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I bought a Timney Benchrest Trigger……

jackieschmidt

Gold $$ Contributor
It got here today, and I mounted on one of my Bat Neuvo Actions.

The pull is about 3 ounces, is really crisp. But……….

I noticed that the firing pin had a really dull sound when falling, rather than the sharp crisp sound with the Jewel or Bix &Andy. It is really noticeable.

Trouble shooting the set up, I think I found the culprit. The firing pin block spring is way too stiff. I mean really stiff. It takes quite a bit of pressure to push it down when the sear is released. The Jewel and Bix have extremely light springs that return the firing pin block.
The heavy spring is hampering the pin travel as the cocking piece has to slide over it as it moves forward.

This is not good.

I guess they made it this stiff to insure it does function properly. But I doubt it is suitable for a real Benchrest Rifle.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?IMG_0124.jpeg
 
It got here today, and I mounted on one of my Bat Neuvo Actions.

The pull is about 3 ounces, is really crisp. But……….

I noticed that the firing pin had a really dull sound when falling, rather than the sharp crisp sound with the Jewel or Bix &Andy. It is really noticeable.

Trouble shooting the set up, I think I found the culprit. The firing pin block spring is way too stiff. I mean really stiff. It takes quite a bit of pressure to push it down when the sear is released. The Jewel and Bix have extremely light springs that return the firing pin block.
The heavy spring is hampering the pin travel as the cocking piece has to slide over it as it moves forward.

This is not good.

I guess they made it this stiff to insure it does function properly. But I doubt it is suitable for a real Benchrest Rifle.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?View attachment 1595084
I believe the only function of the spring is to facilitate trigger reset. If you don't mind take it apart, leave the spring out, reassemble and see if it will cock while holding rifle up-side-down (gravity only). If it will, flip it upright and see if the sound is what you're looking for.
 
It has to have some spring pressure to return the firing spring block.
I’ll have to figure out how it comes apart, as there are no screws holding the halves together, just dowel pins. I’ll take it to work tomorrow and see if I can figure out how it comes apart.

I guess I could call Timney and ask if the trigger will function with that spring amount greatly reduced. If they say no, I guess I just wasted $275.
 
I have today got my BR back from the smith. It is built on a Barnard SMS action, which, according to the box, has a Jewell trigger hanger - but the trigger timing and release seem perfect with a Timney Benchrest trigger. Pleasantly surprised, as I only bought it as a temporary fix, before maybe a Bix n Andy. We will see when I get to shoot it!.

Which begs the question of trigger timing and whether that is the issue with yours?
 
The heavy spring is hampering the pin travel as the cocking piece has to slide over it as it moves forward.

This is not good.

I guess they made it this stiff to insure it does function properly. But I doubt it is suitable for a real Benchrest Rifle.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?
Back when I was using the 510's I replaced that spring with a much lighter spring from McMaster for the same reason you are questioning it. I believe I still have some in the shop. I could look for a part number.
 
Back when I was using the 510's I replaced that spring with a much lighter spring from McMaster for the same reason you are questioning it. I believe I still have some in the shop. I could look for a part number.
Are you referring to the spring that holds the firing pin block up.?
I have searched on line for an internal diagram of this trigger, and cannot find any.Since I have no idea how to diss assemble this trigger, exactly what type of spring is in there.

As for the trigger timing, the firing pin has exactly the same travel, and the cocking cycle seems to start at exactly the same position of the bolt.

But this is the rifle that I have the very light firing pin spring in, (18 pounds), with the tungsten weight at the rear of the firing pin. That could be contributing to the situation.

Keep in mind, I bought this trigger just to see how it would work as an alternative to the now defunct Jewel Triggers. More of an experiment than anything else. The three ounce pull is not a problem. But what it is doing is.
 
Are you referring to the spring that holds the firing pin block up.?
Yes. Remove this pin and the sear bar will be able to rotate up on its forward pivot and the spring will be exposed. As to the specific spring I cannot say it’s the same design or the same spring as the 510. You’re going to have to remove that pin and find out.

FWIW the original 510’s didn’t have that pin. It was added later to keep the sear in place so you didn’t have to worry about the spring flying off. I’d bet they had far too many phone calls with lost springs.
 

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Yes. Remove this pin and the sear bar will be able to rotate up on its forward pivot and the spring will be exposed. As to the specific spring I cannot say it’s the same design or the same spring as the 510. You’re going to have to remove that pin and find out.

FWIW the original 510’s didn’t have that pin. It was added later to keep the sear in place so you didn’t have to worry about the spring flying off. I’d bet they had far too many phone calls with lost springs.
Thanks. I will open it up and see what spring is in there.
 
Some models gave up a lot of firing pin fall as well.
The original 510's gave up .050" of pin fall. They did it to reduce or eliminate cock on close. I called and talked to them at the time and they wouldn't admit or weren't aware of the issues it could and was causing. Surgeon had so many failure to fire issues with the triggers Timney made a special "long" sear trigger just for Surgeon. Word got out and we were are all asking for replacement "long" sears or Surgeon 510's. Eventually they gave up on the short sear and started to use just the "long" sear. I started swapping out the heavy sear springs early on.
 
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If you’re on a budget or just don’t want to spend a small fortune on a trigger, shilen BR is where you need to go. Some of the older BR triggers had a bit of creep before the snap. I haven’t experienced this with the last half dozen or so that have come through my shop. Pretty decent trigger!!
Lee
 
I have several Shilen Competition triggers....no problems with them at all. It would be nice if they had external adjustments like the Jewell's but that's a small nit to pick. They are basically a copy of the Remington 2 oz. trigger. Here's an exploded view of a Shilen courtesy of Stuart Otteson's book 'Benchrest Actions And Triggers'. While somewhat dated on some things, the latest Shilen Competition trigger I got is exactly like this one pictured in the book. Otteson's book remains an excellent resource.
2b1APu5l.jpg


A better look at one on my Kodiak:
0hSjV1Al.jpg

WifJOg0l.jpg


Due to the upper roll pin, you need to do a light clearance notch on the trigger hanger for the pin to fit.
WPbQfm3l.jpg


Good shootin' :) -Al
 

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