Single set, single trigger

[oldtravler61]

  Bob your welcome..! My big regret at the CLA show was I wanted to meet you personally to thank you for all the good advice you have given so many over the year's...!
  Thanks again..! From Mike Stoffel aka Oldtravler

[mchulse]

Gentlemen, are there books, in lieu of a mentor, from which I may gain the wisdom to build a really good trigger?

[Bob Roller]

Try to find an antique gun equipped with one. I had a single set trigger for years that
was a fine antique that published on this forum.It now resides with a top maker that
may use it some day.After 30+ years of owning it I realized it needed a new home.
Bob Roller

[Scota4570]

I was searching for info on a Walter Cain lock I bought yesterday and found this thread.  I also got a single set triggers in the deal.

I have to take sides with those wo do not consider single set triggers safe. To set the trigger before going to full cock is not a good idea, ..IMHO.  I bought a single set trigger a while back and decided to not use it because of my safety concerns   

Aside from the wrong order of operation to fire the gun, the pull is way to light.  The set trigger set screw only changes the sear engagement depth (creep). 

I bought an Italian target pistol that works the same way. The pull weight is fixed at near nothing.  That invites the AD because the trigger can be tripped when the hammer reaches full cock.  IT is that light.  On my first outing to the range I had and AD with that pistol.   I am a bit afraid of that pistol. 

Back to the Cain lock.  It had a hex head grub screw though the plate that was as originally made.  IT bore on the sear tail and allowed for reducing the sear nose engagement in the tumbler notch from the outside.  Sears and notches need proper depth of engagement and geometry for safety, and durability.  If properly made there is no reason to have an adjustment for sear engagement.  I plugged the hole in the plate.   

[Bob Roller]

About 40 years ago I made some single set triggers for the now deceased Helmut Mohr and he called them "Kammerstechers" and they worked by pushing the trigger forward and it slid under the release bar to engage the latch which was lightly spring loaded and adjusted with a screw.It did not have to be set to be used.E.M.Farris had a target rifle,offhand type with a single set trigger that did not have to be set and the gun was made by George Farris in Utica,NY.These old American guns with triggers that must be set to cock the lock are to me,bad workmanship and poor choice of parts but that may be all that was available when the gun was built.Helmut Mohr also showed me a single set trigger of complex design that was made by a watch maker in the French speaking part of Switzerland.Very expensive.
Bob Roller

[Austin]

I forgot what kind of trigger we were talking about…..

[Scota4570]

One of the triggers above has an extra mainspring.  The extra spring has and extension at the front.  The idea was to limit how far the mainspring kicks the bar up.  Let momentum carry it upward like a regular double set trigger.  That way the bar is not up and under pressure pressing on the lock's sear bar.  IT did not work.  I gave up on making it work with that spring. 

These triggers are very delicate and must be adjusted perfectly to work. 

[Bob Roller]

Very fine thread adjustment screws help;I have made and used 1x72's on triggers but the pins the triggers turn on must be precise.Ground and polished drill rod,no nails or all thread screws.A 2x64 is a bit more robust and will give the same adjustment as the 1x72.There is an 0x80 but that goes off the deep end and if that tine tap is broken during threading,it's game over.
Bob Roller

[Hungry Horse]

 I know I gonna get some grief about this post, but here it goes anyway. I think set trigger of any kind on a plow handled muzzleloading pistol is dangerous at an event. I have been at several events where accidental discharges happened, and the guns involved all  had a plow handle, heavy barrels, and set triggers. Heavy, or overly long  barrels seems to be part of the problem, as does diminutive shooters seems to be a factor as well. I think in many cases the triggers are set way too light.

Hungry Horse

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Pictured is my Chambers' Mark Silver Virginia rifle.  I replaced the simple trigger that came with the parts set with a single set trigger I purchased from Muzzleloading Builder's Supply.  I have adjusted this trigger so that it does not need to be set before the lock is cocked, either to half or full bent.  Once the lock is cocked, the trigger sets easily by pressing the trigger forward.  A trigger pull of ounces fires the gun and it is completely safe and reliable.

[Daryl]

I dislike having to shoot against that rifle, just saying. It is heavy and just hangs on the bullseye.(for Taylor)