brown bess trigger pull ?

pedersoli brown bess.
the gun is reliable and as accurate can be, but has a very heavy trigger pull.
what is the best way to lighten the trigger pull?
thanks
ou

Well, what I did with mine was to disassemble the lock, and taking a hard Arkansas stone, polish all the bearing surfaces including the inside of the lock plate. Everywhere that metal meets metal, can't help but make it better if that surface is polished and smoothed. Additionally, I removed about 1/3rd of the width of the sear spring (don't do this if you don't know what you are doing).....The theory being that there is less metal to move. Lastly, I slide my finger into the trigger guard to where the second joint of my finger is resting on the trigger. Your mileage may vary.

Keep your powder dry.

Everywhere that metal meets metal, can't help but make it better if that surface is polished and smoothed.

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Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

Be very careful when using stones or emory paper. Pedersoli has been inconsistant (from my observations) with some of their lock geometry in recent years, and if you modify the angle on the sear or the tumbler too much..., you can end up with a lock that falls from full cock.

Shouldn't be a real problem with a properly hardened tumbler, but you can booger a sear at the tip. I'd use some emory paper with a drop or two of baby oil, and stop as soon as both surfaces appear polished to the naked eye. You might also find that polishing the sides of the sear and the inner surface of the lock plate helps.

LD

I agree but if you read my post, I NEVER said emery paper. I only use a hard Arkansas stone to only polish not change the geometry of the lock surfaces. You can tell when a stone is cutting and when it is polishing....you can feel it in the stone( it comes with experience). No sir, I NEVER under any circumstances use emery paper, india stones, ceramic stones, or sand paper on ANY of my lock internals.

What others have said is good advice. I use stones and Ez-Lap diamond files for such work. Key is to go slow and try and try. This means reassembling, trying, dissassembling, stoning again and repeat and repeat as many times as necessary. Keep in mind the original BB had a hard trigger pull and some nit-picky reenactment groups might not allow one with a modified light trigger.

The Pedersoli Bess lock pull can be improved. I was lucky enough to get a used Bess Carbine with a reworked trigger pull. Mine is about 5 pounds and is a lot more manageable than right out of the box. I didn't do the work, but I am really glad someone did.

Many Klatch

the trigger pull even before the hammer is pulled back is quite heavy. it would seem the spring is too strong or maybe the geometry of the trigger may be wrong??
just some thoughts on weather those things need to be addressed first?

thanks
ou

Well, if you are going to work on the parts in the lock, by yourself, my suggestion is to get replacement parts before you start in case you mess up.

Just remember that most events that you go to will require you to be able to suspend the Bess by the trigger on half-cock and the lock not go off. So you need to make sure that the half-cock notch is left alone and that it engages the sear fully.

You will need to remove a tiny bit of metal, reassemble the lock, test the trigger pull and then do it over and over again until it suits you. You are probably looking at 8 hours of messing about.

Many Klatch

I agree but if you read my post, I NEVER said emery paper. I only use a hard Arkansas stone to only polish not change the geometry of the lock surfaces.

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I'm sorry as I was obviously unclear... I never mentioned that you intended to change the geometry of the internal parts, but folks who read these posts won't know that you have years of experience, and will try to polish not understanding what will and what won't work..., and if you don't know what you are doing you can inadvertantly round the angles on a sear is all that I was warning about.

LD

Loyalist Dave,

I agree hole heartedly with you on that point.

"have a good cow's knee and keep your powder dry"