Factory Trigger Mod

[Shadytree]

First off, this is my first post. I have been enjoying this site, its a great resource. I appreciate the pool of knowledge here.
After researching the TT trigger and then looking at my stock unit, I decided that for the price of a set screw I could make my factory trigger much better. I have read on here how polishing the sears is popular and after taking my trigger apart I see why. The factory finish on my trigger sear had a lot of machining marks (very rough). In addition the level of sear engagement from the factory was significant to say the least. I put a set screw in the trigger housing that allows me to adjust overlap. I adjusted to a safe setting that is about 1/4 of what the factory had it. I then had to take off a bit of material on the safety to get it to engage. All in all it took under an hour from take down to reassembly. The trigger is night and day better. I don't have a gauge, but I would put it at 2 to 2.5 pounds. It passes every bump test I gave it. I could have reduced sear engagement further but this is a hunting bow and I wanted to err on the side of safety. I am posting pics because it was an easy mod. You can see the set screw I installed in the housing right next to the green elastomer.
Thanks for looking!

[amythntr]

First off, this is my first post. I have been enjoying this site, its a great resource. I appreciate the pool of knowledge here.
After researching the TT trigger and then looking at my stock unit, I decided that for the price of a set screw I could make my factory trigger much better. I have read on here how polishing the sears is popular and after taking my trigger apart I see why. The factory finish on my trigger sear had a lot of machining marks (very rough). In addition the level of sear engagement from the factory was significant to say the least. I put a set screw in the trigger housing that allows me to adjust overlap. I adjusted to a safe setting that is about 1/4 of what the factory had it. I then had to take off a bit of material on the safety to get it to engage. All in all it took under an hour from take down to reassembly. The trigger is night and day better. I don't have a gauge, but I would put it at 2 to 2.5 pounds. It passes every bump test I gave it. I could have reduced sear engagement further but this is a hunting bow and I wanted to err on the side of safety. I am posting pics because it was an easy mod. You can see the set screw I installed in the housing right next to the green elastomer.
Thanks for looking!

....It's all Greek to me ShadyTree....you obviously know your way around triggers and most likely other types of bows and fire arms...an enjoyable read non the less. i am sure if you had a video of what described it might make more sense to me.

....welcome aboard and I look forward to more posts as I sit under a Shady Tree and read them.

Anthony

[xcaliber]

Welcome aboard, good luck with the tinkering!

[Tom]

I caution anyone which decides to tinker with the triggers (even if they have trigger knowledge) as a crossbow trigger is different then a rifle or gun trigger. A gun trigger only holds back a little pressure from a spring while a crossbow trigger holds back all the pressure from the limbs (150-225 lbs).

Please, if you are not an expert, please leave this type of "tinkering" to an expert. If you do remove too much material, there might not be enough friction to hold the sear causing the bow to fire when it is not suspose too.

Tom

[UPSMAN]

you obviously know your way around precision power tools. Nice looking work.

[Shadytree]

I caution anyone which decides to tinker with the triggers (even if they have trigger knowledge) as a crossbow trigger is different then a rifle or gun trigger. A gun trigger only holds back a little pressure from a spring while a crossbow trigger holds back all the pressure from the limbs (150-225 lbs).

Please, if you are not an expert, please leave this type of "tinkering" to an expert. If you do remove too much material, there might not be enough friction to hold the sear causing the bow to fire when it is not suspose too.

Tom,
I have heard that on this board before. I am going to respectfully disagree with the idea that the sear on a crossbow functions any differently than one on a rifle. It does not matter whether it is holding back 30 pounds or 300 pounds. The sear can support the same weight whether it is bearing it on a 5 thousandths engagement or a 1/2 inch. The difference between between a rifle trigger and a crossbow trigger has to do with the stoutness of the housing. The crossbow trigger handles greater load and therefore needs to have a housing that can withstand that load.
-Mitch

[amythntr]

.... That's the beauty of being me...the only tinkering I every did was with tinker toys! :lol

Anthony

[paulaboutform]

Welcome to the forum Mitch. You've stepped beyond my comfort zone but it sounds like you know what you're doing. I can tune and tweek compounds to perfection and put together crossbows but the triggers scare me. I'll leave them to the pros. Have fun.

Paul

[bubba]

i personally think you did a fine job on your trigger, I also stoned and polished mine on my Ibex, and it made a noticeable difference have also done the same on a lot of my rifles, but as tom said if you are not careful you could create a dangerous problem. I had a good teacher and would recommend at least a good bit of research before my first attempt ........

