with most half-decent triggers on the market.

Cheers!