During yesterday's match this happened again during one stage out of 10. 2 matches ago it happened on one stage as well. Info. Im shooting a custom 260 rem action and of course Jewell trigger set to 8 oz. Whole rig has 800 rounds through it. Symptoms.... put mag in advance to the stage push bolt forward and down..... go to pull the trigger and it feels dead solid like the safety is on. To get it to fire I did a combination of dropping the mag, well because Im trained to, eject round/recock work safety lever back and forth 2 or 3 times. replace mag and load round and shoot. Like I said, this happened one time out of 80+ shots yesterday, The match last weekend had no issues. But the match before that, I had the same issue during a single stage. A guy in my squad said he thought the trigger didnt catch the firing pin allowing it to come un cocked or something like that. I dont exactly know what he meant. If that is the case I need to know how to fix it. For what it is worth, after the first time I flushed the trigger with lighter fluid after I got home and while it was still on the rifle. I have another match next weekend so I would like to figgure this out and fix it on my own. I really dont have time to send it anywhere. Have no proper smith in my town.
Jewell trigger issue
- Thread starter doctnj
- Start date
I would first try to re-cock the mechanism by lifting the bolt handle, stroking the bolt 1/4" rearward then closing the bolt again.
yes somewhere in the "fix" that is what I did yesterday. The trigger felt like it was hard stop when I pulled it. So sprang into action to get recocked and loaded. What you are suggestion may have fixed the issue all by itself. I cant narrow it down because I did all the other stuff. When it only happens once every 180 rounds its hard to figure out.
So the trigger was effectively on safe(trigger didnt move although the sear was set), or the firing pin fell down the cocking cam when you closed the bolt and the trigger was pulling against the overtravel stop?
Did you adjust the trigger to get it to where it is now? An 8oz trigger isnt vey field friendly. When you have minimal sear engagement and overtravel on a field gun, your asking for trouble. I love my HVR's. As a personal preference I run a lot of overtravel (its springy overtravel like my AI's, which I like). As adjustable as they are, there is a balance there between spring choice, it's preload, and sear engagement. Yours is likely dirty. I use lighter fluid. In a pinch I just remove the bolt and hose the trigger down from the top. Flushes the trigger then evaporates. Wont hurt coatings or fiberglass stocks.
Did you adjust the trigger to get it to where it is now? An 8oz trigger isnt vey field friendly. When you have minimal sear engagement and overtravel on a field gun, your asking for trouble. I love my HVR's. As a personal preference I run a lot of overtravel (its springy overtravel like my AI's, which I like). As adjustable as they are, there is a balance there between spring choice, it's preload, and sear engagement. Yours is likely dirty. I use lighter fluid. In a pinch I just remove the bolt and hose the trigger down from the top. Flushes the trigger then evaporates. Wont hurt coatings or fiberglass stocks.
I do not work on triggers or even adjust them should such be available. The one exception would be an over travel stop adjustment and I always make sure I leave a bit. Remove the action from the stock, flush with lighter fluid or mineral spirits, air dry or blast with some canned air and I'm done. Anything else and the gun goes back to the smith who built it. I have other guns (too many) to shoot.
Your trigger is bone dry, flush it out with lighter fluid. The other issue Jewells have when dry is locking the bolt up either in or out of battery. Common issue with them when used in the field. You can flush it out with water before of after it goes threw you, your choice depends on the venue.
Lighter fluid when dry will leave a residue that is also a lubricant, that will not attract dirt like oil's will.
Diagnostics first:
1. Lets make sure the trigger is first installed properly. This is easy. Pull the action from the stock and point it away from you with the action resting on its lug and muzzle, trigger down. Take the bolt out.
Grab a small punch or screw driver. Push down on the transfer bar (where the cocking piece in the bolt contacts the trigger assy) in the trigger with the safety off. Now pull the trigger. It should trip the sear and allow the bar to fall around .05-.06. Now relax the pressure, it should reset to position and reengage once you release trigger shoe pressure.
If it does, then that part is working correctly. You may have insufficient sear overlap (creep adjustment) and be suffering from sear bounce as you cycle.
If it does not release and fall/reset:
A. with a .05" allen turn the front most screw on the bottom of the trigger 1 full rev CCW. Test again. If this solves it, now install the bolt (empty chamber of course) and cock it. Turn the same screw CW until it fires on its own. Now back off the screw a 1/4 rev CCW. Check again. Now abuse it. Run the bolt hard/fast. It should not slam fire. Tap on the cocking piece with the handle portion of your hammer. TAP, not WHACK. You can break the trigger internally if you get carried away with this. Last, check the safety. Engage/disengage aggressively. Engage, pull on trigger shoe, then disengage safety. The gun should not fire under these conditions. If it does, you either need more sear overlap or you need to increase the trigger pull slightly.
On that note: Jewels are made correctly. The trigger shoe is weighted neutrally so that the portion hanging out of the gun is not heavier than the part inside the linkage. This is a big deal as inertia can/will cause a slam fire, ND, etc..
B. If its lethargic to fall or reset, make sure the side walls of the trigger chassis are not getting inadvertently pinched during installation. What I do is give them a tap from the cocking piece channel with a small punch. Just attempt to spread them slightly by tapping on them. It doesn't take much to cause this or to fix it.
Test again.
C. Last, make sure it's clean. These things are more tolerant to funk than they get credit for, but they can gum up if oil makes its way into them. Any solvent capable of cutting oil is appropriate. Brake clean works well along with starting fluid or carb cleaner. Compressed air in generous quantity once your done. You can run these things bone dry with no consequence.
Good luck, be careful. Bipolar triggers are never fun.
C.
1. Lets make sure the trigger is first installed properly. This is easy. Pull the action from the stock and point it away from you with the action resting on its lug and muzzle, trigger down. Take the bolt out.
Grab a small punch or screw driver. Push down on the transfer bar (where the cocking piece in the bolt contacts the trigger assy) in the trigger with the safety off. Now pull the trigger. It should trip the sear and allow the bar to fall around .05-.06. Now relax the pressure, it should reset to position and reengage once you release trigger shoe pressure.
If it does, then that part is working correctly. You may have insufficient sear overlap (creep adjustment) and be suffering from sear bounce as you cycle.
If it does not release and fall/reset:
A. with a .05" allen turn the front most screw on the bottom of the trigger 1 full rev CCW. Test again. If this solves it, now install the bolt (empty chamber of course) and cock it. Turn the same screw CW until it fires on its own. Now back off the screw a 1/4 rev CCW. Check again. Now abuse it. Run the bolt hard/fast. It should not slam fire. Tap on the cocking piece with the handle portion of your hammer. TAP, not WHACK. You can break the trigger internally if you get carried away with this. Last, check the safety. Engage/disengage aggressively. Engage, pull on trigger shoe, then disengage safety. The gun should not fire under these conditions. If it does, you either need more sear overlap or you need to increase the trigger pull slightly.
On that note: Jewels are made correctly. The trigger shoe is weighted neutrally so that the portion hanging out of the gun is not heavier than the part inside the linkage. This is a big deal as inertia can/will cause a slam fire, ND, etc..
B. If its lethargic to fall or reset, make sure the side walls of the trigger chassis are not getting inadvertently pinched during installation. What I do is give them a tap from the cocking piece channel with a small punch. Just attempt to spread them slightly by tapping on them. It doesn't take much to cause this or to fix it.
Test again.
C. Last, make sure it's clean. These things are more tolerant to funk than they get credit for, but they can gum up if oil makes its way into them. Any solvent capable of cutting oil is appropriate. Brake clean works well along with starting fluid or carb cleaner. Compressed air in generous quantity once your done. You can run these things bone dry with no consequence.
Good luck, be careful. Bipolar triggers are never fun.
C.
I plan on taking it apart tonight. I had to run out to the range yesterday to do some MV measurements as I was having some dope issues as well during the match. The heat index sat was around 110 so I really didnt feel much up to tearing into anything especially after having been back out in 100 degree weather again yesterday. I didnt notice if the firing pin slipped or not. I really didnt take the time to examine it. In the heat of a stage I went into malfunction mode. i.e. drop the mag clear reload flip the safety a couple times cock and shoot. The first time this happened... 2 matches ago, it took two times through the steps to get it up and firing again. This time only once. There was a match in between with no failures. Im going to drop the bottom half off the cadex chassis to access the trigger, clean it out thoroughly and be sure none of the mounting screws have backed out. Im going to blast it out with carb cleaner then lighter fluid. Ive had the trigger on there for a year and half an never had a failure. But this year we have been on a grueling schedule of match after match so yes its probably dirty. I hope thats all!!
Flush the crap out of it with either lighter fluid (Ronsonol or BBQ) or brake cleaner (non-chlorinated).
I would try the lighter fluid flush first. My Jewell RHVR acted up at a match early this year. About the same as your malfunction. Fired 4 rounds on an 8 round stage, and then on shot 5 it would not fire anymore. One of the shooters in my squad flushed it with lighter fluid and it hasn't given any problems since.
Before I was an AI junkie, I carried the lighter fluid in the yellow bottle. Always had it in my pack. I used it so much at the range on other people guns, and pretty regularly on my own. Like trigger job in a bottle on a dirty trigger.
Update. I had cleaned the trigger very well after pulling the action from the stock. I rinsed it out a lot then used a little compressed air. I checked the mounting screws to be sure it was attached well and from what I experienced nothing seemed loose. I put it back together and through a good practice session dry fire and live fire no malfunctions. Then through an entire match, no malfunctions. The very next match it happened again 1 time. My smith was at this match and I talked to him right after it happened. He asked me if I had noticed the cocking indicator out or not. Because I was on the clock, I didnt take the time to look. I had just run through the steps I had previously to clear the rifle and get it up and running as quick as I could. I told him if it happened again I would look. And what would you know, the rest of that match, a 6 hour practice day, and another match and no malfunction. I dont know why it has NEVER happened one time during a practice session and ONLY in a match. He thinks I could be running the bolt much harder and faster in a match then any time during practice and the cocking piece could be jumping up and sitting on top of the transfer bar somehow.
I think you should adjust a little more sear engagement into it, OR you have too little spring/insufficient preload to properly reset the trigger. Either will cause what your experiencing. Very easy to adjust a jewell, no reason you can fix it yourself.
Like your smith said, the sear is falling down on bolt close. Next time it does this, push the trigger forward and re-cock the bolt, it should stay cocked. Just avoid all that and adjust the trigger.
Like your smith said, the sear is falling down on bolt close. Next time it does this, push the trigger forward and re-cock the bolt, it should stay cocked. Just avoid all that and adjust the trigger.
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