Securing triggers on Tenn. Rifles

[mountainman70]

Howdie all. Those of you that have had the opportunity to take the originals apart, how were the trigger plates most often secured- with a screw in the front and rear, down thru the wrist from tang to trigger plate,or just held in by the triggger guard/? I have done this job these ways,frankly I dont like the tang to plate drill another hole in a weak spot,but am ok with the others. Just wondered what the old timers did. Thanks to all, best regards, Dave F

[Dave B]

A couple i have seen didnt have any screws. They were held in place by the trigger guard.. The tang of the barrel is held with wood screws

[B.Barker]

Many of the old ones were held by the trigger guard in the front. But like most things they were done all kinds of ways and not all were the best of ways.

[Ken G]

If you can imagine it and it works, it was done.  I think most of what I have seen on trigger plates were captured under trigger guard in front and screw in rear. 

There a lot of folks here that have seen and held way more than I have.  Curious what others say.

Cheers,
Ken

[mountainman70]

That is pretty much my philosophy Ken. I have looked and held many old rifles from my area,and some Ohio guns, anf have learned that much. Lets keep this going a while if y'all want to .Some pics woyuld be welcome,also. Have a good evening all. Dave F

[Gaeckle]

I have an old antique painted rifle that the triggers are held in place by only the trigger guard, the fit is extremely tight

[Hungry Horse]

I bought a set of furniture off of an old SMR from a guy, and couldn’t figure out for the life of me how the triggers were secured in the stock. After talking to a couple of board members, I concluded that they simply fit into a tight inlets were secured by the triggerguard. So obviously this was quite common.

  Hungry Horse

[Dave B]

The old Tennessee smith must have had an a version to screws in the trigger mounting. The SMR rifle i posted here a month ago was built with a set of triggers that did have a rear mounting hole but the smith elected not to use it. Just the trigger guard as the means of retention.  This particular trigger has that hole just back of the screw mounting for the mainspring. Note that the hole has not been countersunk. One could speculate that the triggers were made so you could choose to use the rear screw if you wished. But what about the notch in the front portion of the trigger bar? There are no threads indicating a front tang lock bolt. Maybe another mounting hole for a tang bolt that was not needed and summarily cut off.

[bama]

There are many ways the triggers were held in place as had been mentioned. I have run across a few that the triggers and the guard were made as an integral part like the Hawken triggers and guard. This type of system I believe was used on a lot of guns found in Alabama. 

[Bob Roller]

I still wonder why they used set triggers to begin with.Few if any long rifles
had sights that could be considered as "target"sights and triggers that must
be set before the lock can be cocked make no sense at all.
Bob Roller

[shortbarrel]

I don't know if this will helps you. My brother and have many rifles we have bought over the years, Most had one screw, front or back.

[mountainman70]

Thats a good question in itself, Bob. Bein as a single trigger  is way easier,to install and removes less wood than the set triggs. Maybe a "Extra"  selling point, or a Just because he can thing. Who knows. But there they are, giving us ol boys 150 years later something to chew on, and fuss with installing.
To me, a Mountain rifle without set triggers :"is like a  Setter without ears". Seems I seed that statement on here somewheres. Dave F

[Dave B]

I believe the quote is something like "A shotgun with out hammers is like a spaniel with out ears" said by some guy from England wearing funny pants and slippers but knew what he was talking about.

[Daryl]

 King George V once said "a gun without hammers is like a spaniel without ears".

[Dave B]

there it is. Thank you  Daryl.  I like that quote.

[mountainman70]

Boy, did y'all take the bait. lol No disrespect intended,just wanted to see how long til I was Reeee minded as to where and properly, what I was thinking. I appreciate you guys trying to keep me somewhat straight? . Anyways, Thanks for your input.  Have a great evening. Dave F
Now , let me see ifn I can find that houn dog with those long ears. heheheh

[mountainman70]

Helloooooo there! Here's pics of double set  triggers from my fake Hawken squirrel rifle. There are countersunk holes in each end but no screws were used..just held by the pinned tr guard.
These would be dandy to reproduce for slim profile guns.
Hope you enjoy the pics.
Best regards Dave 

[G_T]

I gather community sport shooting events were a great deal more popular then than now. It may be that people took whatever rifle they had and shot for prize at local events, if they didn't have or couldn't afford a rifle just for that. Having a set trigger is a benefit for that sort of shooting.

Gerald

[Craig Wilcox]

Dave, the onliest one I saw had a screw in the rear of the trigger plate - short wood screw, about #8 x 1".  The front end was held by the trigger guard.

And the quote really was the English guy who wore weird shorts and pointy red shoes.  Daryl, I think,  knew the old fellow personally.