Wood Swelling Problem

[Ben Gorey]

I have a 40 year old rifle which needs the set triggers adjusted/repaired. The problem is the triggers will not come out of the stock. The inletting is tight and I think maybe the wood has swelled ??  Any ideas to solve this?

[Dave B]

Ben,
If the triggers are held in by the tang bolt you can just un screw the tang bolt so it's still threaded in the plate but proud of the counter sink and tap the screw back down into the tang. This should pop the triggers out. obviously all other points of attachment must be removed, screws in the tail of the triggers, trigger guards etc...  This should get it up enough to let you get a screw driver blade under the front of the trigger plate to pop it out the rest of the way.
The thing you need to be careful about is you never know how some one else will do something. I have run across triggers that were held by screws that were under the tang so the  tang screw you see in the tang is only a wood screw, the full length screw was inlet into the wood under the tang. 

[wvmtnman]

Take the rifle insude your house, on the top floor.  The dry heat will shrink the wood slightly.  Whenever I am building a rifle, I always bring it in the house each night.  It is amazing how muchthe wood swells if it isoutside or in a basement.
                                                             Brian

[Long John]

Ben,

Using the tang bolt to drive the floor plate out is a useful trick.  Go slow!  If the trigger floor plate has been browned then it might not be wood swelling but rust formation.  Remember that even kiln dried wood has a moisture content of about 8%.  That moisture is in contact with the browned components.  Often some continued rusting will occur where the stell/iron components are in contact with the wood.  Rust occupies about 3 times the space that the iron needed to make the rust does.  Net result - rusted parts are bigger than unrusted parts.  This is why fasteners can rust in place to the point where they are un-removable.  A little vegetable oil around the trigger set might make things move easier and it wou't mar the finish.

Best Regards,

JMC

[Ben Gorey]

Thanks everyone, problem solved.