Thread: BLR Trigger tune

I am looking for a recommendation for a North Island - ideally a Wellington gunsmith who knows how to tune a BLR trigger. I love the guns but not the triggers.

Might have a DIY solution, which seems straightforward for a competent person.

IT CAN BE FIXED

Hey guys, I like many bought myself a BLR a year or so ago and love it, but the trigger was simply horrid. Travel, heavy, creep, the works. I did all the googles and reading up I could and found nothing (I'm outside the US so this recommended gunsmith wasn't a lot of help). Plenty of people also warning me away from even thinking about doing it myself (apparently getting the gear timing right during reassembly is a nightmare). I expect I'm a few years too late to help the asker but for anyone else reading I hope this helps, I made an account for this sole purpose.

It's really not that difficult, the trick (which isn't really a trick and more like common sense) is to not touch the gear screws or the bolt. They can stay. All we want to do is take out the hammer and sear. Unscrew the recoil pad (screws are hidden behind two very fine cuts in the rubber, push a philips head through with a little oil or soap for lubrication. Now remove the stock by unscrewing the screw inside the cavity (which you just uncovered by removing the recoil pad).

With the stock removed you should be able to see the housing for the mainspring. This is threaded and can be unscrewed from the action block (do so with the hammer down). remove the housing, mainspring, and two pieces of steel that connect the spring to the hammer.

Drive out the sear pin left to right (it should be pretty obvious what the sear is). The sear may not come loose just yet, you'll need to unscrew and drive out the hammer pin too. It's a bit of a fiddle sometimes to get these out, basically the action needs to be closed to get the hammer out. When you do this be careful to catch the hammer, sear AND sear spring, a tiny little 3mm diameter spring.

Now I did two things to improve my trigger. Firstly, I wanted to make it as crisp as possible, with little travel and no creep (which I achieved, but don't go into this expecting target grade stuff, just a good hunting trigger). This involved honing and polishing the two contact surfaces on the hammer and the sear. By reducing the length of the hook on the sear, I eliminated almost all travel (could go further but I didn't want to go too far). Just take it slow and check frequently. I made up a dimple wooden jig to hold the hammer and sear at the correct separation so I could monitor my work without having to reassemble. I polished the metal to 2000 grit, which eliminated all creep.

I found that after I had removed enough metal to reduce the travel, the sear spring needed to be longer in order to properly engage with the hammer. I also wanted to use a lighter spring to reduce the weight of the trigger. I ordered a selection from a local supplier (remember it's a 3mm diameter you want). I ended up settling on the lightest I could find, which had a wire diameter of 0.355mm. I haven't a trigger pull gauge but I would guess that it's around 4-5 pounds. Using a lighter spring would further reduce the weight, but going too far might prevent the sear from engaging properly. I trimmed the spring to the required length (just a few mm longer than the original).

Well that's it, hope it helps someone! Reassembly is nothing complicated. Put the hammer in first, then the sear with the sear spring. Getting the mainspring housing on is a bit of a pain, since the small metal rod connecting to the hammer can misguide the thread. I found that putting a 10mm diameter dowel in-between this rod and the action block made life easier. I'f you've gotten this far without ripping your hair out the rest should be a breeze!

As I said, I've gone from a 10lb, creepy trigger with stacks of travel to a 4-5lb trigger with absolutely no creep and very little travel. Not expecting to shoot 1/4" groups but a very acceptable hunting trigger, which is what I was aiming for.

Good luck!
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they can be known to suck and blow at the same time LOL....no worries for the snap shooting they excell at...

That tiny little 3mm diameter spring you mentioned, think that's the one i had an issue with!! when i took the bolt out of mine one time . Bit embarrassing but rifle had to go off to gunsmith to get sorted .

@Jit, so after you sold your BLR to me, you go and get another one?

There is a video on YouTube of a guy doing this procedure. https://youtu.be/ftJGiGnpUgo?si=PyC_ykpzMbh-izqW

I did it with mine but only polished the surfaces rather than remove metal. Eliminated all creep as expected.

To be honest I don’t really notice the heavy trigger when I’m hunting, because I use the rifle in very close ambush type circumstances. In that situation I don’t want a regular trigger weight.

If I was using the rifle scoped, for longer shots, then sure it would be a problem.

Originally Posted by 30late

That tiny little 3mm diameter spring you mentioned, think that's the one i had an issue with!! when i took the bolt out of mine one time . Bit embarrassing but rifle had to go off to gunsmith to get sorted .

Ball point pens and cigarette lighters...I can't even tell you how many things I've put those springs into...