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Trigger work

9K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  Worn_Holster 
#1 ·
Other than buying a Timney trigger or any other custom trigger.............has anyone done any 'work' with the original triggers to make them smoother, etc.? If so...then what?
 
#2 ·
The cheapest and fastest way to improve the trigger (some, not a lot) is to substitute a spring from the bolt shroud detent pin.
 
#3 ·
Try a search of the K98 Forum. Use searches with different key words, ie; mauser trigger, trigger, k98 trigger adjustment, trigger polishing, etc.
I know there are some threads on here that went into trigger work on how to make them better. chasdev's idea was one of them.
Good luck.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Very simple and easy to modify..... (However this should be done at your own risk)!

Any metal removal needs to be done judiciously! You can't put it back once you take it away.

I usually clip 1 1/2 coils off the coil spring that fits in the "cup" (bears on the receiver) THen I polish the sear engagement with fine files, a stone and and/or a cratex cone point on a dremel tool. Lightly lube contact points and hinge pin areas with a good moly or teflon grease (TW-25B is my preference)

Ensure the trigger isn't dragging on the trigger guard assembly. Use a file to "clearance" the slot in the trigger guard if necessary.

If the trigger still has too much creep, you can remove about a thousandth at a time from the top of the sear until it feels right.
THe height measurement that seems to work best for me on various mausers is about .050" measured from the bottom to top of the sear....

On the bolt, just make sure the sear engagement point is smooth and square. Don't change it's height.-- Do a bump test and ensure the rifle won't accidentally fire if dropped. That's should do it!

Make sure you get all the crud out of the bolt! Lotsa folks will clean the rest of the rifle, but never take the bolt apart!

I've also seen a trigger adjusted using thin brass shims. I have a Yugo Field Expediant Sniper done like that. THe first stage was shimmed up tight so that , in effect, you had a single stage trigger. The sear engagement was adjust up with shims to a 3 lb pull. I'll bet that was one tedious job. It's pretty amazing though. At first I thought it had an aftermarket trigger in it!
 
#6 ·
The cheapest, fastest way to improve a K98 trigger is to completely disassemble the trigger group and thoroughly degrease and clean every part. A lot of them have dried grease, dirt, and other crap in the works, especially the spring and spring cup. Polishing the sear surfaces without removing any metal helps, too. Some people like to remove the first "hump" to make a single stage trigger, but this can be confusing if you shoot a lot of K98s and don't remember which ones have the "shaved" trigger.
 
#11 ·
I just purchased a Turk short rifle 38/46 that had been "single staged". Could not shoot accurately with it. Could not tell when it was going to fire as I pulled through the long single stage. Replaced it with an unmodified 2 stage mauser military trigger. All is well now:) My advice: clean it up but don't mess with the metal.
 
#13 ·
Shot this 5 shot group at 200 yds with my yugo 1924 yesterday with a proper military 2 stage trigger.


Couldn't keep them in a 2' circle at 100 with the bubba single stage on my Turk 38/46. Keeping the sights aligned through that long single stage pull didn't work for me - to each his own.
 
#14 ·
I don't own as many Mausers as some of you guys, but of the dozen or so that I have shot, and all that I own, the military triggers are quite serviceable. Not match triggers by any means, but decent, 2 stage, reasonably crisp and not overly heavy, mostly in the 6 lb range.

Can't say the same thing about Mosins.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I once owned a Mauser where some previous owner 'improved' the trigger by tying a piece of monofilament fishing line around the sear.

When I removed the 'piece of string', I found out why it was done. The trigger /sear fit on this rifle was such that there was a whole lot of sloppy rattly (rattley?) movement in the trigger before the first stage hump would even come in contact the bottom of the receiver. With the monofilament in place, the trigger was not all that bad as two-stages go.

I can't recall where or how the monofilament was installed, but it DID significantly improve that trigger, and it evidently did so without making the rifle unsafe. Since it improved the trigger so much, I put the piece of mono back in.

