Fox Collectors

What should the trigger pulls be for an eighty to 100 year old 12 ga Fox double trigger gun? Jim

Jim, trigger pulls are pretty much a personal preference. The fox sears and hammers can be polished and "worked" to get down to a 3# range.. I prefer 4 1/2 to 5 myself. A gun that doubles because of a lite sear engagement is no fun at all.

The reason I posted the question is that I recently purchased a Lyman digital trigger pull guage and measured some of my Fox 12 ga guns. The following is what I measured:

1) 1908 CE grade - 4lbs/4lbs6oz
2) 1910 C grade - 4lbs2oz/5lbs1oz
3) 1911 AE grade - 4lbs/6lbs5oz
4) 1913 BE grade - 2lbs7oz/6lbs10oz
5) 1923 HE grade - 3lbs14oz/8lbs
6) 1928 HE grade - 8lbs8oz/11lbs2oz

A pull of around 4lbs for the front trigger feels good to me. There seems to be quite a variation for the back trigger. What do you think the back trigger pull should be? The BE grade front trigger seems a little light for saftey reasons. And the 1928 HE grade is all out of whack. None of these guns "double".

Can the BE grade front trigger be adjusted to a heavier pull? Who would you recommend to adjust the triggers on the 1928 HE?

Jim

I believe the rule of thumb on trigger pulls is half the guns weight. A 7 lb gun should have a 3 1/2 lbs trigger pull. I like a little heavier trigger on a hunting gun. I do not know of anyone in your area that adjusts trigger pulls but it is a specialty.

Interesting thread. Usually trigger pulls on a Fox will get somewhat lighter from use, not heavier. That's because the sear tip and its mating hammer knotch will get very slightly "rounded off" for lack of a better term. I've observed from an admittedly limited sample size that HE grade guns seem to have heavier trigger pulls; I'm thinkiing they were intentionally made that way. IMO, if an unmolested Fox has a heavier pull(s) it was probably made with same.

Trigger pull weight on a Fox is mostly dependant on the angle of the sear tip and its hammer knotch. The hammer spring compression and sear spring pressure have limited effect. Any changes should be made BY A PROFESSIONAL who knows what he's doing and can keep the surfaces straight in all three planes. A holding jig is most helpful. Most professional gunsmiths who specialize in double guns should be able to do this type work. Absolutely not the thing to try at home. It's too easy to get the angles wrong or not square, then have to re-do, etc. etc. Kind of like cutting off a table leg so it doesn't wobble in use. Table top keeps getting closer to the floor. On the sear tip - the more you cut off, the hammer cocks more quickly and the shorter the hammer travel when fired. To reiterate, for safety and functionality, if you decide to/must adjust trigger pull weights let a professional do it. Silvers

I believe McIntosh stated in his book "Shotgun Technicana" that rear triggers should be 1/2 lb heavier than front triggers. Seems to make sense so that the recoil from the front trigger does not help the rear go bang before you want it to.

Mike

Yeah Mike, having the left trigger/typical second barrel a bit heavier is the normal convention and we read that in many books. That might sound good in theory - but depending on an extra 1/2 pound or even more of extra trigger pull weight to keep the gun from doubling on recoil seems a bit mickey mouse to me. If the sear and hammer knotch angles are set up properly the gun should not double even if the left barrel is fired first, as when a longish shot presents itself first, etc. A couple of my competition Foxes are shot almost as often left-right as they are right-left. I have yet to have any of them double fire no matter which barrel I choose to fire first. Frank

Has anyone measured the trigger pulls on their "original" Fox guns? Jim

Lefties should be wary of light front trigger pull. Hard recoil and the trigger finger easily slips on to the back trigger. This is the only time I've had a Fox double but it has happened more than once.