doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ideal Trigger Pull Weights

My apologies if this question has been "beaten to death" but is there a general consensus for ideal trigger pull weights on SxS and O/U game guns?

I know what I like on a competition clays gun ... a crisp break at 2 3/4lbs minimum to 3lbs maximum (both barrels) without any creep or drag

But what about a field gun. Would 3 1/4 & 3 3/4 (heavier second barrel to prevent doubling) be too light or just about right? It's open season on your psersonal opinions.

My opinion, after having a gun at 3 lbs is that it's fine for the range and too light for me to hunt with. I see no disadvantage in a pull around 4 lbs.

It seems most German 12s come in with trigger pulls that take a gorilla to pull. I'm not picking on the Krauts but, for some reason, their triggers tend to be really coarse. I generally rework them, trying to achieve about 4 on the right and 4 1/2 on the left. I think even 3 1/2 is too light for a field gun, especially in a 12.

Ditto Gil & Chuck's numbers. JL

I have plenty of field guns that are 3 & 3.5 Lbs. Anything mush beyond 4 - 4.5 Lbs is getting to heavy for me. I think lighter triggers take some getting used to and are not for everyone. I had a Browning P3 with a Miller trigger that was 2.5 Lbs. when I bought the gun and I found it to be dangerous in the field and had it changed.

Bill G.

IMO, they should be as heavy as they can be without being a detriment to your shooting. I don't think trigger pull is something to be described with "ideal" numbers. That is, don't set them to 3.1250 lbs in the shop just because you like nice round numbers and triggers that break like glass.

Use what works and, if they ain't broke, don't fix 'em.

5 lbs is too heavy-if the gun weighs 5 lbs, anyway.

There is more that goes into a trigger pull than the letoff effort, and no matter how many times I type that, I get an argument from people who think otherwise.

In wingshooting, the shot should be fired about the same time the buttplate hits one's shoulder. Hence, a shotgunner doesn't "squeeze" a trigger, like a rifleman does. The correct terminology is "tap". The exact number isn't all that critical, but, all the shotgunners field gun triggers should hover around the same number, or effort.

And the correct weight of a shotgun trigger's release is a little more than that of a fine rifles. I don't mind over 4 pounds, if the break is clean, without any overtravel to speak of, which seems to trouble me getting to the second trigger.
Best,
Ted

Interesting turn of events today. One of the two guns in question is a Ruger Gold Label SxS 12ga.,with a single selector trigger. I sent it to Briley after first calling their service department to make sure their gunsmith would be able to do a tune-up that would improve upon the factory trigger by reducing slack (take-up) and excessive over travel and get both sides to break at a crisp 3 1/4 to 3 3/4 pounds which I was told they would be happy to do. Guns were delivered on Friday the 13th, but when I called to followup today the gunsmith got on the phone and without even examining the trigger stated said he would not work on the Ruger even though it is a virtually factory new gun. While that was news to me, he gave me another mystery when he stated he has no problem working on the second gun which is an SKB O/U.
Anyone care to speculate as to why a company like Briley would have me waste my time and money shipping them a brand name gun only to turn around and refuse to work on it? Is the trigger on a Ruger a potential liability and the SKB is not?

It seems to me that any liability on working on triggers comes from the user/public, not the mfr.

there is more to a trigger pull than pure weight, a heavy pull can also be a good pull. There is too much misconception that a good trigger has to be a "hare" trigger!!! (pun intended)

Browning advise in their Field Service Manual for the Superposed that field guns specs are 4.5 to 5.5 lbs and Target Guns are 4.0 to 5.0 lbs. The Citori is also the same.

IMHO a pull of 5.5 can be also a good one, but it all depends on the weight of the gun and it must be drag free and not gritty - otherwise you just hate it !

another misconception is that if a trigger is set at a specific weight it will always release at that weight. There is always variation between pull weights, and even on good quality handbuilt guns this can be as much as a 1lb between the lightest and heaviest pull. Pull weights need to be averaged out over a minimum of 10 trigger releases - anything less doesn't usually give a true indication...

Fish weighing scales are also not that accurate - their spring mechanism messing up pull readings - if you want a true and accurate reading a dead weight pull is the only way to go.

These work on the basis that ounce weights are added to the pull scale until the weight is reached which the trigger releases at - you then know exactly to the ounce what the true release weight was for that pull.

A simple "dead weight" pull scale can be made from bent wire, the gun is then sat on its butt and ounce weights added until the trigger releases.

Jonty