timney trigger problem

GreenLantern

I have a gunsmith installed timney trigger on my Howa/Weatherby. I took the barrel/action out of the stock for cleaning. Now when I reassemble I've been having some problems with the trigger. I've tried reassembling multiple times and here are the issues I've ran into:

trigger won't pull at all ... almost like the safety is on trigger pulls, but is very heavytrigger is closer to the original 3 lbs, but definitely not 3 lbstrigger has a slight catch/travel to take up before releasing

Here are some pics. Sorry, digital macro mode was not working well this morning. It seems as if I don't tighten down the screw at the back of the floor plate by the trigger, then I don't have any problems. I get the impression the stock is sandwiching the trigger some but I'm just not seeing it visually.

Anyone run into similar problems like this before? I'm stumped.

charliemeyer007

The screw head in pic 4 appears to be damaged from a poorly fitting screwdriver. I think you would be better served to find professional help to restore proper function to your trigger before more parts are damaged.

Perhaps you lost a shim, binding caused by tightening the rear action screw is a sign.

added Well done Sir, happiness is a well functioning firearm.

update I'd look now. Someday you may be hunting out in the rain and will need to take it apart. Hold the floor plate and action in the stock while you remove the screw. Over a clean working area lift the action out and look at the areas where the screws were.

260

how does it function out of the stock? if it seems ok then it is binding when you tighten the action screws, or, the trigger could be binding inside the trigger guard. also, i agree with Charlie about the phillips screw. not a sign of professionalism.

dfletcher

Something is amiss with that Phillips head screw anchoring the trigger housing to the action.

Regarding setting the Timney, IIRC the screws are as follows - rear for sear adjustment, top front for overtravel and bottom front for spring pressure. Similar to the Remington 700. So you don't spend time fiddling back & forth with all I'd suggest the following:

Back out the top screw, that's the overtravel screw. If it's in too far the sear won't release. For the front bottom screw (trigger return spring) initially set it with the hammer uncocked. Make sure the trigger, in resting position, gives just a bit of resistance when you press the trigger. At this point you just want to ensure the trigger is resetting with enough force to keep the sear engaged.

Don't worry about over travel, once everything else is set that can be easily set.

From this point I would adjust sear engagement. Cock the rifle's action, then turn in the sear screw until the bolt drops. Work back from there, returm about 1/4 tur. My usual approach is to "balance" the trigger return strength with sear engagement. Greater trigger spring pressure can allow for less sear engagement, lower spring pressure can give a softer but longer pull.

You'll end up doing a little fiddling back & forth betwen sear engagement and trigger spring pressure, but after a while you should get the hang of how things work. Very slight turns of the screws will cause quite a difference in settings. And when you retighten the hex nuts, locking everything in place, be sure the screw settings don't change.

Check for safety, before & after you put the barelled action back into the stock, and if you're not 100% safe or sure you can do it take it to a gunsmith.

GreenLantern

At this point I think that charliemeyer007 might be right on about the shim. The gunshop that installed this is only about 1/4 mile from my house so I ran it over there. The gunsmith definitely noticed the issue. He monkeyed with it for a few minutes and then asked if a washer or something had fallen out. I mentioned that I did happen to find what looked like a 1/2 long piece of nylon zip-tie on my work bench that I had no idea where it came from. But I thought it was just a coincident since I couldn't perceive that coming from a trigger! He said that that was the shim that comes with Timney triggers. I did not fully understand where he said that it should have been in relation to the stock and trigger but he said he would make a new, better one for the rifle.

BTW, the trigger worked 100% when it was not in the stock. Consistent release, consistent 3lbs.

The marred up philips screw is kind of annoying but I'm not going to make a big deal of it. I believe this was the first time that I took the rifle apart since he installed it 3-4 years ago so I feel like it's something I should have looked at sooner and expressed my concerns about. I got a pretty good deal out of it back then. He quoted me $60 to lighten up the trigger pull. Then he couldn't modify the stock trigger so he put the timney in and still only charged me $60! He basically lost money on that deal IMO, since I think the trigger was around the $120 range.

ETA: I thought I should clarify too that I never removed the trigger assembly from the action. That might have been unclear from what I wrote earlier in this post and the original post above.

Mobuck

No spacer (zip tie?) was needed for proper function on the
Timney trigger I installed on my Wby Vanguard(HOWA).

GreenLantern

It did seem odd to me. I got it back and it's working great now. I'm a little hesitant to take it apart to see what he did for a spacer. [:D]

perry shooter

BLACK SMITH / NOT GUNSMITH BUBBA screwed up that Phillip's Would never touch another item with more parts than a brick of mine.[:(][V]