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Posted: 4/5/2009 6:25:43 PM EDT
| I just did the trigger job on my AR and it feels much better than stock. My question is instead of cutting the hammer spring I put the right side under my trigger pin, has anyone else done this? I have not fired it yet and do not know if this will cause a problem, so I am asking if anyone else has done the same on their rifle? |
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This thread popped up right on time.
My question is about the "fine compound". The web site cites "(#7 rubbing compound or Kit Scratch Out plastic polish) ". Can someone give me a specific brands they have used and where to get it. I assume Kit Scratch Out is a specific brand. Is this easy to find at AutoZone or other neighborhood part store? |
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This thread popped up right on time. My question is about the "fine compound". The web site cites "(#7 rubbing compound or Kit Scratch Out plastic polish) ". Can someone give me a specific brands they have used and where to get it. I assume Kit Scratch Out is a specific brand. Is this easy to find at AutoZone or other neighborhood part store? When I did my trigger, I used a dremel sanding disk. Not the cutting wheel (the hard non bendable disk). This disk is made of paper and is like 600 grit sand paper. They are really delicate and easy to rip, so you cant really mess it up too bad. They aren't strong enough to take off "metal". I just used the wheel to gently buff away the black anodized finish on the trigger parts where ever two peices touched or slide together. All I did was take off the black finish and polish the metal underneath to a nice shine. My trigger was 8-10 pounds. Now it is more like 5 to 6 pounds and breaks really clean and crisp. I was prepared to by a 4 pound Timney drop in trigger to get rid of the "Nasty" stock pull. But, my little polish job did enough to make it an acceptable pull. And, I didn't have to back off/cut or use any weaker springs. I really was more concerned that a weaker spring would weaken the strike on the primer and cause a failure. Anyway, this worked fine for me. If I messed it up, I knew where I could go for a fix though. It's not hard to do......but don't get carried away. Actually, it came out so good, I used the same thing on my Remington 700 and my Marlin .22 and both showed a marked improvement. |
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...My question is about the "fine compound". The web site cites "(#7 rubbing compound or Kit Scratch Out plastic polish) ". Can someone give me a specific brands they have used and where to get it. I assume Kit Scratch Out is a specific brand. Is this easy to find at AutoZone or other neighborhood part store? I don't know about Kit Scratch Out, but I think #7 rubbing compound refers to "No 7" brand White Polishing Compound used for automobile paint. If that's the case, it has been around for decades, and I think it is still available in auto parts stores. I have an old can of it- probably at least 10-15 years old- it says made by Rain Dance Care Products, a Division of Armor All Products. I think Dupont owned it previously- I remember it from the 1970's. |
I know it sounds funky, but I did mine with dirt from my yard. I started the job while the wife was gone for a couple hours, on the kitchen table. I soon realized that my valve grinding compound was MIA, the polishing compound with my dremel kit was petrified, and the auto rubbing compound and flitz wern't cutting it. What to do? Where to get a mild abrasive?No time for a run to the hardware store, improvision was the order of the day. Dirt sprinkled on a dremel buffing wheel saturated in Flitz bore cleaning compound. Worked like a champ, I polished the hammer and sear to a mirror shine in no time, along with the pins(middle only)with a very satisfactory result. I didn't make any changes to the springs, ended up with a glass breaking clean, crisp, 4lb ARmalite single stage. I
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Quoted:
I know it sounds funky, but I did mine with dirt from my yard. I started the job while the wife was gone for a couple hours, on the kitchen table. I soon realized that my valve grinding compound was MIA, the polishing compound with my dremel kit was petrified, and the auto rubbing compound and flitz wern't cutting it. What to do? Where to get a mild abrasive?No time for a run to the hardware store, improvision was the order of the day. Dirt sprinkled on a dremel buffing wheel saturated in Flitz bore cleaning compound. Worked like a champ, I polished the hammer and sear to a mirror shine in no time, along with the pins(middle only)with a very satisfactory result. I didn't make any changes to the springs, ended up with a glass breaking clean, crisp, 4lb ARmalite single stage. I I was scared to touch my trigger group at first. But, after seeing how easy it was, well........... you know.
