Been wrestling with whether to get a "Happy Trigger" from WWG at over $100 with shipping, a one-piece trigger from Dave Clay (which he is out of stock of until after the first of the year) or to just take matters into my own hands and go to work on that little sear trigger top part on my GS.
I chose the "work" and am I glad I did!
Now, first off, I am not suggesting this is for everyone. And I know many others have taken the plunge and can do this with their eyes closed (though I wouldn't recommend it).
But, for what it's worth, I did discover a few tricks to get a nice crisp 2.5 lb. pull on that 2-pc. factory trigger.
The full-cock hammer (lower) notch on my GS had a significant burr, which I very carefully removed and smoothed with a very fine small mill file, without changing the angle. Didn't polish either of the hammer notches much, just a quick touchup with 360-grit emery folded around a dull knife blade.
The sear, which I figured was easily replaceable at minimal cost, got the greater effort. Without altering the basic hammer notch engagement angle (very important), I took that same small very fine mill file and gently rounded off the upper edge of the contact surface and then gave it a bright polish on my 8" buffing wheel loaded with the white final-polish compound I use for polishing knife blades. Hold on to that little sear or it will go flying!
Then, put the GS back together and tried the pull a few times with the cross-bolt safety engaged (on safe). Then at full cock, pushed on the hammer spur hard to be sure I had good sear engagement. Even banged the butt on the floor a few times. All was well.
Went through this process two more times until I had the trigger pull I desired. First time took it from the factory pull of about 6.5 lbs. to almost 4 lbs., second attempt to about 3.5 lbs. and then finally got to my target of 2.5 lbs. on the third and final attempt. Easy to measure with a trigger pull gauge.
It's just plain metal-on-metal contact, just like the SAA handguns and requires patience and a bit of feel to remove just a tiny bit of metal with a few file strokes at a time and then hit it with the buffing wheel. Except for the 2-piece trigger, it is just like fine tuning a SAA handgun trigger pull, which I have done on numerous occasions.
Main thing is to keep the original angle so that the sear engages the hammer notch the way it was designed. Change that angle with sloppy file work and you are screwed. I also gently ground both sides of the sear a bit to make a smaller metal-on-metal contact surface.
Lastly, after all is said and done, full cock the hammer and push hard against the sear, bang the butt on the floor and whatever else to test the notch/sear engagement for stability.
Feel like I saved some decent money and had fun in the process. Not to mention, I learned a lot about the complete takedown of the 1895 Marlin action.
Also, while I was in there, I gently filed/polished the nose and cup of the follower and the sides of the recoil block to smooth the action just a bit more. She feeds much smoother now and that 2.5 lb. trigger pull is sweet. :grin:
