Bolt Action trigger pull weight.

[Progun1911]

I just bought a trigger pull gauge, and my new 6.5cm Tikka CTR that I haven't even shot yet is breaking at 3 Pounds.
I have an older Winchester 70 that I had adjusted years ago without a gauge and that rifle is breaking at 3 pounds also. The Win always seemed a little to heavy, but I did not want to risk a hunting rifle that might fire if dropped because of the light trigger.

What is a good trigger weight for a target rifle and a hunting rifle or should there be no difference.

I already bought the Mountain Tactical trigger spring for my rifle ,but was wondering if it might be to light for a novice precision rifle shooter.
What trigger weight do you like for target shooting ?

 

[spife7980]

As low as possible without making an unsafe situation.

My Winchester 67 has a 10lb trigger and that’s as low as it will ever be. My box and Andy rifles are below a pound. Neither ever fail to fire nor do the fail to remain unfired (safety failure).

Don’t go straight to a hair trigger from a factory slug unless you are willing to take the time and get used to it.

New shooters always get giggly when I have them shoot my match rifle because they “barely touch it” while I have it turned up heavier than it could be just to ensure I can really dig my finger pad into it identically each time.

Just because it’s light doesn’t mean it’s unsafe.
Just because you want it lower doesn’t mean you safely can.
Just because some say you shouldn’t doesn’t mean you can’t.

And pull weight isn’t everything. There’s creep, over travel, smoothness etc that all play into how you feel a trigger performs.

My fathers ruger hunting rifle was always light to him until he started shooting match rifles for a couple years. Then going back for deer season it seemed so heavy but it was as low as it would go. Swapped in a new riflebasix sear on it and now it goes perfectly low for him while still remaining a drop safe condition.

I don’t use a weight gauge, I’m curious as to what they actually are, but I adjust off of how it feels when I’m actually shooting.

 

[Progun1911]

By feel is how I always adjusted triggers but I bought the new rifle and said what the heck for 20 bucks lets see what the weight is on some of my firearms. Now that I have the trigger gauge I can set it back after adjustment to hopefully what felt better before I adjusted it again.

Edit to add ,if I change out to the other spring I bought I can see if there's any difference in pull weights.

 

[b2lee]

I have anywhere from 3.8oz to 7.5lbs....each has their place. Most of the non-target stuff is a little over 5lbs.

 

[Diablo]

Depends on the purpose, and personal preferences.

Over the years I've had several aftermarket triggers.

Service rifle is limited to 4.5# minimum for competition.

My .22LR match rifles have either Anschutz 5018 or 5071 triggers adjusted for single-stage, 4 to 5 ounces.

Most of my other rifles have "tuned" Remington Walker triggers, most at about 3 lbs (a couple are lighter).

IMO, for most purposes a decent 3 lb to 4 lb trigger is satisfactory.

Get familiar with what you have and learn to shoot it well before you start looking for a "miracle" trigger.

 

[Goostoff]

Being a target rifle I have mine set very light. When I am actually shooting I have just made habit of leaving the bolt open until I am ready to shoot. I let my son-in-law shoot it once so he could compare it to his to see how bad the factory trigger is. It caught him off guard and he ended up firing the rifle before he was even completely on target. After that I started leaving the bolt open for extra precaution.