Is lightening the sear/magazine spring a valid way to lighten trigger pull?

[Bindi2]

You have a battle rifle not a target rifle. Those groups fall inside the accuracy requirements for a Enfield battle rifle. These rifles can be tweaked a little but this will change a collector Milsurp to a range rifle. I have both with the amount of work to be done for a little gain leave it as is and use it as a battle rifle and compete in service matches with similar rifles. If you want a range rifle buy one already to go. Then work on finding a reload that works in that rifle. The battle rifle will put down any thing at normal hunting distances. Enjoy what you have.

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[SDWriter]

You have a battle rifle not a target rifle. Those groups fall inside the accuracy requirements for a Enfield battle rifle. These rifles can be tweaked a little but this will change a collector Milsurp to a range rifle. I have both with the amount of work to be done for a little gain leave it as is and use it as a battle rifle and compete in service matches with similar rifles. If you want a range rifle buy one already to go. Then work on finding a reload that works in that rifle. The battle rifle will put down any thing at normal hunting distances. Enjoy what you have.

You consider a 6# trigger a range-rifle trigger? I don't go to ranges anymore anyway. Just out to the desert east of my town. And the issue trigger is a 5-minute retro-fit, if that. My other questions were purely hypothetical, in case it wasn't apparent.

And I don't need another load. 1.5 MOA is fine in my book. I stopped experimenting with loads for this rifle about 15 years ago.

[Patrick Chadwick]

To anyone who feels like filing about (call it f-ing about) on a trigger/sear interaction.

Read up on safety-off fires and slam-fires first. Then, unless you are really, really able to carry out the job in the meticulous fashion described elsewhere by Peter Laidler, LEAVE IT ALONE!

And, judging by the groups shown in the photos, that rifle just needs the sights centering - nothing else!

[David TS]

And, judging by the groups shown in the photos, that rifle just needs the sights centering - nothing else!

And the breathing sorted out

[SDWriter]

To anyone who feels like filing about (call it f-ing about) on a trigger/sear interaction.

Read up on safety-off fires and slam-fires first. Then, unless you are really, really able to carry out the job in the meticulous fashion described elsewhere by Peter Laidler, LEAVE IT ALONE!

And, judging by the groups shown in the photos, that rifle just needs the sights centering - nothing else!

Noted. These operations can be risky. I've always limited my mods to polishing of surfaces. Never changing any shapes or contours. Above I'd said that I would like to stone the surface of the cocking piece (or have a professional do the job) to smooth it without changing the angle. This is the first thing to try, in my opinion. Under magnification (10x) even that polished surface is pretty ripply with the tool marks left behind from the mass production process. A proper stoning would take that away. I figure it might be worth a try some day, on my spare cocking piece. Then, obviously, testing it rigorously before introducing live ammo into the equation. Like I've been trying to say, I have no current plan to pursue this.

And yeah, the scope wasn't perfectly adjusted. LOL I was testing some loads that day and only needed to hit the paper. The rifle does seem to like Reloader 15. Good enough anyway.

FWIW, years ago I saw this below, I think on this forum. it's what got me wondering about the cocking piece angle, etc.

[SDWriter]

Here's an interesting older thread on the topic. I'm still in the process of reading it.

http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=21580

[Parashooter]

The Model 54 trigger is a basic Mauser/Springfield 2-hump design. If the sear hasn't been cut down too far, some stone work on the humps can often restore a decent, safe, 2-stage pull.

[SDWriter]

Thanks Para. I've had mine out a couple of times. And yep, the M54 is a bit of a hybrid design between the Mauser and the M70. Story goes that Winchester copied just enough Mauser design to work well but changed just enough so as not to have to pay Mauser royalties. So much of the bolt assembly is original design and would look familiar to M70 owners.

FWIW, that upper pic of yours is a later design. Mine does not have rod capturing the spring. And my sear does not have that step in it---making it look to my like the state of Utah I guess. The image directly below is my sear and trigger. Note that slopping at the top. I believe there is to be a slight amount of slope, but not this much. And the angle at the rear may have been changed as well. I would dearly love to find a pristine example of this part, but they are very hard to come by nowadays. I recently bought a set off ebay, but that one turned out to function just as poorly as mine. Seems weird that the only one available for sale in the whole wide world would have been changed in the same way. But I don't have another explanation for it.

Attachment 91087

In addition, my rifle's "cocking piece" may have also been changed. Hard for me to say. M54 experts are very few and far between.

I believe that mine should look like this in profile. The photo is from Numrich's Gun Parts. A stock photo of theirs. Note the fuller top of the sear.

[Parashooter]

According to De Haas, there were early and late versions of the M54 sear mechanism ("slow-" and "speed-lock"). Nevertheless, all of them were the same basic Mauser design. Stoning some height off the front hump of yours might restore some degree of normalcy. If someone has cut down the height of the cocking-piece "bent", however, working on the trigger may not help.

[SDWriter]

According to De Haas, there were early and late versions of the M54 sear mechanism ("slow-" and "speed-lock"). Nevertheless, all of them were the same basic Mauser design. Stoning some height off the front hump of yours might restore some degree of normalcy. If someone has cut down the height of the cocking-piece "bent", however, working on the trigger may not help.

Exactly. The early type and the later "improved" design. Mine's obviously the former. That's why I need a pro. This shouldn't be rocket science, but it's beyond my capabilities. I think an experienced and gifted gunsmith could get this working fine again even if he's never seen a Win 54 in his life. It'll probably require adding metal to one part or another. Via TIG welding, and then reshaping. I sure wish I could get my hands on a copy of the original blueprints.

Ugh. I don't know who else would care about this but anyway.... what it's actually doing is this: with bolt removed from the rifle, 1st and 2nd stages feel normal. No friction or binding. But when the bolt is installed, things get weird. 1st stage has a LOT of friction, to the point that the sear actually sticks in place. The trigger won't reset when finger pressure is released! This has to be due to some unwanted interaction/contact between the sear and the bolt's C-notch. They're not coming together right anymore.

FYI, when I was in San Antonio TX last December I examined my cousin's two M54s, which apparently also belonged to our grandfather. I took pictures of the exposed sear and also the underside of the bolt on his .30-'06 version (his other is in .250-3000 Savage), which apparently is also the earlier type. I have to admit, in looking at the pics now I cannot tell much difference between his and mine. The large 'chamfer' on the back of mine might be a little more pronounced I suppose. But I wasn't able to take any measurements of any kind. Left my dial caliper at home. LOL. I can say that his certainly behaves better. Works exactly as you'd expect.