How to get slop out of single trigger

[mec0621]

Hey all, I bought a used custom longrifle a few months ago and it has a Siler lock and single trigger. The trigger just flops back and forth a lot even when at full cock. It releases fine but the sloppiness just bothers me. Is this normal and if not what is the fix for it? Thanks for any help you can give

 

[TDM]

What I have done is weld an additional piece of steel to the trigger arm. Then file it down to the correct contact point with the sear to eliminate the slop. You could do the same by brazing or silver soldering. Or make a new trigger. If your trigger is pinned in the stock you can raise the pin hole.

 

[64Springer]

You need to find out what's causing the slop.

Too much material taken off of the trigger? Too much material taken off of the trigger slot in the stock? Too much material taken off the slot in the trigger plate?

Determine where the slop is coming from, then you can work on a remedy. Install a new trigger. Tight up the slot in trigger plate. Shim the trigger slot in the stock. Etc.

 

[oldwood]

The way I've taken the play out of a single trigger ,is to adjust the trigger pull weight first , then install a hair spring to lift the trigger slightly against the sear to take the "free play" , out of the trigger. I put up with this creepy trigger ,'cause all the rifles I learned to shoot with as a kid had creepy triggers. I don't use "set" triggers , because I once sold my competition rifle to a friend , and he almost shot a fellow because he had set the trigger when a deer came by , then forgot he had left the gun on "full cock" ,and BOOM. Don't know what he was smoking that day , but scared me near to death.

 

[Grenadier1758]

@mec0621, is the trigger built into the trigger plate or is the trigger held in place by a pin in the stock. If the trigger pull is acceptable, then the slop, while annoying, can be considered normal. It is quite an example of the skill set of the builder to get slop out of a single trigger when the trigger is pinned to the trigger plate. It is a bit easier if the trigger is pinned in the stock. The pin should be about 1/4" to 5/16" from the sear lever and about the same height to get the 2 to 4 pound trigger pull and to minimize the looseness in the trigger. You don't have the luxury of adjustment if the trigger is integrally pinnned to the trigger plate.

 

[waksupi]

The contact bar can be peened to widen it a bit, or weld or solder on a piece of steel, then smoothed. You do want some free slack left though, if you are ever hunting in rain and snow. Wood swells, and the gun won't stay on full cock sometimes if there is actual contact.

 

[oldwood]

To add to my above post , I don't use triggers pinned to a trigger plate. As Grenadier says, trigger pinned to the stock is easier to adjust. Making a sheet metal trigger plate , allows the builder to fix the trigger pull weight, and save all the money possibly spent on an expensive casting. $15 to $30+ unnecessarily spent. And another thing ,some of the trigger castings , are so top to bottom high , using them makes the wrist profile to tall , where it should be an oval shape.

 

[waksupi]

To add to my above post , I don't use triggers pinned to a trigger plate. As Grenadier says, trigger pinned to the stock is easier to adjust. Making a sheet metal trigger plate , allows the builder to fix the trigger pull weight, and save all the money possibly spent on an expensive casting. $15 to $30+ unnecessarily spent. And another thing ,some of the trigger castings , are so top to bottom high , using them makes the wrist profile to tall , where it should be an oval shape.

They are left high to be cut to the needed height.

 

[Erwan]

The trigger just flops back and forth a lot even when at full cock.

All you need is a small piece of piano wire and a pair of pliers: the bend formed by the piano wire will be enough to maintain the contact and avoid any floating of the trigger tail...
Maybe I didn't understand your problem well (language barrier)...

 

[Red Owl]

What you have is a historically correct trigger. Because modern triggers don't swing around manufacturers of black powder arms often put a very weak coil trigger in the lock to keep it in place but that is not PC.

 

[mec0621]

Yes it is pinned to the stock. Thanks for all of the info, this site is awesome

 

[Red Owl]

Having the trigger pinned to the stock was the traditional method. The modern "improvement" of having tabs on the trigger plate and pinning the trigger between the tabs- that creates a very low pivot position and usually a heavy trigger pull.
There are a lot of photograph type albums for sale these days on antique arms. On the opposite side, very often if you look below the side plate you'll see a pin- that's the trigger pin, running through the stock.

 

[Rob M.]

Well .... If the lock is tuned correctly , and they never are , then the trigger can be adjust to have little to no slop in any position and your all done ....but this has never been the case for me yet so ...... What I do is adjust the trigger for the half cock position . It is the position that the gun will be carried in when hunting so is the most important spot to have no slop . There are a couple ways to take out the slop . You can put a brass wedge in front of the trigger in the slot and file it unit l the trigger is where you want it to be , but sometimes this will not work as the trigger is toofar back so you have to ho the other route which is to blacken the dear arm and see where it hits the trigger , then remove the trigger and at that spot use a small ball peen hammer and raise that metal a bit , taking up that space and taking out the slop . Reinstall trigger and check fit and function . If you go too far file it a bit .Make sure the sear locks in each position correctly