Your firearm purchase that had the worst trigger possible

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triplebike

triplebike

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Hi all, just some fun. I'm sure that a lot of us have purchased a firearm like above. My worst was a Marlin 60 rifle. A few years ago I found an NIB 1988 unfired Marlin Model 60, paid $65 for it. Everything about the gun was perfect except the Trigger. It felt like you were dragging a cement block in sand. The gun was totally unshootable. Luckily I located a gentleman that actually designed, patented & manufactured an aftermarket trigger exclusivity for the Marlin 60 series. (KAT TRIGGER)
It now has the very best 22 rifle trigger I have ever felt. Out of all my rifles and handguns (15+) this was the only trigger that I ever had to replace. Anyone else been there done that?
 
Ruger P-89 (believe it or not, the San Diego PD once issued the Ruger). Just couldn't get this trigger any better, finally traded the pistol in.

Ruger LC9. Sold it. No excuse for a trigger that heinous. Pretty sure that's why Ruger went to the LC9S.

Only rifle I ever bought with a bad trigger was a new (JM) Marlin 336. Aside from the Marlin "flop," it had a really hard pull that was not conducive to any sort of accuracy.The Wild West "happy trigger" from Brownells cured it perfectly (pretty easily replaced part, too for a non-gunsmith).
 
It wasn't a purchase, actually a firearm Mom found in Dad's dresser drawer after he passed away, an old Iver Johnson "Safety" .32 top break pistol, used black powder .32 cartridges, the trigger felt like it was wrapped in gravel and used sandpaper as a lubricant, it made a stock Ruger 10/22 trigger feel like the proverbial "glass break" rod...

worst one I *purchased*, easily a tie between a factory Ruger 10/22 and a Marlin 60
 
MacTech said:
It wasn't a purchase, actually a firearm Mom found in Dad's dresser drawer after he passed away, an old Iver Johnson "Safety" .32 top break pistol, used black powder .32 cartridges, the trigger felt like it was wrapped in gravel and used sandpaper as a lubricant, it made a stock Ruger 10/22 trigger feel like the proverbial "glass break" rod...

worst one I *purchased*, easily a tie between a factory Ruger 10/22 and a Marlin 60
Click to expand...
I agree my 10/22 was the worst trigger I had ever had, thankfully very easy to upgrade.
 
I had a Taurus M94 with a trigger that took two grown men to pull. Heavy and gritty are understatements.
I took it apart and polished every two surfaces that rubbed together. It took a while and I had to use a needle file to get to a couple of burs. It was a lot better when I got done, but was nothing like a S&W on its worst day. Sold it to a friend that wanted it to teach his wife how to shoot a revolver.
 
triplebike

Worst trigger pull huh? That would have to be my 1966 vintage T Series Browning Hi-Power. Off the scale in terms of measuring the heavy and oh so uneven trigger pull on it. The best group I could get out of it was Minute of Barn, as in the side of the barn! So nice looking on the outside; so horribly messed-up on the inside.
 
The pulls on my Enfields and Webleys are heavy, but smooth, and with the generous grips are easily managed.

The cake was taken by my unaltered Polish P64, the first gun I have owned where pulling the trigger actually hurt my hand.
 
It is a tie between a Smith and Wesson Bodyguard and 1943 Mosin Nagant before I smoothed the trigger sear. Bodyguard weight was over 15 pounds (highest my trigger scale went) and the Nagant was inconsistent between 10 and 12 pounds. The Bodyguard was sent back to Smith and Wesson. Returned unchanged and dirty and sold at a loss. Nagant was sold at a profit.
 
My FEG PA63 in 380 acp is really stout. I know there is replacement springs for it, just haven't gotten to it yet.
Next up, Daewoo DP51. A bit spongy, very long pull before it fires.
My former Argentine Mauser had a grindy pull, which I thought was odd as it had had extensive sporterizing done to it, and they left the trigger like it was.
The Great Western 357 Atomic I have has had some work done to it, its a hair trigger. Literally. A little scary in my book to have.
All the Bulgarian Makarovs I have had all had gritty, long pulls. I know, I know, military made.
 
Kimber Micro 9. 8 1/2# in a subcompact pistol. Tough to shoot accurately as is. Maybe in a SD situation it wouldn't be as noticable.
 
Well, the Marlin Model 60 was a boyhood Christmas gift so I didn't actually buy it, but it had its typical awful trigger.

The 10/22 I did pay for and it, too, had the usual trigger. For years I thought that was just the way semi-auto .22 triggers were until I shot someone else's 10/22 that had been worked on. Now all three of mine have had Brimstone trigger jobs and I have to warn people about them before they shoot in case they are only accustomed to Ruger factory triggers. It's like shooting an entirely different gun.
 
Early M&P 9mm. Not mine

Chiappa pw87 lever action 12 ga.
Trigger is stiff and flimsy..and sharp.

All three of my USP.
DA pulls are terrible. Sa pulls are slightly less so. Great guns though

ETA. Very early Beretta 96 vertec. One of the only guns I ever took a loss on to get rid of and at the time i was a Beretta collector (IE snob) i love the DA/SA Berettas from the minx to the brigadier, and have plenty but that one was awful. Trigger pull was a mile long and maxed out a 12lb scale.
 
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triplebike

Mosin T53Hunter's post reminded me of the worst trigger pull on guns I didn't pull the trigger on (please forgive the pun)! First one was a Hungarian FEG PA 63 that I was unable to get the trigger to work in double action mode it was that heavy! Runner-up to that was a Russian Nagant M1895 revolver that was nearly as hard to pull than the PA 63 but I think I did eventually get it to work! Both these guns were for sale at a local gun shop and I pity the person who bought either one of them for something other than a paperweight!
 
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A Ruger "Security Six" da revolver purchased new in 1975, for the purpose of le carry duty (we had to purchase our own sidearms back then) had the "worst trigger possible". The da trigger pull stacked so badly it was impossible to keep bullets close to the place where they were aimed. For that bi-annual qualification course, I had to borrow a fellow officer's Colt revolver to pass.
I sold that gun as quickly as I could and bought a Smith & Wesson Model 13 to carry (that particular revolver possessed one of the best da triggers I've ever pulled, before or since). I don't know if the da trigger pull on my Security Six was representative of early Ruger da revolvers or an anomaly but it made the revolver impossible to shoot accurately.
 
Win 190 .22 way to hard to shoot accurately, 10/22 much easier, and I bought a Security 9 and thought I could get used that trigger, but without a stop or breaking point I could not get used to that, even after I put a Galloway kit in it, and fired many hundreds of rounds through it. Put it in the safe and bought a SR9 sold the 190.
JW
 
Hands down the worst factor trigger was on a Henry Single Shot in 308 I bought over the summer. There were some threads over on castboolits website on how to swap out the springs but I started getting light primer strikes (Winchester Primers) and never anywhere near a decent trigger. I would up selling the rifle on gunbroker, the project was irredeemable.
 
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