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Winchester model 70 trigger job

What are you trying to achieve ? A light hunting trigger or something under a pound to a few ounces. A really good hunting trigger is easy to do yourself at home. A target trigger needs a replacement trigger like the Jewell. A few minutes with a small hard stone and an Earnie the Gunsmith replacement spring is all you need for a great hunting trigger.
 
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It's really easy and the M-70 trigger design is a very good one. This video gives the basic idea. I wouldn't do the dremel trick he mentions, though. :eek:
The video is very basic and I wouldn’t get near the trigger with a dremel tool ! He’s correct about the roughness of the sears. A hard stone in the direction of the sear travel is what you need. Used a sharpie to color the sear and assemble the trigger and work it a half dozen times to see the contact area. Stone the contact are and repeat until you get at least 65% contact. With patience I can usually get over 85% contact. With more contact you distribute the spring pressure better. That gives a lighter trigger that will hold well. The fine scratches going all in the direction of travel also helps with weight and smoothness. Do not rock the stone ! Keep it in existing plane to not round off the edges. If you pay a little attention it’s not hard to do at all.
 
It's really easy and the M-70 trigger design is a very good one. This video gives the basic idea. I wouldn't do the dremel trick he mentions, though. :eek:
A long time ago I did my own on a M70 Match Rifle and shot it across-the-course and long-range for along time and it was a good reliable trigger. Ultimately, I bought a Jewell and wish I had done that many years earlier - no comparison!
 
A Model 70 trigger job is one of those thing that any old time gunsmith did as a matter of course. Today, there are a bunch who kind of specialize in model 70's. David Gentry would be a good choice. Since I started shooting metallic silhouette, I set all of my triggers at two pounds and it is easy to achieve that with the standard Model 70 trigger. The rifle I started shooting "F" class with, back in the late '90's, was built on a Model 70 action and I had that trigger set at 14 ounces. It is now turned up to 2 pounds as well. WH
 
When I started working on my M70 trigger I asked the smith who did all my work at the time about it. He said the first thing to do is remove the spring and measure how much it takes to break the trigger. That will tell you how rough the mating surfaces are. If I recall, mine was about 3.5#, of just friction. So after I stoned the surfaces, that dropped significantly. He also told me I needed to change the spring and I believe he sent me a spring from a Remington 742 trigger - but that was a long time ago. I agree, you can make a stock M70 trigger work very well. But, and this is a big "but", there is no going back, you are stoning away metal, especially when you get to adjusting the "creep". Also, you have to be really careful about stoning all the mating surfaces square.

If I were you I would buy some really good quality, fine stones (Brownells) in various shapes and give it a try. what do you have to loose. If you F it up, for $225 you can buy a Jewell . My Jewell breaks at exactly 1.5#, has absolutely no creep, no perceptible overtravel and has not changed in 25 years and 1K's of rounds.
 
If you can find a Kepplinger set trigger, those are nice as well. Set 3oz, unset 3 lbs. I haven’t looked for one in years, but worth keeping an eye out for.
 

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