Reinstall trigger/sear assembly on an 1896 KRAG

[Zgun]

Hi All,

I removed the sear/trigger from a 1896 Krag rifle to clean the parts as they were full of gunk and grime from the last who knows how many years. Removing the assembly was straight forward. Putting the sear back in the receiver not so easy as you have to compress the heavy sear spring while trying to fit the front of the sear into it's drilled hole in the receiver.

Any suggestions on how this can be done with a minimum of colorful language being muttered? Has anyone engineered a clamp for this operation ?

[butlersrangers]

Well, I began working on a model 1896 Krag project today.

The trigger assembly was packed with old grease and it impaired the trigger-pull. I also needed to do some stock fitting, which would be easier with the trigger off the action.

(In the past, I have always found the trigger unit difficult to re-install).

I pulled the trigger assembly, cleaned the parts, and looked for an easy way to reassemble. (The 'Springfield Boys' had to have a trick).

The manufacturing hole, through the 'knuckle' pivot on the front of the sear, attracted my attention. The 'sear pivot hole' on the action has a small diameter blind hole at its bottom.

I put the shank of a closely fitting drill through the sear pivot and started the pivot into its receptacle. The drill shank served as a support post. I inserted the trigger spring in the front of the sear.

With the barreled-receiver lying on a work table, I firmly gripped the trigger while compressing the trigger spring with the tip of a screwdriver.

Once the spring was compressed, I could wiggle the trigger and move the assembly inward enough to catch the spring on the edge of the receiver.

At this point, the trigger can be pushed forward so the sear lowers to clear the receiver. I then moved the sear into place with light taps of a plastic mallet. The drill shank helped serve as a third hand, guiding and keeping the sear aligned.

[Zgun]

Great solution Chuck with nice pics and documentation. I was going down the same path as you but no matter how hard I tried I was not able to compress that #@^% spring with a screwdriver or punch.

I used a small squeeze clamp and came up with essentially the same set of steps you described. That spring is incredibly stout and I would guess the engineers at Springfield designed a custom clamp tool for the manufacturing of the rifles.

So now we have 2 methods to reinstall the sear with pics. Good luck to all who have this challenge in their future. :)

Chuck, your sear was gunkier than mine, but I now have a smooth 2 stage trigger that has virtually no creep and breaks consistently at 5.6 to 5.8 pounds.

[Local Boy]

I had pretty much come to the same conclusion when installing the trigger group but I thought I'd share a different installation twist.

[Local Boy]

Find yourself a 1/4 width flat bladed screwdriver.

[Local Boy]

Orient your trigger spring in the trigger housing so the spring tip is pointing up as demonstrated.

[Local Boy]

Place the trigger group on the receiver.

[Local Boy]

Place the flat of the screwdriver blade against the receiver.

[Local Boy]

Twist the screwdriver till it compresses the spring and lays flat while using your other hand to hold the punch.

At this point you may get lucky and the trigger just slides down, however, I usually have to shimmy the screwdriver blade to get the spring to cooperate.

[Local Boy]

Push down on the trigger group.