Is it possible to imporve the trigger on a J.C Higgins .22 rifle?

I just picked up one of these as a field rifle and would like to improve the trigger a bit.
There is a strong spring in there- so strong that it is impossible to tell how the trigger is.

Anyone work one of these over?

The Higgins was sold by Sears & Roebuck back in the 50's and I believe is a re-badged Marlin 101



Thanks all

Hi,

As I remember, it sold for about $15 in the '60s. It is worth around $50 or so now, yours more because of the scope. The trigger directly held back the firing pin. There was a trigger spring that worked on the other end to return the trigger. The trigger spring is of no concern as far as trigger pull goes. The only work you could do is where the trigger hooks up with the firing pin, and you might want tread lightly there if you have no experience. Both the J.C. Higgins Model 41 and the Marlin 101 were "promotional" or "price point" guns, and have few parts, but nonetheless were ok firearms and many have had a gazillion rounds through them (remember when .22lr was less than $1 a box). As a gunsmith, you have to look at time vs value.

Art

JC Higgins was a line of products sold by Sears and Robuck. Sears did not do the manufacturing, and simply branded other folks stuff. Which of the ususal suspects made this gun is not known to me, but it does not really matter.

This is an old 22, if you have not cleaned and lubricated it, thats a good place to start.
Its amazing how dirty and full of crud they can get.
I have seen grass seeds sprouting in autoloaders that still functioned (but a bit slowly).

While cleaning it, see what kind of shape the mating parts in the trigger system are in.
This model was bottom of the line, so the parts are likely to be inexpensive stampings that were not machined or heat treated.
Good chance they are all worn and not in the best of shape.

Sometimes you will find something obvious like a burr that is easily stoned off and it make a big difference.


If the simple stuff does not pan out, your looking at adjusting the pull by stoning the sears mating surfaces.
Small changes in angle and surface finish will adjust the trigger pull.
This is a bit tricky. If you get it wrong, the gun can fire when dropped or bumped.
Only you can decide if this is task is within your capablities.



If your looking for a drop in target trigger, I doubt you will find one.

Does that model require manual cocking of the striker versus automatic cocking from bolt rotation? If so, I believe you can reduce the trigger/sear engagement to drastically reduce creep. I would not worry about reducing pull much nor change the angles of the mating surfaces. Elimination of creep is usually the best that can be done for cheap trigger mechanisms. Just don't reduce it too much.

Manual cocker- I still haven't had a chance to take the thing apart,
Noted on what quality I might find in parts- I got this specifically so I don't have to drag out good guns to clear out vermin around the house.
I put a quality scope on it and it is fairly frustrating to use as the pull is so heavy and long.

I take it this is trigger is intentionally heavy as this was sold as a boys gun back in the day...
I think it might be OK with spring change out though I will get the thing apart to sus this out.
Clean gun- doesn't look fired much.

Thanks

Not sure what you are asking about "quality ... in parts" but those were made in the old days of steel and wood, not sintered metal and plastic. While simple in design to minimize cost, the materials are OK.

I was referring to this post which I believe is correct:

ahall said:

This model was bottom of the line, so the parts are likely to be inexpensive stampings that were not machined or heat treated.
Good chance they are all worn and not in the best of shape.

Click to expand...

Though I do agree with you- the rifle is accurate and appears well enough put together for what it is.

If the triger system has a long take up and creep reduction is all your after, a well placed 4-40 or smaller set screw can work magic.

I added one to the trigger of a K-38 Swiss carbine once.
The long military two stage trigger pull was reduced to a single stage by adjusting the screw.

Each gun is different, so pay attention to what your doing and think it through.

If you start fiddling with the trigger, be sure the mating parts of the sear are crisp and in good shape and have tight fits before trying to reduce the creep in an action.
If the parts fit loosely, they will not line up the same way every time and what holds well on one cocking, slips on another.

Making a silk purse out of a sow's ear is usually not possible when it comes to an entry level .22. Leave the sow alone. On another not there are quite a few actions, .22 that could with a stoned trigger, custom barrel, custom stock turn out to be shooters. Pick one that will respond to your custom touch.