[racking up points]

Just so you know, it been cautioned on here before that pre-loading the trigger is unsafe and that was written by people with a more intimate knowledge of how these triggers work than you or I, so proceed with caution.

My fear, is that like almost every screw on your bow that can loosen with vibration, that set screw could possibly do the same, rattle loose, and then you wouldn't have enough sear engagement to ensure your safety.

I know you said you did a bump test to see if the safety would hold, I'd advise you watch some trigger fails on YouTube from a dubious Canadian recurve copycat. Still, that video speaks to the vulnerability of crossbow triggers in general; they're not rifle triggers, they hold hundreds of pounds of draw weight.

To me, whatever the cost is of a TT upgrade, it's worth its weight in gold for the peace of mind. Be safe.

[Bullzeye]

Wish I had the balls or experience to smooth mine out, still shoots well enough to put meat in the freezer though

[Shadytree]

Just so you know, it been cautioned on here before that pre-loading the trigger is unsafe and that was written by people with a more intimate knowledge of how these triggers work than you or I, so proceed with caution.

My fear, is that like almost every screw on your bow that can loosen with vibration, that set screw could possibly do the same, rattle loose, and then you wouldn't have enough sear engagement to ensure your safety.

I'm not trying to get into any sort of conflict with anyone over this. I put this up solely because I thought it was an excellent mod with factory like results that can be done easily by someone with a modicum of machining experience.

As for the set screw coming loose. If it came loose it would most likely increase sear engagement, but it has been loctited into place so that is an unlikely scenario.

I have been shooting competitively for over 20 years. I am not a gunsmith, but I do fabrication for a living. I have fiddled with many triggers. This is the easiest trigger job I have ever done. If you are afraid to mess with your trigger, then that is a healthy fear. I appreciate your caution. If that is the case then this is not the thing for you, no problem. I just thought it might help someone save a $150 on a trigger when the same (or better) results can be had for the cost of a 25 cent set screw.

[racking up points]

Respectfully, I'm not questioning your ability as a machinist, I'm not questioning your experience as a tinkerer. I just think there needs to be some caution expressed here because this is your first thread and you're basically showing people how to do something that could result in a trigger becoming unsafe and at a minimum, voiding its warranty. I'm not trying to start a conflict either, I just personally don't think this is a good idea to post this on the interweb for any crossbow newbie to try his hand at. But that's just my humble opinion.

Welcome to the forum, it's great to hear from people that are always looking to improve a great product.

[Fred T]

Hi Shady,welcome and thanks for posting this.I may try this but not be quite as aggressive with the set screw.

[Tom]

I caution anyone which decides to tinker with the triggers (even if they have trigger knowledge) as a crossbow trigger is different then a rifle or gun trigger. A gun trigger only holds back a little pressure from a spring while a crossbow trigger holds back all the pressure from the limbs (150-225 lbs).

Please, if you are not an expert, please leave this type of "tinkering" to an expert. If you do remove too much material, there might not be enough friction to hold the sear causing the bow to fire when it is not suspose too.

Tom,
I have heard that on this board before. I am going to respectfully disagree with the idea that the sear on a crossbow functions any differently than one on a rifle. It does not matter whether it is holding back 30 pounds or 300 pounds. The sear can support the same weight whether it is bearing it on a 5 thousandths engagement or a 1/2 inch. The difference between between a rifle trigger and a crossbow trigger has to do with the stoutness of the housing. The crossbow trigger handles greater load and therefore needs to have a housing that can withstand that load.
-Mitch

Shadytree my statement or post was directed at members which are not experts on triggers.

But I do disagree with your statement. What creates that "poundage of the trigger" is the friction between the two metals. There are different factors which creates this friction, some of which are:
-smoothness of the metals
-the length of draw of one metal across the other.

When you shorten the distance of which the metal is in contact with eachother, you lessen the friction between them as well. This means it is easier to release from eachother. Smoothing or polishing the trigger (too much) can also do the same thing.

A rifle trigger does not require as much friction to hold in "fire position" as a crossbow trigger does because the fingers in the crossbow are holding much more weight.

For you to post what you did "with that statement that anyone can do it, in my opinion is irrisposable. You might know what you are doing and you might not know, but you are incouringing others, which may, or may not have the same ability.

Now my question to you is" if someone tries this and does not do it correctly and creates a dangerous bow, will you take responsibility for that bow. What if that person sells that bow to a complete rookie.

I am sorry, when it comes to "safety" I will always speak up to caution others.

Tom