Henry vs Marlin: Trigger Pull

[GFK]

I was working on smoothing out my trigger pull (dummy rounds) in an effort of shooting smaller groups . I started with my 2016 Marlin 336W. The pull was stiff but broke clean. I felt some tension in my wrist. It has a pistol grip stock which may have aided in the pressure. On the other hand, I was able to squeeze off dummy rounds with my 2015 Henry H009 easier. Even though I could feel the trigger travel, it was a easier pull. Kind of reminded me of my S&W in SA mode. I did not feel much tension in my wrist either. But, it has a straight stock. That may account for the difference. I was planning on heading to the woods with my Marlin this Fall. Now, I am not sure.

[JEBar]

understood on doing what you can to improve a firearm's trigger pull .... as they came from the factory, the trigger pull on both our BBS 44mag and CCH 45-70 was much heavier than I like ... in January I had a gunsmith work of both and couldn't be happier with both .... as with many other things, a satisfactory trigger pull is very much a matter of personal preference .... I fired (literally) thousands of rounds through each of them prior to having them worked on and they did fine ... I wouldn't have hesitated to big game hunt with either of them ... hope you really enjoy sending many, many rounds down range as you work with both of them

[Mistered]

The trigger pull was one of the FIRST things I noticed about my Henry when looking at it - IE the fact it was one of the best of any new rifle I had ever experienced (for a 'production' class rifle)
Mine has just a small amount of 'creep' but breaks clean at about 5 lbs.
When I 'finally' break it down for a complete cleaning and internal polish job I suspect it won't take much to maybe shave a lb off it and get rid of the creep.

[GFK]

Thanks. I thought about trying to have a trigger job done on the Marlin. I thought the travel (creep) on the Henry had something to do with the transfer bar, maybe not.

[North Country Gal]

I've never worked on a Henry, but have done dozens of triggers on Marlin lever guns. Talking JM Marlins, here, not the Remington stuff. Have no idea how the triggers run on the Remington made guns.

Every JM Marlin I've acquired has had a reasonable trigger pull for a factory gun. The ones that I felt were a bit on the heavy side were easily fixed by a simple factory hammer spring change to a reduced pull hammer spring. In almost every case of a trigger that had a little creep (not generally a serious issue on Marlins), the creep also disappeared with a lighter spring. The factory springs not only run heavy, they tend to work rough and are rather brittle in nature. Best Marlin replacement springs I've found are offered by https://www.jnpgunsprings.com/MARLIN-LE ... -c20995173. The J&P springs compress very smoothly. Not only do they improve the trigger, they help smooth the action. Note that all standard Marlin lever gun models, from the 39 on up through the 1894, 336, and 1895 use the same hammer spring. Note, too, I've never had a light strike issue with any Marlin that got the reduced spring treatment.

Takes about 5 minute to do a spring change on a Marlin. Remove the single tang bolt, slide the butt stock back off the tang to access the spring. It's right there under the tang. No further disassembly needed. Replace the factory spring with a reduced power spring, then replace the stock. Really no excuse for putting up with a heavy trigger on a Marlin.

[Shakey Jake]

Thanks for the link. I bookmarked it.

[GFK]

I've never worked on a Henry, but have done dozens of triggers on Marlin lever guns. Talking JM Marlins, here, not the Remington stuff. Have no idea how the triggers run on the Remington made guns.

Every JM Marlin I've acquired has had a reasonable trigger pull for a factory gun. The ones that I felt were a bit on the heavy side were easily fixed by a simple factory hammer spring change to a reduced pull hammer spring. In almost every case of a trigger that had a little creep (not generally a serious issue on Marlins), the creep also disappeared with a lighter spring. The factory springs not only run heavy, they tend to work rough and are rather brittle in nature. Best Marlin replacement springs I've found are offered by https://www.jnpgunsprings.com/MARLIN-LE ... -c20995173. The J&P springs compress very smoothly. Not only do they improve the trigger, they help smooth the action. Note that all standard Marlin lever gun models, from the 39 on up through the 1894, 336, and 1895 use the same hammer spring. Note, too, I've never had a light strike issue with any Marlin that got the reduced spring treatment.

Takes about 5 minute to do a spring change on a Marlin. Remove the single tang bolt, slide the butt stock back off the tang to access the spring. It's right there under the tang. No further disassembly needed. Replace the factory spring with a reduced power spring, then replace the stock. Really no excuse for putting up with a heavy trigger on a Marlin.

Thanks!!

[North Country Gal]

Welcome, guys. Glad to help.

[shootinthecinders]

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[ESquared]

From my years shooting Sigs and a couple of S&Ws and Rugers, I'm struck by how luck of the draw plays a role in how any given trigger on any given gun performs. I've put short reset kits in SIgs to make the follow up SA reset SUPER quick, I've had my smith take the grit and heaviness out of my old (and departed) Ruger SP101, and I've been lucky enough to get a couple handguns that were just awesome out of the box (including my 2 1911s).

I felt like luck struck again with the trigger on my BBS .357. While a bit heavier, it's just 1911-like. No creep, no stacking, just a nice, clean break at what I'm guessing is 5-6 lbs (I've never measured it). I guess I shouldn't be surprised, as it's just a different kind of SA trigger, but, for as simple as the mechanics seem to be, it's just awesome for a production gun.

[Florida_Cracker]

The Marlin reduced springs work in the Henry too. I got mine from Brownell's (Marlin Cowboy Action Spring Kit) and took about a pound off the pull. No failure to ignite problems after a couple hundred rounds.