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I've tried this a couple different ways on a couple or four different triggers , and here's what actually worked best for me ;
For the greatest reliability with LC ammo , it is usually best not to screw with the springs at all. If you mess with the hammer spring , the hammer won't strike with full force , and this "can" cause failure to fire issues with NATO ammo. (It usually isn't a problem , but it is worth noting) Bending the trigger spring legs upward where they contact the lower can reduce pull weight to a small degree. Just don't go overboard. If you bend them too much , the trigger won't reset properly. Trial and error is the order of the day. A little bit of valve lapping compound on the sear surfaces , and a bit of fine polishing compound on the trigger and hammer pins coupled with some dry-firing (50-100 times) will get out most of the creep. Remove and clean fire control group after this , then apply moly grease(anti seize) or silicone based grease(sil-glide) to the pins and sear and reassemble. This procedure won't decrease the pull weight nearly as much as cutting or repositioning the hammer spring , but it does make for a much smoother pull , which is , IMO , more important than pull weight anyway. YMMV *** Keep in mind , it is said by many that the trigger parts will have a shorter useful lifespan after such modifications. I can't say either way , but , once again , it is worth noting. |
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I've tried this a couple different ways on a couple or four different triggers , and here's what actually worked best for me ; For the greatest reliability with LC ammo , it is usually best not to screw with the springs at all. If you mess with the hammer spring , the hammer won't strike with full force , and this "can" cause failure to fire issues with NATO ammo. (It usually isn't a problem , but it is worth noting) Bending the trigger spring legs upward where they contact the lower can reduce pull weight to a small degree. Just don't go overboard. If you bend them too much , the trigger won't reset properly. Trial and error is the order of the day. A little bit of valve lapping compound on the sear surfaces , and a bit of fine polishing compound on the trigger and hammer pins coupled with some dry-firing (50-100 times) will get out most of the creep. Remove and clean fire control group after this , then apply moly grease(anti seize) or silicone based grease(sil-glide) to the pins and sear and reassemble. This procedure won't decrease the pull weight nearly as much as cutting or repositioning the hammer spring , but it does make for a much smoother pull , which is , IMO , more important than pull weight anyway. YMMV *** Keep in mind , it is said by many that the trigger parts will have a shorter useful lifespan after such modifications. I can't say either way , but , once again , it is worth noting. I totally agree about what he said here about "not cutting springs". But, one thing I wanted to note is. If you happen to dry fire your Lower without the upper reciever installed, you are going to want to put something (a piece of rubber or leather or even a piece of a popsicle stick) between the hammer and the upper reciever wall. If you don't, the dry firing will cause your hammer to slam against your bolt catch and (over time) cause damage or even cracks in the metal of the bolt catch/release. If you do dry fire, I recommend you do on a complete weapon and not just a lower reciever. |
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...My question is about the "fine compound". The web site cites "(#7 rubbing compound or Kit Scratch Out plastic polish) ". Can someone give me a specific brands they have used and where to get it. I assume Kit Scratch Out is a specific brand. Is this easy to find at AutoZone or other neighborhood part store? I don't know about Kit Scratch Out, but I think #7 rubbing compound refers to "No 7" brand White Polishing Compound used for automobile paint. If that's the case, it has been around for decades, and I think it is still available in auto parts stores. I have an old can of it- probably at least 10-15 years old- it says made by Rain Dance Care Products, a Division of Armor All Products. I think Dupont owned it previously- I remember it from the 1970's. Correct. Dupont #7 Compound as used for rubbing out auto paint. Kit Scratch Out is available in little yellow bottles in most auto stores, Walmart, etc. You can also use Flitz. As far as cutting springs, we're talking $1.00-$1.50 parts. Cheap. If you find it is not working for your ammo (and I've had no problems), you're only out $3. Don't get a Dremel anywhere near an AR-15 trigger/hammer. |
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What about white rouge on a buffing wheel? can I even get to the engagement surfaces with a fixed wheel? say 8" diameter What I would worry about with a big wheel is not having that small amount of finite control over the pressure, speed and angle. The reason I used a dremel with a tiny sanding disk, was so I could work inside those small tiny 90 degree areas. And, I could more accurately control my angle and pressure. Hell, you don't even need to use a sanding disk (if you're worried about taking too much off). Just use a small felt wheel or cloth wheel on your dremel. Use that with a little polishing compound and you would be able to achieve the same outcome, polishing the metal. I really highly doubt you could really take off enough metal with a felt dremel wheel to damage anything. The wheel would disinigrate first. |
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Dremel, dremel, DREMEL! it's easy to use, you can control the speed, and there's a gazillion different polishing heads so you can find one that puts the right amount of pressure on the right spot without overheating or flinging polishing media all over or buffing off your fingernails! Plus their relatively cheap.
AR stands for ARmalite
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| As for cutting springs I bent the trigger spring and cut the hammer spring as detailed in the "15 minute trigger job". I have shot all types of 223 and 22lr with it and not one light primer strike in over a year. I'm getting a new rifle to put together in about a week and I'm going to do the same. I have extra springs in case but I don't expect to have any problems. Mark |
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I did the 15 minute trigger job yestrerday. Everything went fine.
On this particular trigger, I have only shot about 20 live rounds, and fried fired 20-40 times (with mag well protected). The sear on the trigger had marks from where the hammer sear had contacted it. The polishing did not take them out. Are these marks common? Should I remove them? The trigger seems smoother and lighter. Still has the a long pull, but I dont think this can be fixed with out changing the geometry on the sears, which I believe is dangerous. |
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