what trigger weight to you like for hunting

[koivu]

I target shoot and hunt.  My target 22 has a 2 ounce trigger (free recoil bench rifle).  Most of my hunting rifles are probably around 3 or 4 pounds (never really measured them).  I just picked up a new 7X57 mauser that has it's trigger adjusted to about 1 1/2 pounds.  It feels great but I am wondering if I should put it back up to at least 2 pounds.  Do any of you people hunt with a trigger that light?
Thanks.

[slab12]

2 1/2- 31/2 should be fine for just about any hunting situation.

[victorcharlie]

It's really a matter of personal preference.......I think it's more what you get used to and practice with than any thing else.  As long as you feel safe......that's what matters.......

[Don Fischer]

I have my 700's down to just under 3#. But I think it might be a bit light for hunting, even tho I do it. My model 70 is just as it came from the factory, probally about 5# and I find I actually control tyhat trigger better. I have a 1903 springfield by Paul Jaeger that has the military trigger complete with it's double stage pull. It has been cleaned up conciderably and I don't know where it breaks. I shoot it very well. With the exception of competation rifles I think we tend to use to light triggers. They require to much consentration for me now. I had an Anschutz 22 mag years ago and fooled with it's trigger. Very light, so light that my friends couldn't cockit without firing it. I ran into that same problem myself when I shot smallbore match. One of the guy's had an
Anchutz match rifle with a 2 oz trigger and I couldn't cock it.

I used to think that light and no over travel and breaks like glass was the way to go. I still think so for a match rifle but having second thoughts on hunting rifles. Took me 40yrs to figure that out so if you want to know way, give me a bit!

[GeoW]

Somewhere between 4 and 6 pounds as long as it is crisp and most important of all, predictable.
GeoW

[7x57mm]

Victorcharlie said it right the first time in my opinion. Whatever floats your boat. What floats my boat is right at three pounds, no creep, no overtravel, just a clean break. My little brother likes a trigger that breaks at around five pounds because he said he lost some of the feelings in his trigger finger when a piece of machinery fell on his hands several years ago. I would not feel comfortable shooting one if his rifles and he certainly does not fee comfortable shooting my rifles. Tom Purdom

[KYsquirrelsniper]

All my hunting rifles have triggers of 2.5-3.0 lbs. I like light triggers on everything, especially paper punchers, but I want a trigger of at least 2.5lb on a hunting rifle because my fingers are often cold or I have on a thin glove when hunting.

[.308sniper]

My hunting rifel is at about 2.75 pds never measured it though.

[longwinters]

I also prefer somewhere between 2-3#, probably closer to 3.  This gives me, in my mind, the best of both worlds of shooting a lot of target (working up loads) and hunting. 

Long

[Dave in WV]

I like 3# best. I wouldn't want less on a hunting rifle

[jro45]

I like 3# to 3.5# of trigger pull. Any thing under that I pull the trigger ahead of time accidently

[beemanbeme]

3.5#.  As posted, you may have on gloves or your fingers may be cold and wet and numb.  Doesn't hurt to practice not touching the trigger until you're ready to pull it.

[si72]

I find it an advantage to have similar triggers on all my rifles so they are all between 1- 1.5lbs. I like the light crisp triggers for me they are the way to go. In terms of safety well it's not cocked unless i'm ready to shoot so it's not really an issue.

si

[jpsmith1]

I grew up on 'hairtriggers'.  My dad believed, and ALMOST rightly so that a light trigger pull was essential to accuracy.  His idea of a great trigger would be one of those 2 oz target triggers.  I'd bet that he'd put one on his '06 and haul it up a tree if it had a safety on it.

Anyway, I've since learned that triggers are a difficult subject.  I've shot match rifles with 2oz triggers and I've shot military weapons with 7-10# creepy, nasty triggers.  I shoot them all reasonably well.  Yup, I shoot the match rifles better, but somehow I think that's because they are better and more accurate rifles to begin with, not because they have a 2oz trigger. 

With all of that said, my hunting rifle has a Timney replacement trigger (thanks, dad ) It's adjusted to about 3# and set as crisp as can be.  I would not carry a 1 1/2# trigger into the deer wods.  Varminting is a different story.

[ScoutMan]

3# is a good benchmark, especially since you are a target shooter as well. 3# will seem light to a novice.

If you wear mittens or gloves when hunting, modify them so that your trigger finger puts skin to the trigger. You need the tactile feel. I walk arround the woods all day with my trigger hand in my pocket so that my triigger finger will be warm if a shot opportunity arises.

[jvs]

2½ to 3 pounds is what I usually make my hunting triggers.

[dw06]

Victorcharlie said it right the first time in my opinion. Whatever floats your boat. What floats my boat is right at three pounds, no creep, no overtravel, just a clean break.

I agree with both.how can that be?Well I like a 3lb no creep or overtravel and clean break on rifles for hunting in cold weather.I also have rifles set lighter,and as Victorcharlie said,its more what you get used to,as the more you shoot a given rifle you get used to it.

[RaySendero]

My hunting rifel is at about 2.75 pds never measured it though.

I also like 2 & 3/4 #s and have a friend that will measure it!

[McLernon]

As you tense up in a hunting/shooting situation a 2 lb trigger is going to feel mighty light and could result in an unintentional discharge--- and a missed deer as it has for me on two occasions. 4-5 lbs. is about right for field conditions where you are shooting off-hand. Prone off a steady rest lighter is better.

McLernon

[Don Fischer]

My old Sako L61's were adjusted to about three lbs but the best thing about them was the Flaigs trigger shoes I put on them. Haven't seen them in years, wish I could find them again. They were very wide and spred the trigger over a lot more finger.

[lilabner]

I like a trigger I can adjust. For paper punching and hunting from a stand, 2 pounds works OK for me and I could probably go lighter. For mountain hunting in rough terrain, 3 pounds minimum and up to 4. When I'm out of breath, I want more resistance for better control.