Tuning Has Anyone Done a "Trigger Job" on the A V Avenger?

Well, I've discovered how much accuracy potential my Avenger has to the extent that I can sense how much the trigger is handicapping me. Mostly the creep. Lightening up the spring tension only makes it feel mushier.

I've done several trigger jobs over the years on RF rifles and have my own ideas on how to improve the trigger on my Avenger. I want to do a little stone work on the sear and eliminate the 2 stage affect.

I'm looking for some constructive advice here so please refrain form condescending replies. 
 
Well, I just finished my "trigger job" and It is delightfully inexpensive and simple. 

This mod will do away with the "2 stage" trigger and reduce sear engagement to eliminate creep.

There will still be some overtravel after the trigger breaks.

You will need;

  • 1ea M5- 0.8 x 15 mm socket head screw
  • 1ea 5- 0.8 nut
  • I had to buy bags of 2 each and it cost me $2.12 including 8% NYS sales tax.

  1. Run the nut down onto the screw and chuck the screw in a drill with about 5mm protruding from the chuck
  2. Run the drill while grinding off the treads at the end of the screw, finish off with a mill file rounding the end. Back off the nut to make sure the treads have no burrs
  3. Run the nut onto the screw all the way to the socket head
  4. DE-GAS THE RIFLE
  5. With the action out of the stock and the OEM trigger travel (front) screw removed, run the screw into the trigger assembly until the trigger assembly encounters the sear
  6. MAKE SURE THERE IS NO PROJECTILE IN THE BREECH and cock the action
  7. MAKE SURE THE MUZZLE IS POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION AND IS ABOVE EYE LEVEL
  8. Run the screw in slowly about 1/8 turn at a time until the sear trips the hammer
  9. Back out the screw 1/2 turn
  10. Adjust in small increment clockwise until you get the desired sear engagement to your liking. Pull the trigger after each adjustment then repeat steps 6 and 10 to accomplish this
  11. When you are satisfied, lock the adjustment with the nut holding the socket head with an Allan key
  12. Install the action back into the stock and tighten all action screws
  13.  MAKE SURE THE MUZZLE IS POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION AND IS ABOVE EYE LEVEL Do the 6" drop test letting the butt hit onto on a wooden block with a folded up bath towel on the block. Make sure the sear doesn't jar trip 
  14. If the weapon fails the test rotate the screw counterclockwise in small increments to increase the sear engagement and/or increase the trigger spring tension until it does pass the test.
  15. Also do the safety test by pulling the trigger with the safety on and then disengage the safety to see if the hammer falls
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    I ended up lightening the trigger spring although my trigger scale is at my other place so I can't tell you at this time what the trigger weight is. I just lightened the pull weight to my liking. Usually between 2 and 3# is a safe "hunting trigger weight". I will get back to you on this.

    If I want to get real fancy I might be able to make some sort of overtravel limit adjustment, but I don't feel it necessary at this time. If I decide to do that, I will update this post.
 
I am happy with my "trigger job" but it is simplier. The stock sear engagement screw is .8x5mm which I found at Home Depot. It is 10 mm long. So I bought a bag of 12 mm long ones and a bag of 15mm long ones. I tried the 12mm first. Running it in all the way left just a tiny bit of creep. No bump fires. So I put a little blue locktite on it (actually an off brand called money snot) and called it good. I had already set the other adjustments to minimum. I have not tested the weight but it is light enough for me.

The stock 10mm screw has a c-clip which is a desirable feature but I couldn't figure out an easy way to do that. I think with the blue locktite it will be fine. It also cannot go in further, cannot decrease sear engagement further.

Do not do any of this without making sure the gun is not loaded. You take the trigger assembly out by poking out a small pin. You have to take it out to change the sear screw due to the c-clip. The new screw takes a different size allen wrench but is still accessable with the action in the stock.

I think lengthening this screw was a must for mine. I don't know how the various reviewers say the stock trigger is good. WAY too much creep. But a couple mm longer screw and it is actually pretty good. I think my Prod is better but my Avenger is good enough I routinely get 1/4 inch groups at 33 yards. Groups better than my Prod.
 
Sorry y'all are having so much trouble. Glad there is a fairly simple solution as well.

I got lucky, I guess. My trigger breaks like a saltine cracker and has no creep that I can feel. I rival it with some very expensive target triggers I have in my powder burners.

I think I would be demanding my money back on those "very expensive target triggers".
 
I am happy with my "trigger job" but it is simplier. The stock sear engagement screw is .8x5mm which I found at Home Depot. It is 10 mm long. So I bought a bag of 12 mm long ones and a bag of 15mm long ones. I tried the 12mm first. Running it in all the way left just a tiny bit of creep. No bump fires. So I put a little blue locktite on it (actually an off brand called money snot) and called it good. I had already set the other adjustments to minimum. I have not tested the weight but it is light enough for me.

The stock 10mm screw has a c-clip which is a desirable feature but I couldn't figure out an easy way to do that. I think with the blue locktite it will be fine. It also cannot go in further, cannot decrease sear engagement further.

Do not do any of this without making sure the gun is not loaded. You take the trigger assembly out by poking out a small pin. You have to take it out to change the sear screw due to the c-clip. The new screw takes a different size allen wrench but is still accessable with the action in the stock.

