How do you eliminate trigger pre travel?

[robalo23]

Working on my AO, Ive installed a Wilson Combat trigger and C&S sear/disconnect/hammer kit. The trigger travels quite a bit before comming tight against the sear. Is there any way to adjust this out?

[Joni Lynn]

Yes and no.
It wouldn't be easy since it would require something like building up the material on the back of the trigger bow to effectively make it longer thus shortening the trigger stroke.
With your gun on it's half cock notch is there some amount of trigger free play?
There needs to be some there to prevent problems

[robalo23]

Yes there is. hard to measure but its about 1/32 to 1/16

[Joni Lynn]

My advice is to leave it alone, if that play is taken down too far or removed entirely then it's sort of like having the trigger partially pulled already when the gun closes, at some point it might go full auto like one of mine did that had no play. It ended up beside my head with some of my hair and a round all jammed up. (I'm a leftie)
Most will have some movement, especially with the hammer down and some with the hammer fully back but they much have some at the half cock notch otherwise the sear might not catch that notch.

[Hawkmoon]

Yes there is. hard to measure but its about 1/32 to 1/16
That's your idea of "quite a lot"?

The STI pistol we're currently testing has 1/8" of take-up (or "pre-travel," if you prefer). I measured it just yesterday. 1/32 is nothing. You NEED some take-up, to ensure that the sear is free to reset fully.

[ElrodCod]

Working on my AO, Ive installed a Wilson Combat trigger and C&S sear/disconnect/hammer kit. The trigger travels quite a bit before comming tight against the sear. Is there any way to adjust this out?

Yes, but you 'd need a trigger with the pre-travel tabs.

[niemi24s]

As a Bullseye shooter, I like a fair amount of pre-travel: gives my trigger finger something to fiddle with while waiting for the targets to turn during the timed and rapid fire events. :p

Cheers

[robalo23]

Well I guess Ill leave well enough alone. Im not really impressed with the wilson trigger so down the line I'll replace it and hopefully get one with a little longer bow. but for now it is good enough.

[niemi24s]

get one with a little longer bow
IIRC, somebody reported on a trigger with trimmable take-up tabs a month or two ago in this Forum, but I don't remember who made it. Maybe a site search will reveal it for you.

Cheers

[Hawkmoon]

I believe the trigger with the adjustable tabs for take-up is from Chip McCormick.

[Mgonz45]

I believe the trigger with the adjustable tabs for take-up is from Chip McCormick.
I may be mistaken but doesn't Kunhausens' book explain a way to remove take up in his book ? For some reason I remember reading that in there, I believe he "dimpled" the trigger bow. I may be wrong I'll have to go dust off the book and read it again.

[Hill]

Most of the triggers that have zig-zag bows also have a pretravel tab to bend a little. Dlask has it, so do the triggers sold by Fusion which may well be Chip McCormick or another known brand.

If you go with one with tabs be real careful that the bent tab can't hang in the trigger channel.

[niemi24s]

Got to thinking a bit about Robalo23's plight: how to get rid of pretravel without, maybe, getting a new trigger. Never tried this, but here's how I think I'd do it:
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p232/niemi24s/scan0014a.jpg
Screw size selected for about 2 threads in the bow material.

Somebody mentioned Kuenhausen's dimpling procedure, but I'd probably just end up distorting the bow badly doing it that way.

Anybody done it this way - or think it would (or wouldn't) work?

[jgelnn]

a smalll spot welder works very well in the same area you are looking to add the screw. done quite a few bullseye triggers with that method years ago.

I use one originally designed to be used on Glasses frames

[Hill]

Tig with low amps, maybe 10a, to add a spot wouldn't be too difficult.

Neimi, things that could come loose in there would make me nervous, but that's just me. I think a small screw could be put in as you describe but you'd likely only need one to act as a forward stop.

[niemi24s]

Hi Jgelnn: :wc: to the forum!!

Your way is no doubt the best - durable and could never (I guess) come loose. But, I don't have a suitable welder and if I did I'd probably burn the bow right in half!

A welder for spectacle frames, huh? Sounds like a handy thing to have. The only welder of sorts I've got is a home-made, capacitor-discharge spot welder for welding together thermocouple wires.

Hi Hill: You're +1 with being nervous about one of the screws coming loose. I should have said that procedure is not recommended for a carry gun.

But for a range gun owned by someone with limited DIY resources (like me), it might do the trick. Maybe.:p

Cheers

[Jolly Rogers]

IIRC, somebody reported on a trigger with trimmable take-up tabs a month or two ago in this Forum, but I don't remember who made it. Maybe a site search will reveal it for you.

Cheers

My STI trigger has the bow notched and the tabs. Nice trigger as it is the shortest LOP I've found that is skeletonized. Black nylon(?) shoe.

Joe

[log man]

While excessive pre-travel can be an irritation, .045" should be considered minimum for proper function and re-set. In addition to the other ideas which would all work well, a bump of soft solder is also a reasonable and simple nondestructive method. A trigger with very little or no pre-travel is likely to cause hammer follow due to trigger bounce.

LOG