If you are not 100% confident in doing this you should take the rifle to someone who is. This was shown to me 30 years ago by a vet and is not difficult as long as you take your time and remember that once you remove too much metal the rifle becomes dangerous and the part needs to be replaced.
I will assume you have a standard two stage trigger but my rifles are not No1 Mk3s and it has been 30 years since I looked at one so again I advise you to seek out someone to show you if you are not certain.
The creep in an Enfield is obviously there by design to protect soldiers from prematurely firing in tense situations. The stiffness of the pull is directly related to the steepness of the ramp in the first stage along with the smoothness of the ramp. By reducing the angle of incline with a fine file and then polishing this incline to a mirror finish you can have the trigger slide to the firing stage with as little friction as you desire. OFTEN JUST POLISHING THE RAMP AND REMOVING ANY INDENTATIONS ALONE WILL MAKE THE FIRST STAGE SLICK ENOUGH. I strongly recomment you reassemble and try the trigger after every little bit of polishing.
At this point of the trigger movement you come to the stiff point where the rifle is ready to release the firing pin onto the cartridge. That hump on the trigger controlls how much pressure is need to release. The smaller the hump the easier and sharper the trigger releases. AGAIN OFTEN JUST POLISHING THE HUMP ALLOWS FOR A GOOD HUNTING RELEASE AND ONCE YOU HAVE REMOVED TOO MUCH METAL THE PART IS RUINED AND THE RIFLE IS UNSAFE. Make it shiney reassemble and try it.
I also like to alter the shape of the hump EVER SO SLIGHTLY so it falls off sharper. If you google cam shaft designs you will see the same concept. Basically the hump is like a hill with equal incline on both sides. I only polish slightly the first part (going up the hill) but once you reach the top it is more like walking off a cliff. This results in a very crisp release.
You are working against the main spring in the bolt to get over the hump. Enfields are made to fire in less than ideal situations by having the spring much stronger than needed. Even in well used rifles this tention is often too strong to get a light trigger without making the hump dangerously small. And again, once you have crossed the line and made the hump too small the release becomes unpreditable and and the part useless. You basically have a trigger with 1/4 inch of creep that can fire at any point of travel. I have reduced the spring tention with heat but if you are not comfortable doing this DON'T. Once you crossed the line the spring becomes too weak and again this part becomes useless. You may be able to find a weaker spring if you check around with local shops.
When I was fiddling with these you could buy a bolt for 50 cents and a rifle for ten bucks. I wasn't concerned about ruining a spring, or any other part. That is not the case now so take your time. Polish a little reassemble and try. Start with the ramp as this usually all that is needed and only alter the rest if absolutely needed.
If you get on to some British web sites there is a ton of info on the 303s. Good luck with your project.
MK
Last edited by MK2750; 05-31-2010 at 08:22 AM.
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