HELP- How to make trigger heavier on Rem 541-T

[mannyrock]

 
Dear Guys,
 
    I have been searching for months for a high quality .22 bolt at a good price.  I ran across a Remington 541-T in a local shop.  It is virtually mint, and it includes Redfield steel mounts and rings.  The price is just $550.
 
   Here's the problem.   I put a gauge on the trigger, and the pull is right around 2 pounds.  That is way to light for me.  (I like them in the 4 pound class.)  The triggers on the 541-T are not adjustable.
 
   The guy in the store assured me that Timney (or "somebody") sells a replacement trigger for the 541-T.  I came home and looked on the net, and can't find anything.
 
   I don't necessarily want an adjustable trigger, just one in the 4 pound class.  (I'm a hunter and a 2 pound would be too scarey for me!)
 
   Is there any practical way for a gunsmith to do something with this trigger to make it heavier?  (Heavier springs?  Work on the sear?  Install a trigger system from a 541-S?)
 
   I'm glad to pay $100 or so extra if I buy the rifle to straighten this situation out, but I don't want to buy a problem.
 
  Thanks for all advice.
 
Mannyrock
 
 

[mannyrock]

 
Dear Guys,
 
   P.S. - This is a used 541-T, not new.  And, it has the sporter weight barrel.
 
   P.S.S.-  Just read an old Gun Test Article, that said the trigger  on the 541-T is fully adjustable.  Were they wrong?  Am I wrong?
 
   Thanks, Mannyrock

[charles p]

Some kind of very thick oil based goop on the trigger mechanism might help, until the dead of winter.

[Hooker]

If the gun passes all the trigger safety tests and will not fire unless the trigger is pulled I don't see an issue.
That is unless you have little or no feeling in your trigger finger.
2# is by no means a light trigger my Remington 700 deer rifle has a 1.5 # trigger it does not go bang unless I make it go bang.
Get some snap caps and practice dry firing everyday soon the 2# pull will not be so scary.
My Marlin has a 14 ounce trigger it's totally safe even the grandkids shoot it without problems.

Pat

[keith44]

you can increase the weight of the trigger return spring, and for a really atrocious pull rough up the sear with a file.


2# pull is about right on the 541 T, and yes there are some adjustments, but pull weight is not one of them that I remember.  You can increase pull length (sear engagement some, and have effectively a heavier pull, but you would lose some of the accuracy. 


I have to agree with Hooker here, as long as it passes the safety tests, learn to use the trigger as is, or find a 541 S same rifle with a slightly different stock, and heavier trigger. (Husqavarna had some built and labeled for store branded sales, but I do not remember the model number assigned)
[size=78%] [/size]

[Graybeard]

Trigger pull weight is adjustable on all of the several 541-Ts I've owned I haven't adjusted one in a lot of years as once it's done ya don't have to do it again. But it is as best as I recall adjustable from about one to four pounds.

[mannyrock]

 
Dear Guys,
 
    Thanks for all of the great info.  Looks like I am still getting a little conflicting info.
 
     After reading the foregoing posts, I drove back to the shop, and made the guy take the stock off.    The trigger assemble appears to plainly have three different adjustment screws in it.  One in the rear of the housing, near the bottom, and two at the front of the housing, near the bottom. 
 
     With these three separate adjustment screws, it seems hard to fathom that you can't adjust the weight of the trigger pull.   (In looking at the some gun board posts from 10 years ago, one fellow said exactly what Graybeard just said:  that the trigger on the 541-T is adjustable from 2 pounds up to 4.5 pounds.)
 
    The guy at the store told me that the triggers on the 541-S sport model is  adjustable, but that the triggers on the 541-T target model are not.  (I am tending to believe that he accidentally got it backwards.)
 
   The Clark Brothers Gunshop in Warrenton Virginia is about an hour away from me, and they do tons of custom and trigger work.  I  guess I'll ride over there and see what they say.
 
   Yea, I know that I'll lose accuracy with a heavier trigger.  But every other rifle I have ever owned had a 4 to 5 pound pull, and I don't want to have to learn or remember to shoot this one differently.
 
   Thanks again for all advice.
 
Mannyrock
 
 
 
 

[flintlock]

I agree with GB...I've got one, adjusted the trigger myself...If I remember correctly it's similiar to a 700 trigger...
 
Take it to a gunsmith and let him take care of it for you...
 
btw...You will love that gun...Mine will keep it's shots inside a dime at 50 yards...If the dealer has any 5 round magazines buy them as well as they are hard to come by...

[mannyrock]

 
Flintlock,
 
    Thanks for the confirm.
 
    I also heard from some benchrest guys, who said:  the Early 541-Ts had a fully adjustable trigger (3-screws), the Later 541-Ts had a partially adjustable trigger (2 screws, not adjustable for weight of pull).
 
    Thanks to all.
 
Mannyrock
 
   

[flintlock]

Well, mines later, they quit building them just a couple of years after I bought mine...

[Bugflipper]

If it looks like the one in the pic and has 3 screws just like has been said the pull weight is adjustable. The 2 screw triggers need a spring change to adjust weight.


Also a gunsmith can put a timney trigger for a rem 788 in a 541 with minimal modifications. That's probably what the fellow was meaning when he said there were aftermarket triggers for them.

[BruceP]

The guy at the store is somehow mistaken. Mine has the three screws and they ARE adjustment screws. I tend to like light triggers and mine is I believe at 1.5 lb. maybe a touch lighter. Mine feels lighter than it is because I did not like the narrow trigger and have a trigger shoe on it as well.
I don't know what the 541s triggers are like but the 581 triggers that I have seen were not adjustable. Maybe that is what he was thinking.

Bruce

[mannyrock]

Flintlock,
 
   Here is some additional good news.  If you have a 541 with a non-adjustable trigger, then you can replace it with a Timney adjustable trigger made for the Rem 788, with minor modifications.  One gunsmith told me that it was "simple".
 
  Hope this helps.
 
Mannyrock