I think lengthening this screw was a must for mine. I don't know how the various reviewers say the stock trigger is good. WAY too much creep. But a couple mm longer screw and it is actually pretty good. I think my Prod is better but my Avenger is good enough I routinely get 1/4 inch groups at 33 yards. Groups better than my Prod.

You and I have accomplished basically the same thing. only where you have moved the trigger shoe forward to take up the slack, I moved mine to the rear. I considered both ways, but thought that having more room inside the trigger guard might be handy if I'm ever shooting with gloves on.

I also opted for a longer screw to allow adjustment. I would have used Loktite instead of the locknut , but I just didn't have any handy.
 
Sorry y'all are having so much trouble. Glad there is a fairly simple solution as well.

I got lucky, I guess. My trigger breaks like a saltine cracker and has no creep that I can feel. I rival it with some very expensive target triggers I have in my powder burners.

Same for me. I scratch my head when I read these posts. My buddy has an FX impact and a FX Maverick. He said he cant tell the difference and is somewhat blown away by the fact! Weird... 
 
Sorry y'all are having so much trouble. Glad there is a fairly simple solution as well.

I got lucky, I guess. My trigger breaks like a saltine cracker and has no creep that I can feel. I rival it with some very expensive target triggers I have in my powder burners.

I think I would be demanding my money back on those "very expensive target triggers".

Hardly. 


 
I don't know if my trigger was just luck of the draw or if AV may put a little more sear engagement on the 25 caliber Avengers for "safety" reasons. If I had put a 15mm screw on it I could have gotten all the creep out but it is low enough now I don't always feel it. I also value not having to worry about accidental discharge even if the screw were to move a little.

I should probably look at the designs before saying this but I suspect that my Prod and Avenger trigger mechanisms are not far different. The Prod trigger is definitely cleaner (less creep) and feels lighter right out of the box. I've only shot one FX one time but it was definitely a nice clean light trigger - but did not feel significantly different form my Prod. My guess is that the Avenger has a decent design trigger mechanism that is not always tuned well out of the box. Tuned really well this sort of trigger can feel like a more sophisticated mechanism but you have to find that happy spot where it doesn't slam fire but also has no creep. My AV is not there but it's close enough for me.

I think the weight is also OK but it is heavier than my Prod or the FX I shot. If I wanted it lower, I could polish the parts and based on results on powder burners it would lighten up.
 
I'm scratching my head over responses that seem to declare that the Avenger trigger can't be improved upon by basic tuning tricks.

I didn't say that the Avenger trigger was a "bad" trigger.. On the contrary I was pleased that it was so easily tuned and that it is a very good basic design..

Is the Avenger trigger superior to the factory triggers on 99% of big box store 22rfs? Absolutely!

Is out of the box Avenger trigger superior or even equal to the out of the box trigger on a CZ 452 American? Absolutely not!

Is the out of the box Avenger trigger superior or even equal to the out of the box Savage "Accu-trigger" that comes with the Savage Axis II? Again, absolutely not!

Was I able to improve on the excellent trigger on my CZ 452 American? Yes I was, but it took far more work than what I did to my Avenger trigger.

To suggest that the out of the box Avenger trigger is equal to high end target triggers or that it can't benefit from basic tuning tricks is ludicrous. I've been doing this far to long to swallow that line.
 
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I don't think the e-clip will just fall out (not without damaging excessive force). I'm pretty sure the e-clip is there to prevent the screw from backing out all the way (and getting lost). Or maybe it's for tamper resistance/legal reasons/liability. My rifle is not currently accessible, but here's a pic of the screws and e-clips (I've replaced mine).



You have to remove the entire trigger blade (by sliding out the pin that holds it in....it's a very light friction fit....somewhere around 1 or 2 mm diameter pin). Then you can remove the e-clip/s, and then the screw/s will back out all the way.



Air Velocity Sport has a complete teardown video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHhMJxPzwq4&ab_channel=AirVelocitySport



trigger screws.1630774054.jpg

 
So basically remove the trigger blade from the assembly, remove the M5x8mm sear screw (the rearmost screw), replace with M5x12 or M5x15 screw, depending how light you want it and how much you want to mess with it, and replace the trigger blade. Tweak it to a trigger break force that you like. Make sure it's reasonably safe. Seal it off with loktite or a nut to keep it from getting longer and giving the gun a hair trigger.

Does the front screw need replacement as well, or do you just leave the M5x8 screw in there?

This looks like a procedure I did for a Gamo, replacing a screw in the trigger with a longer one.
 
I'm not sure. I replaced both screws, but I don't know if that was necessary. Rereading the OP's bullet list, looks like he left the front screw out completely (only lists needing 1 each screw and nut, and no mention or putting the front screw back in).



I could only get 20mm long screws at the time. I rounded them over and polished them....but they're still too long. So I used lock nuts.
 
I only replaced the sear adjustment screw. You have to pull the clip to get the screw out so there will be nothing to rattle around when you are done. I backed the other screws off to the minimum before messing with the sear screw and left them there when it was changed.

The screws are cheap. I'd get 12mm and 15mm and try the 12mm first. If you want (or need) to decrease engagement further, put in a 15 - but be careful. Even a 12mm might be too long in some guns. But a 12mm run in all the way is what my gun has and I like the result.

Don't mess around with a loaded gun. I don't think the air needs to come out but it shouldn't have any pellets in it for sure. You need air in the gun to test the trigger when the changes are made. It will feel the same without pellets. Only after you are sure it will not fire when you bump it should you load pellets and resume the fun.