gjmon

I have mixed feelings about discussing trigger related issues. Some people need not mess with them at all. Someone can really be hurt by another's quest for that perfect trigger. I will however say that I have worked on the triggers of virtually every gun I own...except my shotguns. The R1 trigger design doesn't lend itself to much possibility of aftermarket drop-in replacements to lighten them up. Because of liability exposure, modification of (or replacement of) springs and the "significant" removal of metal...beyond polishing to smooth out surface roughness....is inadvisable. I will tell you that on my personal R1, doing the work myself and for only myself, I completely disassembled my trigger mechanism and made some SUBTLE and completely reversible changes. Where the most progress toward lightening, and smoothing, things up was in the polishing --- making the things that were supposed to slide against (and inside) each other do so, and smoothly. Look at the assembled trigger mechanism from the side. Notice how the sear contact portion of the hammer, when it is reset upon firing (or here, cocking by hand) pushes between the spring loaded safety catch area (which prevents fully auto fire) and the sear catch area, temporarily spreading them apart as the hammer's sear notch passes by them. These two parts pivot, one inside the other, under spring tension that acts to keep them "closed" on the hammer's sear notch. When I removed those parts from mine I found that, even with their spring removed, they didn't freely pivot one inside the other. There was enough side surface contact between them that the spring was needed just to return them to the closed position after the hammer notch passed between them. Here I used 1000 grit wet-or-dry wrapped around a flat file and polished the inside surfaces of the one and the flat outer sides of the other until they moved freely on the pivot pin in my hand. Combined with a 2000 grit "touching up polishing" on other contact areas...bringing them to a mirror like polish....slicked my trigger right up. I did not remove any metal....only polished. Now my trigger movement has to only overcome the spring pressure of the "first stage" of travel (movement before the actual contact with the sear) and then the smooth crisp "second stage" release of the sear. The design of this trigger system is pretty slick. It works just fine without the hair-edged sear contacts of other designs. Trigger travel is smooth, not excessively long and controllably crisp. Again, trigger work is delicate and needs to be done only by qualified individuals. Done correctly and with absolute safety is paramount. Hope this helped........

I shot a few more groups with my .308 R1 this last weekend after giving it a thorough strip down sure 'nuff barrel cleaning to remove all, and I mean all, copper fouling. I was interested to see how, and where, it grouped after such treatment. Right off the bat it shot about 2" to the left of its previous zero with group sizes near 2". After several rounds it, once again, settled back down (still to the left though). My last 4 shot group size was right at 1/2" with a Barnes 168gr Triple Shock handload of Hodgdon BLC(2) and GM210M's. I guess a thousandth of an inch here and there (where the components are trying to resettle to each other) matters. I'll be shooting again this coming weekend after a normal cleaning...with no disassembly involved. I will see how only a modest barrel cleaning affects things......

I'm using .308 Forster bench rest dies for my R1 reloading. I crimped my first few test rounds with a Lee Factory Crimp die. The overall length, with the bullet seated about .010" off the lands, was considerably longer than I expected. 168gr TripleShocks and 150gr Ballistic Tips both grouped poorly over 45.5gr of Varget with GM210M primers and Hornady full length sized brass. As stated earlier, both the Rem & Winchester Wal-Mart 150gr low-tech ammo grouped wonderfully. I guess I should be satisfied...and am, to a degree. I would just like to load up a bunch of the components I already have and maybe get a little better downrange performance from the newer line of bullets....Accurately. It don't count if it won't go where I tell it to go...... Anyone got some helpful information for me or know of any links to the R1 .308 reloading data....

Technically, my group sizes posted earler were (measured center to center) .780" and .435". I completely disassembled the rifle for cleaning---I am a nut about cleaning---so I will be sure to report any point of impact change with the PowerPoints. The Rem 150gr PSP printed roughly 2" higher and 1/2" left of the PowerPoints during the first grouping session...... Has anyone got any reloading tips for the R1?......I've never reloaded for semi-auto rifles before. Have had good success with 7mm mags, 22-250's, .308, 30-06, 338 Rem Ultra mags but all in my bolt guns.... This is my first auto.. Wouldn't even consider one until I heard about the R1's accuracy potential. (and I've testified to its truth)

I'm a Newbie to this forum and have been reading your comments concerning R1 accuracy. I just bought one, followed the barrel break-in procedure for the first 10 rounds, then shot 2 successive 3 round groups. The first was a 3/4" group with Remington 150gr Pointed Soft point Core-Lock. The second was with Super X 150gr Power Point.....1/2" grp...all three touching. This is all at 100yds. I have worked my trigger down to a crisp 2lbs 13oz also... Mounted a Burris Fullfield Ballistic Plex 3.5-10X50mm on Weaver Quad Rings..... I'm really liking this rig for quick follow up shooting in the deer woods.....