The rifle itself started out as a 1916 Danzig. By the time I got it around 1970, it was in a 98K stock, had the muzzle turned down to take an improvised, cast-looking front sight base (not military, and too well-done for Bubba. It almost had to be something from an importer), and it still had the straight-handled bolt.

I sold it in the 80's with the monofilament still in place for five times what I bought it for.
 
#16 ·
I recently purchased a Yugo-capture K98k from J&G on Gunbroker. It was missing a couple of parts that I had on hand, and my low bid won it. When it arrived, I found it seemed to have a single stage trigger instead of the usual 98 two stage trigger pull. The reason was pretty simple, someone had ground down the top of the sear, none too smoothly, and produced a single stage trigger. I had another trigger unit, so I replaced it. I just wonder who ground down the sear, an American Bubba or a Yugo Bubba.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Funny about the Yugo thing, I have been struggling with a ex field expedient sniper, a early import I just bought recently, definite Bosnian origin due to small stamped import mark on barrel way back, and bases left on unlike recent imports, surprising well cared for bore and was in the grease and never shot by previous owner, someone up there mentioned a piece of metal, the trigger action was locked up, sear would be stuck down inside, apart from other problems associated with an obvious replacement rear firing pin assembly that looks shiny new. Seems when I took the action out of the stock a few pieces of brass fell out, cracked in three places(could have been an action spacer though cause there were other spacers in there at action and under barrel), and something that looked like a round piece of rod, I mean, whatever it was became broken and fell apart, and the trigger aint working right still, I'll probably have to remove it and put in a spare from something else, and it doesn't quite have perfect contact with the unissued cocking piece. That rifle had some cardboard or heavy gasket material shimming for accuracy

Them yugos, I mean, jeese! And I have globs of what appears to be plumbing silver solder, the acid core type obviously, laid haphazardly around the rear zrak base, and one big glob on the front base, I could do a better job, but maybe someone did it with a hot iron or something haphazard, I'll fight the urge to "improve" the solder job cause its original to the rifle and historic, I mean, the solder job looks like s.....

But anyway, I guess I didn't look it over right when I had it apart, it looked like any other mauser trigger sear, but something aint right, very confusing, probably a snipped and collapsed spring in the cup, maybe the dimensions have been changed with a torch cause the trigger is in a odd spot further to the rear than normal, just noticed that. Has a highly modified bolt handle too, a weld on replacement that looks like it was from a Yugo 24 carbine bolt, and they knotched the receiver, musta had a low slung scope, zrak bases, I got just the thing for it for scoping, has a pristine bore so I am gonna use a 4-12x40 scope for kicks when I try it out.

Somehow, the rear firing pin assembly that is obviously a replacement before it was greased up and stored, it won't allow the safety to work, just one big mess.
 
#18 · (Edited)
My Huber Concepts two-stage trigger on my K98 Russian captured Mauser has smoothed out the trigger considerably, but it still has more creep in the second stage than I want. The creep is consistant and predictable, but when I compare it to the Timney single stage trigger that is on my 1912 Chilean Mauser in 7.62x51, the Timney break is crisp, clean, and light. The huber design basically replaces the original trigger with one that looks almost identical, with the exception of two steel ball bearings that are height adjustable from the bottom with set screws that replace the 1st and second stage humps that exist on the original trigger.

OK, I played with the adjustment screws and adjusted the first stage much closer to the break point, and then adjusted the 2nd stage just under the first stage. Now the first stage brings me to a wall that breaks nice and crisp with a fairly light pull. I have not measured the pull, but is probably just under 2lbs. Much better than the way I had it set before. I would adjust the trigger a little heavier if I were to take the rifle hog hunting.

I'll be taking it to the range to shoot some more Yugo surplus M75 196gr sniper ammo that I was getting 1 1/2" groups with before at 100yds to see if I can improve on that. I am using a Leopold FX-II 2.5x28 scout scope on an S&K scout mount. I also just purchased some Sierra 200gr MatchKings to see if I can duplicate the M75 ammo accuracy with handloads using Varget.
 
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