GUNSMITHING: Timney or Dayton Traister triggers?
Seth Leigh
I am engaged in my first rifle conversion process. I am making my own
deer rifle/sporter out of an M96 Swedish mauser. Please don't send me any
flames for butchering a piece of history. Besides the fact that I have
heard all that before, I am preserving already other Swedish mausers that
are being left (and liked very much) in their stock military
configuration.
I am on the verge of ordering a replacement trigger from Brownells. I
have decided that the choice is between a Timney Sportsman trigger and the
Speedlock trigger kit from Dayton Traister, which has a trigger and a
couple of other parts intended to speed up the action a bit.
I have absolutely no experience with either one of these, or indeed with
replacing triggers at all. Can anyone out there with experience with
either or both of these triggers comment on them, and perhaps even offer
some advice on which one to get?
Other comments: An older fellow at the local gun store (Gunnies in Orem,
UT) told me that he usually cuts the last inch or so off the back of the
firing piece, so that the firing pin will slam forward faster and cut his
lock-time. I am kind of skeptical whenever someone mentions "locktime"
(can you say "Hey, have I got the titanium firing pin for you!"??), but
examining the firing mechanism shows that doing what this older gentleman
says might just cut the weight of the firing pin piece in half, which
might make a noticeable difference. Has anyone out there done this who
would like to comment? One consequence of doing this that I can see is
that you would no longer be able to use the safety to prevent the bolt
from opening, although I don't know whether this is a big deal or not.
Also, getting the rear sight mount off the barrel was a real pain in the
keester. I was too chicken to use my little torch to heat it up and melt
the solder to get it off easily, because I was worried about ruining the
temper or warping the barrel. Was this a justified worry? What I ended
up doing was making a lengthwise cut with my Dremel tool and a cutting
wheel, and then I pried the danged thing off piece by piece with a pair of
pliers. Then I scraped the rest of the solder off, filed off a couple of
dings I stupidly managed to inflict on the barrel, and reblued the area
with Perma Blue paste. Would I have hurt the barrel if I had just heated
the dang thing with my propane torch and melted the solder? Heck, I
figure someone heated the barrel up to solder the thing on in the first
place, but then again they could easily have heat-treated the barrel again
afterwards, so I took the safe route.
I am also going to buy an 11 degree crown cutter from Brownells to
re-crown the barrel after I cut it from 29" to 25" or 26". The catalog
shows a handle for this to be used by hand, with a pilot going down the
bore to guide the cutter. Is it realistic to try and recrown this barrel
by hand? I don't have access to a lathe, so if I buy this, it will be
done by hand. Also, does the pilot mar the rifling at all?
I am going to pay this older gentleman at the local gunstore to drill and
tap the receiver for a scope mount, and I will probably pay him to cut and
reweld the bolt handle, too. I know I can buy the jig to do this and a
bolt handle from Brownells for less than I will have to pay him to do it,
but I really don't want to screw up the bolt, and he has done many of
these. Is this really doable by a first-timer? I am also getting the
"Mark II Safety" on p. 75 of the Brownell's catalog to install, so I can
have a safety that clears the bottom of the scope.
I already kind of screwed up a little doing the stock. I didn't know what
order the pieces were to be inletted into the wood, so I have just about
finished inletting the floorplate into the walnut blank, without having
cut holes for the receiver screws, and without bedding the receiver in
first. I held up the receiver and floorplate to the stock blank, though,
and I am pretty sure I can make it fit well. I will drill the holes for
the inletting screws I am also going to buy from Brownells, and inlet the
receiver into just the right position it needs to be in. Then I will
finish inletting the floorplate in, which thankfully is not yet in so far
that I would have ruined the blank.
I have already "finished" a little patch of the stock (which will be
carved away anyhow when the action is bedded properly) just to see what
the wood will look like finished. I sanded the patch down smooth and then
applied 4 or 5 coats of Tru-Oil to it, sanding down the finish after the
first 2 or 3 coats. The wood has no special grain or anything, but I
really like the rich walnut look it has, and I am very excited to get the
receiver bedded so I can carve and finish the stock. That will be fun. I
have a couple files I will use to do the carving, then I will use 120 grit
sandpaper, then 240 grit, then 320 grit, then 400 grit, then 600 grit,
then 1200 grit. I will then apply at least 5 coats (maybe more) of
Tru-Oil. Oh, one question. Has anyone out there used that grain-filling
stuff? I have experimented with Tru-Oil on a couple pieces of wood
(including my walnut stock blank), and I worry that filling the grain with
it is going to take a million coats. But, I am worried that the
grain-filling stuff might change the wood's appearance or something. Is
this something I should worry about?
The plan right now is to cut and crown the barrel at 25" or 26", leave the
caliber at 6.5x55, and mount a Leupold 4x12 Vari-X II (which will cost
more than the whole rest of the rifle). I will glass bed the receiver and
float the barrel. I am getting a steel grip cap for the stock, and I
already bought a Pachmayr White Line recoil pad to mount on the butt of
the stock. I will put nice sling swivels on the stock, and get a decent
sling. I really think this rifle will be pretty neat. I am hoping to use
it on deer this Fall. The best thing about this rifle will be that _I_
made it the way it will be. I like that a lot. It's fun to create stuff
like this.
Anyways, any comments or suggestions will be received with an open ear. I
am an utter newbie at this kind of work, so any opinions or comments are
welcome. My brother is watching me do this, and then he will do it with
one of his M96 Swedes as well. I guess I get to be the guinea pig on this
one...
--
J. Seth Leigh seth_...@powertalk.dtint.com
Digital Technology Int. (801)226-2984
500 W. 1200 South, Orem UT, 84057 FAX (801) 226-8438
ElCoyotero
Dear Seth,
Either of the triggers will work fine. The D-T will fit without
having to relieve the stock any, but the Timney, having a bigger casing,
will probably require that you remove a little wood. The D-T safety is
also a good unit.
I regularly remove military front sights with a propane torch, and
have experienced no difficulties. It's the way to go, as it saves on
beating up the barrel with a chisel.
I would NOT remove any large amount of the cocking piece. The ones
that Kimber fixes up have the little flange on top removed so the low
safety will fit, but they don;t cut down the body of the cocking piece.