Friday, March 18, 2011

Product review - Timney trigger scale

I guess a trigger pull scale is one of those items that the average gun owner would like to have every now and then. Most never get around to buying one though. I've wanted one, off and on, for nearly 20 years now. There would be two or three times a year where I would think, "wish I had a trigger scale" but then quickly forget it when some better way to spend my money came along. Well, finally I decided to buy one. I purchased a Timney made model. I figured they make great triggers why not great trigger scales! The one I purchased is the heavy "Armorers" model that measures from 1 to 25 pounds. The reason that I bought this version was that many guns that I want to check are double action revolvers and military type weapons with heavier trigger pulls. It is my understanding that this model will probably not be as accurate on lighter triggers (less than 6-8 pounds) as their finer scale would. I wanted a scale that would work with any gun I had, I recognized the limitations when I bought this model and I'm happy with the compromise.

There is not much to say about the Timney trigger tension scale, it is a quality product and is very simple and easy to use. It has a large handle to grasp, the trigger bar is covered so that it won't move around on you when you're testing, it is easy to read and the display is in both pounds (.25 pound increments) and kilograms. It is also consistent use after use. I played with it most of the other afternoon and as long as you were careful where you placed it on the trigger and kept the gun still while you used it - no problems. The only gun that I currently own that I know the exact trigger weight is my Colt 1991 .45 full size model. This is what I used to judge the scale's accuracy. I had the trigger of the Colt worked on a few years back and I know because the gunsmith showed me (with his own gauge) that the trigger broke at exactly 4.5 pounds. My Timney scale shows it at 4.75. Given the aforementioned problems this scale has with lighter weights I found that reading satisfactory. As I already stated, I understood the limitations of this "one size" model when I purchased it. If you wanted a trigger scale for mainly guns with lighter trigger pulls Timney's finer model (8oz-10 pound) would be better for you. The Timney scale is tough, well made and should last you a lifetime, and it reads "MADE IN THE U.S.A." which is always nice to see. Highest recommendation!

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