From: bercov@bevsun.bev.lbl.gov (John Bercovitz)
Subject: Z Re: Ruger .22LR Pistol (Mk 512)
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

In article <38076@mimsy.umd.edu> boyd@mailer.cc.fsu.edu (Mickey Boyd) writes:
#In article <37789@mimsy.umd.edu>, sutin%helios.UCSC.EDU@ucscc.ucsc.edu 
(Brian Sutin) writes:

##The other well known fault is
##the lousy trigger, which can apparently be fixed easily and cheaply by
##people who know how to (I can't help you here).  I heard this lore about
##the trigger after exchanging mine for the S&W.

#Well, I wouldn't call it lousy, just cheap!  They are made of aluminum, and 
#they don't have an overtravel screw.  The fix is a Clark steel trigger (I 
#paid $12 for mine) and a gunsmith to install it.  I ground and polished the 
#serretions off of mine, so I have a smooth steel trigger for my MkII.  I had 
#the smith clean up the sear a bit while he was in there, and ended up with a 
#world class trigger pull.

The Clark trigger will solve much of the problem but not all of it.  Maybe
20 years ago I microhoned the inside of the hammer and made and hardened a
new spool to fit in it which was a tight fit (.0003" radial) with the new 
trigger hole diameter and a tight fit over a gauge pin which just fit the 
frame's hammer pivot hole.  I cut off and used the gauge pin as the new pivot 
pin.  Then I found a gauge pin which would do the same for the sear and 
followed up by making a new pivot pin for the trigger and bushing its sear bar 
hole.  The result puts an S&W model 41's trigger to shame.  You see, the main
problem is sloppiness in the fit of the pins in their holes.  When you
start mashing the trigger, all of these slops have to go to zero before
the sear starts to move.  And it requires force to take up these slops
because they are being held open by springs.  That's what gives the Ruger's 
trigger a "spongy" feel.  I finished the job by drilling through the front of 
the frame for adjustment screws for the trigger pretravel and overtravel.
And of course I worked on the sear engagement; it's required as Mickey says.
It was "ogly" but it sure worked fine.  When I designed my electronic
trigger as a replacement for Remington-style triggers, I made the springs'
forces push in directions which reduced pivot-hole slop to zero.  
Well, time for another "Z" in the title.  8-{)}

      JHBercovitz@lbl.gov    (John Bercovitz)