American Airguns Blog
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Single Stage Match Triggers
Most of my air rifles have two stage triggers, even most of my match rifles. The 2 stage trigger allows for a safe trigger while also providing a very light and crisp let off of the trigger. For a hunting rifle, the 2 stage trigger offers some additional safety as the trigger can be set so that if the gun is dropped it won't accidentally let off a shot.
I have a Falcon FN19 in a CS1000 stock that I bought a number of years ago to shoot Field Target. The rifle is very accurate and I tied for 5th place with it at the 2001 Nationals. I had forgot that I set the match trigger on the Falcon to single stage until I took it out a few weeks back. I had forgotten how much easier it seemed to shoot accurately with a single stage trigger.
The advantage of a single stage trigger is that all you have to do is lightly rest your trigger finger on the trigger and when you start to think about squeezing trigger it breaks and the shot is gone. I have found that as I pull through the first stage of a 2 stage trigger, I tend to tense up, which forces me to have to think about relaxing again before applying pressure to the second stage. If I don't pay attention to this tensing, I will push the shot low with the tension in my right shoulder or flinch the shot high but flexing my left arm (I use the over the arm position).
After shooting the Falcon for a while I found that I didn't tense up as much when preparing for the shots and that I tended to squeeze the trigger more consistently while also following through better. It was like a light bulb going off in my head, again.
I knew this from years past but had forgotten it when I went back to my HW97 spring gun. I was told from a very reliable and experienced source that the Rekord trigger works better with a longer first stage and a short, crisp second stage (it has to do with the design of the sear arms), anyways, my HW97 is set up with a 2 stage trigger. When I went back to shooting it I forgot what I had learned about the single stage match trigger.
After my single stage epiphany, I got out my AA ProTarget and re-adjusted the trigger to a single stage. Wow, what a difference. The ProTarget trigger is better than the Falcon as far as the adjustments available and after adjustments, it is pretty incredible. I can safely rest my finger on the trigger and when I start to apply pressure it will break. It is wonderful and makes shooting accurately easier.
I really have come to prefer a single stage match trigger for competition shooting. I think it will add shots to my score. I am going to go through all my match rifles and change the triggers on those that I can to a single stage trigger.
I have a Falcon FN19 in a CS1000 stock that I bought a number of years ago to shoot Field Target. The rifle is very accurate and I tied for 5th place with it at the 2001 Nationals. I had forgot that I set the match trigger on the Falcon to single stage until I took it out a few weeks back. I had forgotten how much easier it seemed to shoot accurately with a single stage trigger.
The advantage of a single stage trigger is that all you have to do is lightly rest your trigger finger on the trigger and when you start to think about squeezing trigger it breaks and the shot is gone. I have found that as I pull through the first stage of a 2 stage trigger, I tend to tense up, which forces me to have to think about relaxing again before applying pressure to the second stage. If I don't pay attention to this tensing, I will push the shot low with the tension in my right shoulder or flinch the shot high but flexing my left arm (I use the over the arm position).
After shooting the Falcon for a while I found that I didn't tense up as much when preparing for the shots and that I tended to squeeze the trigger more consistently while also following through better. It was like a light bulb going off in my head, again.
I knew this from years past but had forgotten it when I went back to my HW97 spring gun. I was told from a very reliable and experienced source that the Rekord trigger works better with a longer first stage and a short, crisp second stage (it has to do with the design of the sear arms), anyways, my HW97 is set up with a 2 stage trigger. When I went back to shooting it I forgot what I had learned about the single stage match trigger.
After my single stage epiphany, I got out my AA ProTarget and re-adjusted the trigger to a single stage. Wow, what a difference. The ProTarget trigger is better than the Falcon as far as the adjustments available and after adjustments, it is pretty incredible. I can safely rest my finger on the trigger and when I start to apply pressure it will break. It is wonderful and makes shooting accurately easier.
I really have come to prefer a single stage match trigger for competition shooting. I think it will add shots to my score. I am going to go through all my match rifles and change the triggers on those that I can to a single stage trigger.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
HW97 #1
I bought my first adult airgun back in the late summer of 1994. It was an HW97 and it was one of the first ones sold in Florida. I bought it from Bob Koshler who lived at that time in the Tampa area. I was looking for a used FWB124 since my dad had one and I really liked it. Bob talked me into the HW97 and I haven't regretted buying it. I shot my first Field Target match later that year with that rifle and shot it exclusively for a number of years. Over the course of the first few years I shot thousands upon thousands of pellets through that rifle.
In recennt years #1 has set in the gun cabinet while I played with my other toys. I recently got it back out to shoot again and it shot wonderfully. The original HW97s were design for 12 ft lbs and I found that over time mine usually settled in around 11 ft lbs. After setting for a number of years it was only shooting around 760 fps or about 10 ft lbs. This is a bit low for field target but it sure shoot sweet at that power. It is so smooth and accurate at the lower power.
I had shot a lot of match in the olden days at 10-11 ft lbs and did quite well with it. I decided to take it out to a local FT match and ended up taking top piston honors. #1 is still a smooth shooting machine and I still enjoy shooting it. Over the years I have had #1 tuned for higher power but it just seems to like shooting in the 10-11 ft lbs range and I enjoy shooting it in that range. Trying to get the extra power just made the shooting cycle a bit harsher so I am going to leave it at the lower power and enjoy it.
#1 is now an old boy at 15 years old but it is still shooting like a champ.
In recennt years #1 has set in the gun cabinet while I played with my other toys. I recently got it back out to shoot again and it shot wonderfully. The original HW97s were design for 12 ft lbs and I found that over time mine usually settled in around 11 ft lbs. After setting for a number of years it was only shooting around 760 fps or about 10 ft lbs. This is a bit low for field target but it sure shoot sweet at that power. It is so smooth and accurate at the lower power.
I had shot a lot of match in the olden days at 10-11 ft lbs and did quite well with it. I decided to take it out to a local FT match and ended up taking top piston honors. #1 is still a smooth shooting machine and I still enjoy shooting it. Over the years I have had #1 tuned for higher power but it just seems to like shooting in the 10-11 ft lbs range and I enjoy shooting it in that range. Trying to get the extra power just made the shooting cycle a bit harsher so I am going to leave it at the lower power and enjoy it.
#1 is now an old boy at 15 years old but it is still shooting like a champ.
