Big boy trigger Job

[Lizardtrack]

How difficult is it to do a trigger Job on a Henry Big boy and an "original" Henry ? Right now they're around 3.5 to 4 lbs and anything but crisp. Where can I get a diagram or something to see what I'm getting into. My eyes are getting a little poor so I don't want to get in over my head if I can help it.

[Vaquero]

I've never done one, but watched a friend do some stone work on the sear on one of his Marlin lever guns.
The Henry design is very similar, if you can't find a diagram of the Henry look up the Marlin 336.
They are both very simple to take down.

RP

[rickhem]

Not sure if your specific model is covered, but there are some exploded view schematics here:

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufa ... ating-arms

They're a great source for lots of other older drawings and parts too, and their cross reference data for the JC Higgins, Wards Western Field, and others is a valuable resource too.

[Mr. Neutron]

If Ranger Point Precision makes triggers that fit your Henry model, it's pretty simple to go with their parts. It's just a disassembly, remove the sear & spring, replace and reassemble. They have a video that'll help ya get through the process. I'm not "affiliated" with them; I just like "simple". I have the factory parts in a baggie, and can switch back if I ever felt the need to do that. I used their sears on both my steel (H009G) & my brass framed (H009BG) 30-30 rifles. Didn't use the springs. My Williams trigger pull scale breaks right around 3lbs. to 3 and a quarter lbs., with no discernible creep to my arthritic fingers. Trigger pull would probably go lower with their spring installed, and I'd use it if all I shot was paper. I hunt with these guns, and was quite happy with the "just over 3 lb. pulls" I netted with their parts.

https://rangerpointstore.com/henry-trigger-kit

Hope this helps. FWIW, I tried to get as good of a comparison measurement on on the "ledges" of the RPP and factory sears as I could possibly measure with what's left of my machinist tools. If I recall correctly, the RPP sear's engagement ledge was about .01" shorter than factory sear, polished better, and possibly had a little better geometry.

All this said, it'd probably be fairly easy to attack the factory sear with a file and a polishing stone and get a lighter trigger pull. But I felt for the price, the RPP was a good way to go (for myself). I've done trigger jobs on my own 1911 pistols, and my gunsmithing skill showed me that I needed to stick with being a machinist for a living. Got one trigger on my Kimber that came out around 2 lbs., and I was less accurate with it when shooting under the timer at my Action Pistol matches than I was with the 3 lb. trigger pull I got with my second attempt. I felt glad that Brownells had spare parts for 1911s, lemme tell ya.....

Added in EDIT: I went back and re-read some of the verbage at the RPP deal I linked to above. It seems like some Henrys vary quite a bit in the trigger pull ya get off the shelf when you purchase your gun, I guess. RPP states they can bring it down a few pounds with their parts. My rifles had ~5 lb. triggers when I got them, and the RPP sear alone got mine into the 3 to 3+ lb. range I mentioned above. As they say, "Your Mileage May Vary" if you have one with a fairly heavy pull from the factory, and may not come down to what mine did.

[JEBar]

I had a gunsmith hone the triggers in our Big Boy 44 Mag and 47-70 .... doing so is more art than science .... the parts are not solid metal, they are some sort of coated cast .... hone through the outer coating and you can ruin the part.... he did a great job on both of ours .... knowing what I know now, no way I'd undertake doing it

[Mr. Neutron]

You stated my point much better than I did, JEBar!

Not certain, but I thought the parts were MIM (Metal Injection Molded). They make good serviceable parts that way, but as you said, it's more art form than science to get a good trigger pull, and awful easy to remove too much metal, screw up a hard-faced surface (if NOT MIM), or any number of other things that could go bad.

That's why I'd go with the RPP stuff if it fits your rifle......

[JEBar]

Not certain, but I thought the parts were MIM (Metal Injection Molded).

I believe that is correct ....

[leverjc]

LTRACK I done trigger improvement work on two Big Boys. The work is straightforward but not easy. According to the tech at Henry al their internal parts are MIM (mold injected metal) and have even hardness, so you do not have to worry about working through any case hardening. The two BBS that I have worked on have had no machine work on the contact surfaces of the sear and hammer.

download/file.php?mode=view&id=45415

You will need some basic tools, a magnavisor or a good magnifying glass, a flat fine stone and a majik marker. If the contact surface on the hammer is not reasonably flat you will also need to make a tool that is small enough to polish and flatten it. I cut down a thick feeler gauge to fit in the tight space of the hammer and glued 400 grit sandpaper to it in a vice so it would have a flat surface also.

I tried hard to figure out how to make a jig for my work but could not so I did it all by hand. The good news is that you can assemble the mechanism out of the gun so you can see how your work is going without a total reassembly every time. If a little pressure is put on the hammer you can hold it up to a light and see where the contact is. After hours of stoning, fitting and testing I had a 2.5lb trigger with some creep. I then stoned the tip of the sear flat and removed the creep.

The good news is that that Ranger Point Precision makes a very good aftermarket sear for it. I did all the work on these triggers before RPP came out with theirs. Out of curiosity I bought one to compare to the one I had worked on. Replacing my sear with the RPP sear gave me about a quarter pound heavier pull than the sear I worked on with the reduced spring. The RPP sear is made of machined steel with a nice, polished contact surface. I wish RPP would have come out with it a year earlier and saved me some work.

[JimCunn]

RPP is the way to go.
I also installed lighter springs and shims to take up slack and sloppiness.
The action is much improved, and cost was reasonable.

[Bill.68]

I get that this is a somewhat dead thread but since theres not much action around here and its still near the top of page 1 Ill go ahead.
My "trigger job" consisted of a marlin 336 hammer spring from Shively Shims I think and common sense use of a dremel, cratex bits from brownells and a little thought. Absolutely any and all metal-to-metal contact was smoothed, anywhere there was movement of a metal part-same thing, and using my PowerCustom sear jig and a very hard ceramic stone and a blue sharpie I very, very carefully set the bevel to the factory angle and polished it to a mirror finish.
I took the ENTIRE trigger assembley apart and went over every single component. Now, I dont have a trigger pull gauge but my finger tells me that my efforts were not a wasted effort. Im very happy with the trigger break in my BB. The entire function of it is about as clean and crisp as I think I could reasonably expect from that system. I think I even lightened it a little (still pretty heavy) but the break is like the proverbial glass rod now with just a kiss of take-up, its gotta be like 1/64", I can barely tell it moves.
Honestly its not that hard to at least improve it with a little time and forethougt.