Hugh,

OK, I think I get it now, but you didn't have it bas-acwards. There is more weight in the second stage than the first stage. The second stage is the actual trigger pull and the first stage is only a safety feature.

Something many people don't realize is that it is a very good thing to put a full length hammer spring in when doing a trigger job. NOT an "extra power" hammer spring mind you, but a full length G.I. spring. Some of those "extra power" commercial hammer springs have caused some bad problems in rifles and I don't use them at all. I don't have the blueprints handy, but I think they called for a G.I. hammer spring to be 2 3/16" long at maximum for both the Garand and M14icon. What I have always done is use a hammer spring that is at least 2 1/8" long for two main reasons.

The first reason is the longer spring gives you faster lock time. That means from the time the sear is released until the gun is fired, there is less time when you use the longer spring. That means the shooter has less of a chance to go off target from the time he releases the sear till the gun fires. Fast lock time is better for shooting in virtually every gun from muzzleloaders to modern ones.

The second reason is one most people have never thought about in a Garand or M14 trigger. When you have a heavier first stage trigger pull from the longer spring, there is less noticeable difference when pulling the second stage. That makes you THINK the actual trigger pull of the second stage is even lighter than it actually is. As such, it actually helps you shoot the rifle better.