Blake Keiser Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I have two tanfoglio pistols, a Match and an LTD. Both triggers have worn in to a point that they break at just over two pounds. (Hammer, trigger lever return and plunger springs and some polishing contributed.) The sear cage in the match doesn't move when activating the trigger but the one in the LTD does... a lot! This is really only noticeable with the hammer uncocked but I want to fix it anyway. I can see shimming the cage against the frame or drilling a set screw or just buying a few cages and praying to the gods of tolerance stacking. What think? Blake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamayne Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I have the same issue with a brand new limited. I think it's one of the major problems with the design. The cz tactical sports have a sear cage with a place for two springs that stick out the back to hold the sear cage tight in the frame. I am looking for a cure to this problem also, and wondered if Henning had any ideas. Maybe he could design an over sized sear cage that could be fit by hand? I'm not sure if there is room on the tanfoglio sear cage to make a recess for two springs like a tactical sports. A friend of mine had one and showed me but I didn't really get to look at it but once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nealio Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I thought this was an issue at first with my Limited; the sear was moving a lot and I posted a thread just like this one.. It seemed to be much more pronounced with the stock sear and hammer. Now with the EGW sear and hammer I don't notice it moving much if any. Do you have the oversized sear pins? I think those help as well, as the sear can come out of alignment with the hammer hooks as you put pressure on it, which would then cause the cage to move. So if you wanted to make that sear cage tight in the frame, you could take something like MSR Quicksteel ( http://www.amazon.com/MSR-Quick-Steel/dp/B000J085PS ) and stick it to the outside of the cage, then sand it to fit and I think that would keep it stationary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 (edited) A small amount of sear cage movement is actually a good thing. It allows the lip of the sear to "self center" on the hammer hooks when the hammer is cocked. If the sear cage was totally locked down you would need very precise sear lip to hammer hook alignment to ensure full and even contact of the hammer hooks on the sear lip. If they were misaligned even a little bit it would cause an uneven mating between the two and lead to excessively fast wear of the parts. The other thing to consider is that since the ejector prong is part of the sear cage, if the sear cage is locked down it will shift one way or another when you fire the gun because the brass is hitting the ejector prong every shot. I think that if the ejector prong was on a different part of the gun, like a 1911, then you could lock down the Sear location and it would stay where you lock it. Another thing to consider is that a "Loose" sear cage makes the gun more resistant to dirt and grime making the gun more reliable in less than optimal conditions. Edited October 3, 2012 by CHA-LEE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Keiser Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 I like the quiksteel idea and may try it. Re: Movement of cage being good... that may be true. The only observation I'd make about that is that my Match sear cage doesn't. Frankly, it looks like the hammer hooks release the sear before any discernable cage shift anyway, so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Hepworth Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I actually just switched out my stock2 sear cage with assembly and put in an old sear cage and brand new sear (ie; swapped out stock3 sear assembly for one piece sear) I got lucky, as the old sear cage was much tighter and lost the slop i had with the new one in the new gun. Another thing to notice...the DA is longer..although smooth (even with a new un abused sear). SA is right off the bat nicer and it breaks good. Reset seems to be better. I was talking to ERIC. I believe he favors the older sear with longer DA, as the SA is better. On another note...MY limited custom sear cage fit is tight....trigger is awesome with Henning parts. I shot it for the first time in almost 8 months. I thought I went full auto it was so sweet. My buddy watched me try it again..he said," that ain't right" as I spewed off 4 rounds with some serious splits in the .12 range. He picked it up and realized it was just such a nice reset, and light grip with the trigger finger hand that it was very possible. The gun climbed on me a bit..but under control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Hey guys, Hopefully I can pick your brains a bit more on this topic. I just got a stock II and have taken it all apart and polished up all necessary parts replaced springs, and put in the henning sear pin. Everything is shaping up nicely, but I am experiencing some sear cage movement. My concern is that when I push the sear cage all the way to the right hand side of the gun, the sear appears centered on the hammer hooks, but if I dry fire it a few times the sear cage pushes itself against the left hand side of the frame. This causes the left hammer hook full engagement but the right one is only about half on the sear. I cant really tell a difference in feel, but I would be worried over thousands of trigger pulls the hammer/sear would start wearing unevenly and acting inconsistently. I am considering a dab of steel puddy or weld and then fitting it to my frame. Would this be a good idea? -Eli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 The "Slop" in the sear cage should create a situation where the sear self centers on the hammer hooks when the hammer is cocked. The only way that you would get a situation where the sear lip isn't fully engaging the hammer hook is if the sear lip was ground at an angle instead of straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Hmmm, I polished the face of the sear but didn't change the angle at all. I don't know any reason my sear angle would be off. Any tips on how I could confirm that is the problem or remedy the situation? Is it bad if I keep shooting it the way it is right now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All-Gator Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 This problem exists for CZ's as well. The CZ has a vertical pin which captures the hammer pin...don't know if Tans have the same setup. This pin is underneath the sear cage. By installing a slightly longer pin it stabilizes the cage. Of course it requires fitting by slowly reducing the length. Uhh, Cha-Lee, no offense, but I really disagree that "self-centering" parts are desirable/acceptable. Light triggers (1 1/2 lb. and below) require rigid, stable parts and precise fitting in order to be consistent, reliable, and safe. Again, no offense, just my opinion. A-G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 If you don't know how to fix it, then take it to a qualified gunsmith. Screwing around the with sear to hammer hook engagement can lead to misfire, hammer follow, or even full auto problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 This problem exists for CZ's as well. The CZ has a vertical pin which captures the hammer pin...don't know if Tans have the same setup. This pin is underneath the sear cage. By installing a slightly longer pin it stabilizes the cage. Of course it requires fitting by slowly reducing the length. Uhh, Cha-Lee, no offense, but I really disagree that "self-centering" parts are desirable/acceptable. Light triggers (1 1/2 lb. and below) require rigid, stable parts and precise fitting in order to be consistent, reliable, and safe. Again, no offense, just my opinion. A-G I have built many sub 2lb trigger jobs with "Sloppy" sear cages, all of them being consistent, reliable and safe. You actually can create a far less consistent, reliable or safe trigger jobs when you "Attempt" to lock down the sear cage. The reality is that with the ejector prong being part of the sear cage, you will NEVER be able to fully remove all movement of the sear cage when the gun is firing because the brass is always bashing into the ejector prong and moving the sear cage around. When you attempt to lock the sear cage down the sear lip cannot self center on the hammer hooks creating as much contact as possible given the angle of the parts. The sear and hammer in a 1911/2011 pistol can be fully isolated and precision fit as those parts are secured to the frame by dedicated pins. In that scenario you do want to lock those parts down as much as possible by using precision fit pins and custom angles on the sear lip and hammer hooks. The EAA/Tanfo/CZ style pistols do not use this kind of sear to hammer mounting design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now