Rifle disharging without touching trigger

[Bood]

Recently brought a ruger 77/17hmr.. over all been a great rifle. The other night was out at a property and the rifle disharged twice..

First time had taken saftey off, couldnt get the shot off and as I lowered the rifle from my shoulder with fingers well away it discharged the loaded round into the ground.

When unloading the rifle later that night, had saftey on, ejected the magazine, rolled the rifle on its side to enable me to cup the ejecting round, took saftey off and as I begun to open the bolt it again discharged..

Also have noticed that the trigger feels rather light.

Has anyone heard of this happening... am taking it back to the gun shop.I brought it from on monday... just looking for some extra advice from people who know more about them then I do......

[North East]

I definitely wouldn't be going near it until it's fixed. I've never had a problem like that and used to own a Ruger .308 which was very reliable.

[Bood]

I definitely wouldn't be going near it until it's fixed. I've never had a problem like that and used to own a Ruger .308 which was very reliable.

Yeah nah not doing anything with it... North East what was wrong with your .308

[North East]

I found it to heavy to walk around with and wanted something lighter with a bit more grunt.

So I got a T3 Lite in .30-06 Sprg.

[Baldrick314]

Is it an adjustable trigger? If so it could be set really light and the sear is slipping and letting go the firing pin go. Otherwise it could just be a problem with sear engagement. Get the shop to check it out, if it's a new rifle it should be repaired under warranty

[Die Judicii]

Meanwhile,,, What you can do (without upsetting any possible warranty conditions) is simply check the weight of the trigger pull.
That should show you if its way too light,,,,,,, and also if its consistent.

As long as you don't adjust or pull apart, your warranty will stay intact.
Cheers,

[Bood]

Think there is something wrong with the trigger as if I put my fingernail n slightly pull (with a snap cap - non fireable round) the sear point feels wrong as it discharges with just my fingernail on the trigger

[stephencee]

I'm no gun smith but you can just set them too light.

I have an Anschutz that you can adjust the trigger on and you can make it so light you actually can't keep it cocked because it releases the pin straight away. When I was learning how to adjust it I made it too light and could get it to release the firing pin by bumping it or by closing the bolt quickly it would fire as well.

I just had to increase the weight and now it's rock solid.

[shazz]

Get the shop to check it out, if it's a new rifle it should be repaired under warranty

+!

Should be a pretty simple trigger fix by a smith, not much drama to fix.

[Gwion]

Think there is something wrong with the trigger as if I put my fingernail n slightly pull (with a snap cap - non fireable round) the sear point feels wrong as it discharges with just my fingernail on the trigger

Yep. Get ye to a smithery!

Good luck getting it sorted, warranty should cover it if you don't fiddle with it yourself.

[tom604]

new rifle or just new to you? if its second hand the previous owner may of lightened the trigger or had it done and while im not familiar with your gun there are usually a screw in there that you screw in or out to play with trigger pull and a spring. not a big fix by a gunsmith. i changed the spring in my marlin 22 to a bic pen spring to lighten the lawyer proof trigger that it came with but i did make sure that it was still safe ,,you can find out heaps from google

[Jack V]

Yes either set too light with too little sear engagement or the safety is not holding the sear back enough to allow the trigger to move and re set against the sear safely.

Do an experiment with an empty gun. Cock the gun and apply the safety , pull the trigger and belt the gun butt on the floor , if it fires it is most likely the trigger . If it don't fire then let the safety off . If it fires then it is most likely the safety . Some trigger systems can not be set too light or both the trigger and safety don't operate correctly . If the main trigger weight spring has been cut it may be impossible to get it right and a new spring will be needed.

If you bought it from a dealer go back and tell them it's dangerous and you want them to fix it free . If you bought it private then go back and ask them to pay 50% of the cost or you will take them to fair trading.

[bigfellascott]

Not enough Sear Engagement by the sounds of it or a really light springs been fitted?, if its adjustable put some back in, if not take it to a gunsmith and see what can be done, Don't keep using it until its sorted for safety reasons, just not worth the risk

[Wes]

Not enough Sear Engagement by the sounds of it or a really light springs been fitted?

Sear engagement would be my vote too.

[AussieTimmeh]

We had some problems with our 308 initially as the previous owner had done (or had gotten done) a really poor trigger job, but fortunately in our case it caused the rifle not to fire, rather than UD. A smith fixed it super quickly for cheap and it's nice and crisp as well as reliable now. Hopefully you get it sorted quickly because that is some scary stuff right there.

[bigfellascott]

Have a watch of this vid mate, shows you how to change the spring out, hopefully that's all it is that's causing the issues. As with any mods to triggers test them to make sure they are safe (no ammo) just cycle the action and do some bump testing etc, you'll soon see if its still doing the same thing as before, if it is send it off to a gunsmith for further inspection, more than likely someone has swapped the spring out for a very light one or they've honed the sear itself and may have take a bit too much off.

Good luck and let us know how you get on with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYNN_O-pVX0

[Bood]

Good news took it back to the shop and its off to the gunsmith at their expense...

Will keep you posted on results.

[shazz]

Good stuff

[bigfellascott]

Excellent news mate.

[Bood]

picked up the rifle yesterday.... apparently some muppet had trimmed coils off the main spring... new one fitted and checked trigger tension and looks good now is set about 3.5-3.6 pounds... will be going out for a shoot this week some time.... thanx for all the advice and help

[bigfellascott]

picked up the rifle yesterday.... apparently some muppet had trimmed coils off the main spring... new one fitted and checked trigger tension and looks good now is set about 3.5-3.6 pounds... will be going out for a shoot this week some time.... thanx for all the advice and help

So long as she's all sorted mate, she's a tad heavy for my liking but.

[Bood]

How heavy do you think it should be?

[bigfellascott]

I like em light mate, around the 1.2lb mark for my Varmint Rifles and similar for the 22. So long as they are nice and crisp in the let off that's good enough, I don't like triggers with creep.

[Tiiger]

How heavy do you think it should be?

Personal preference mate. See what works best for you.

1lb - 3lbs depending on who you ask normally.