Handi trigger test

[Donaldo]

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Got my Handi trigger job tested today. Stopped by my gunsmith's today to pick up some cerrosafe chamber casting metal. Took my Handi 223 with me to have him test the trigger weight. WOW  1.5 lbs. Average of about 4 pulls, ranged from 1.25 to 1.7, with two at 1.5 exactly. Now that is what I like, I am a happy camper now. Can't wait till the next day at the range. Looks like maybe Thur or Fri. 'Possed to snow tomorrow, I think, never know, this is Oklahoma. Snow in the morn, sunshine and 50 degrees in the afternoon. Or the other way around. Cast a couple of chambers today. One was the Handi 223. Some interesting things going on. Will post them tomorrow maybe.

[marv]

Hello DonaldO
 Wish I had my trigger pulls down around 2 to 3 Lbs.
 Your  1 to 2 lbs is near hair trigger, Did you do it yourself?
 Best of Luck Marv.

[olredhead]

Hey Donaldo congrats on the fine trigger job. I did mine a few weeks ago, don't have a scale but probably dropped it by a lb or so, trouble is now I have a tad of creep I never noticed before. Is this caused by my not keeping the sear perfectly flat when polishing or maybe the stones corners weren't square? I've still got a pretty heavy pull so would I be safe to try again? Also you mentioned cutting a coil off the trigger return spring, do you have to cut a full coil off or will a partial cut still fit?   thanks for sharing    redhead :roll:

[MarkA]

Donaldo: I think it sounds GREAT!  A light trigger on a NEF is really the moral equivalent of two set triggers.  Ya gotta cock it first, so the danger is greatly reduced.

[Donaldo]

Mark A.
Yep you are right just like a set trigger.  The first time I went thru the Handi trigger.... after assemble, cock it and bang the butt on the floor and it would trip the hammer, course the trigger had not been pulled so the transfer bar was not up.  No fire in the hole but was scarry to be that light.  Went back in and streached the trigger return spring about 3/16 inch, this cured the bang fire.  Now it is very light and crisp.  It does have just a slight smidge of creep.  So little you can hardly detect it but this slight amount does let you know that the next thing that is going to happen is a drop of the hammer.  that is OK with me.  Yes I did it all by myself.  I am however not exactly foreign to triggers as I modified two Mauser triggers in the past for overtravel and engagement by welding small lugs on the original trigger and tapping them for small adjustment screws.  They were better but nothing like a true adjustable trigger.  I have Timney and Bold on my bolt rifles.  They are set about as low as they will go, estimate 1.5 to 2.0 lbs.  Makes a world of difference if how they shoot.  I think if you do a Handi trigger job, the one thing no one has mentioned is that you need some kind of magnifier to see what you have and how you are progressing.  I suggest getting a cheap eye loop of about 10X power. Take a good look, the surface looks like it has a bunch of small pits that drag on each other.  The object is to get rid of these pits and have smooth metal in contact.  I think they must tumble these items after casting to get rid of the excess burrs, etc.  I use 400, 600 and 1000 or 1200 grit wet or dry sand paper for all that kind of work.  Lay it or glue it to a 1/4 or 1/2 inch glass plate or steel plate, something absolutely flat.  Do your sanding/polishing on this.  I don't trust the stones, I have two but can't really see what I am doing with them.  Go slow, don't take off much that effects the amount of engagement between the hammer and trigger sear.  Mostly just polish these surfaces.  I don't recommend taking a coil off the trigger return spring.  Mine was probably light enough as it was, as I had to restreach it after I shortened it.  There are lots of things you can do to a Handi in trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear.  Therein lies the fun.  I will have this thing shooting sub minute of angle all of the time before I am thru with it.  I have done a couple of new things to it thatI have to evaluate at the range before reporting on.   Have fun....but be careful.    

[quickdtoo]

The first one I did, I cut the trigger spring, it was too light so I put a new spring in that was the same length as the original but slightly lighter, it came out at 2lb,3oz. All I use on the contact points is a ceramic hone from a Lansky knife sharpening kit, it has extremely fine texture and has a glass like sharp edge, so it works perfect for honing the contact surfaces and there's no need to look at the work with a magnifiying lense, you can easily see the chrome like surface once it gets good and it doesn't take that long to do. If I were to guess what grit the ceramic hone is, I'd have to say it was somewhere near 4000 or higher in comparison to 1200 w/d that I have.

http://www.knivesplus.com/lansky-knife-sharpener-lk-s1000.html