Q: What's Typical Method To Reduce Trig Pull on a Lever Rifl

[RANisbet]

Hope there is a knowledgable "smith" out there that can answer the question.
I would expect there to be a few ways it can be done, but a "great" gunsmith will know the best method.
I have a Marlin 39A and a Winchester Model 71.
Both have trigger pull near or above 4 Lbs, which is about a pound more than I like.

Bob Nisbet

[Nath]

All my leverguns (4) have been done by me and a stone.

Bolt guns to.

Some don't need anything on a bolt gun, just a lighter sear spring.

Some lighten the main hammer spring on a lever, I don't rate that.

Nath.

[JB]

I'm not any sort of gunsmith, much less a great one, but you can smooth up the trigger and sear areas fairly easy. That won't make a huge reduction in pull, but it can smooth things out a great deal. Be careful not to change angles or remove too much metal. You just want to polish parts, not remove metal to the point you make something unsafe or cut through the hardened surface into the softer metal below.

To me it's normally much easier to get a good trigger on a bolt action rifle than a lever gun.

[new pig hunter]

I'm a "garage gunsmith" and have found, the same as the other gents, that smoothing anything & everything that touches/slides/glides will made a large difference in trigger pull. I use both medium- and hard- Arkansas stones, and 2,000-grit sandpaper.

Most recently I did a trigger job on a friend's Marlin lever action. Upon disassembly I found machining marks that were more like deep serrations. After some work on the Arkansas stones the trigger pull was quite noticeably smoother and a trip to the range showed the smoother trigger pull to be much better for improved accuracy.
Also, the bolt of the rifle was 2,000-grit sanded to polish it's surface, the part of the lever which touches/interfaces with the bolt was sanded smooth (it had huge machining marks), and the groove in which the ejector slides was sanded smooth. The levering action "feel" was greatly improved.

Cheers,

Carl

[KCSO]

If you want to do it right you will want a good magnifier, medium and fine ark. stones and either a very steady hand or a stoning jig. Disassemble the rifle and remove the sear and the hammer. On the hammer you will stone the full cock notch completely smooth, I use and 18 power lighted magnifier to check the surfaces. You will NOT change the angle on the hammer unless the hammer cams back as the trigger is pulled. If you remove more than say 2 thou of material you will need to check the hardness and re harden if necessary. On the sear you will also stone it smooth and stone a slight clearance angle. When the hammer and sear look smooth at 18X you will be good to go. On some guns the sear spring will be way to stout so buy and extra and then<THEN< start lightening the spring by wet grinding so you don't lose the temper. Always grind the spring lengthways and then polish the spring. Any crossways marks on the spring are potential break spots. Done right 2 1/2 ponds SAFE is obtainable. Done wrong any weight from 2oz to 10 pounds UNSAFE is also possible.

Stone sets will run about $40 each from Brownell's for the cheapies and I have ONE stone that cost me over $30, but is invaluable for hammers.

If you are doing this for yourself and you goof up it's no big deal but if you are doing this for someone else you NEED to have them sighn a waiver of liability and insurance would be a good idea.

Now you know why a trigger job costs so much!

[Lefty Dude]

Many a good lever-rifle's trigger & sear have been ruined by an arm-chair Home Gunsmith.

If you DIY, go slow and easy. Do not be rushed.

Marlin's and Winchesters can be difficult because of the slop/creep in the pull. 1892's are much easier to obtain.

My 92's have much better triggers than the marlin & Winchester.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned reducing the trigger spring. Some respond well to this. Reducing the trigger spring on most Rossi 92's will drop as much as 2#'s. Others like the late 94's with the rebound hammers excessively heavy hammer springs, reducing the trigger spring doesn't help that much.

[J Miller]

All but one of the trigger jobs done on my lever action rifles have been the polish and stone type, with some minor adjusting of the trigger / sear and trigger stop fingers of that spring. None of them were done by cutting coils from the OEM spring or altering it or installing an aftermarket lighter spring.
This included the first rebuilding hammer action in my 85 vintage 94AE Trapper.
The one lone exception was my Rossi Puma that was so overly sprung it absolutely needed a lighter spring. With the factory spring even polishing and stoning of all the moving contact surfaces would not do it. A 19# Wolff spring for Ruger BHs fit perfectly and gave me the trigger pull I desired.

I prefer to avoid cutting or altering hammer springs when I can, but with modern guns, it's sometimes not possible.

Joe