Trigger question

[corning]

Can a Kenyon trigger be used on a .308? I've heard pro's and con's. One thing I heard was that it isn't heat treated, and wouldn't hold up to escaping gases. What's might be the real story on a Kenyon on a .308?

 

[Old Navy]

What rifle in .308 do you have?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

What kind of escaping gases happen on a 308?

 

[NZ_Fclass]

What kind of escaping gases happen on a 308?

Quite few - but mostly out of the front.
I have never heard of a Kenyon trigger.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Quite few - but mostly out of the front.
I have never heard of a Kenyon trigger.

Ive seen plenty but this 308 is concerning me now needing a heat resistant trigger due to escaping gas. All trigger sears and internal parts will be very much heat treated or it wont even function. It would be way too sticky and not last but a few rounds

 

[6MMsteve]

2019 search in forums and there is some info made of H1 steel there kept secret by top shooters on the googy search

 

[6MMsteve]

looks like handmade triggers for M70 win

 

[6MMsteve]

highly sought after in the 500 grande range

 

[Tim Slater]

Quite few - but mostly out of the front.
I have never heard of a Kenyon trigger.

These were made by Karl Kenyon, a gunsmith working working in Nevada USA. Karl began as an amateur, and worked full-time from the 1960s until not many years before his death in 2011. His triggers were largely hand sawn and filed.
Karl also fitted barrels, at least one of his rifles won Olympic Gold.

 

[Tommie]

Ummm?

 

[ebb]

Except rifles that are specifically designed to use a clone of a Remington trigger, they are all different. The trigger would have been built to fit a rifle brand and only that brand. Look for something that is currently made that you can get repaired and find parts for. Escaping gasses are you making a reloading mistake, use your brain and don't let it happen to you.

 

[MarkTrew]

Karl did make Kenyon triggers for 40X/700 style mounting, as well as for the Winchester 52’s and Anschutz. As referenced earlier, they were individually hand made. They did have hardened steel levers. I did use a couple in Panda actions for several years. They were extremely fine triggers, usually adjustable to very light weights. I had two that had a two stage device on the trigger shoe.

Winchester had them on the 52E, as an option.

The caveat to using them in a centerfire, if the firing pin is pushed back by escaping gas there is a high possibility the sear will be hit and fracture, per Karl Kenyon. As noted above, sometimes cases fail or primers are pierced, and not always by reloading errors.


Mark Trew

 

[Uthink Uknow]

If “escaping gases” will damage the trigger, what will they do to the trigger finger?
Nope. Not April One yet. I just looked at the calendar.

 

[AlNyhus]

Stuart Otteson's book 'Benchrest Actions And Triggers' covers the Kenyon trigger quite extensively. Though it's dated, the info in it is still very, very good. It helped me solve a trigger riddle on a '70's era BR rig I recently rehabbed.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[MarkTrew]

Obviously, two posts up believes he is an absolute wiz kid! Go back to the Frankford Arsenal white paper on primers.

Once read and understood (the hard part for some) it will be clear how little gas is needed to push the firing pin back to cause damage to a Kenyon. Again, this is from a first hand conversation with Mr. Kenyon.

It doesn't have to be a catastrophic failure.

But then again, since he chooses not to name himself........

Best,
MarkTrew

 

[Old Navy]

The OP has not been back to tell us what he is shooting yet.

 

[corning]

Obviously, two posts up believes he is an absolute wiz kid! Go back to the Frankford Arsenal white paper on primers.

Once read and understood (the hard part for some) it will be clear how little gas is needed to push the firing pin back to cause damage to a Kenyon. Again, this is from a first hand conversation with Mr. Kenyon.

It doesn't have to be a catastrophic failure.

But then again, since he chooses not to name himself........

Best,
MarkTrew

Mark,

Thanks for the two informative posts.

John

 

[corning]

The OP has not been back to tell us what he is shooting yet.

Palma rifle with a hanger for a Remington trigger, and yes, Kenyon triggers were also made for Remington's.

 

[tmwinds]

Blown primers and escaping gas has been known to break a Jewel trigger also the problem is not isolated to a Kenyon.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Blown primers and escaping gas has been known to break a Jewel trigger also the problem is not isolated to a Kenyon.

Trick is to not blow primers to start with