Double triggers and gloves
 

Luckily I have a talented fellow on my forum by the name of Buck Conner that does a lot of writing, research, etc.

I remember oldbob47 making a comment on how worthless double set triggers were because you can't use a glove and that your hand would get cold. As a hunter, its pretty obvious what I personally would and do in fact, use. But to some, it escapes their minds..

Buck put this info up on my face. Real accounts from those mountain men of the past.

PERIOD MITTENS

If your involved in living history, you should have historical references for what your using. If questioned you have the information to stop the "in-the-know" person in their tracks. I have had a three ring binder (using protector sheets) with pages of historical references for my equipage, carried for over 30 years. If questioned (AMM & NAF) will do this once in a while. Then you give them a history lesson and watch them walk away with their tail between their legs.

Here's a reference on mittens, lined with rabbit fur & otherwise:

"of all furrs the furr of the hare is the warmest, we place pieces of it in our mittens, the skin is too thin for any other purpose." c. 1800, Hudson's Bay (David Thompson, Narrative, 31)

"... in the intense cold, the shot is no sooner fired than our hands are in our large mittens; we walk and pick up the bird, then get the powder in, and walk again, at length [put in] the shot, and the gun is loaded; it is needless to say, exposed to such bitter cold, with no shelter, we cannot fire many shots in a single day. Gloves are found to be worse than useless." c. 1800, Hudson's Bay (David Thompson, Narrative, 31)

(Remember the "mittened hand" that the large trigger guard on the NW trade gun is supposed to be for? Well, Thompson is clearly taking his mittens off to shoot.)

"I fortunately escaped [frostbite], by the aid and assistance of a pair of rabbit skin gloves with which I kept constantly chafing the places affected..." Dec 9, 1820, Fort Providence on N. shore of Great Slave Lake (George Back, Arctic Artist, 103)

"We employed ourselves in making mittens of old deer [caribou] skin that was found lying about--I made a pair also..." October 10, 1821, Obstruction Rapids of Coppermine R (about halfway between Great Slave Lake and Coronation Gulf on the Arctic Ocean). (Back, 184)

Like the old Boy Scout moto "be prepared", if you are as much as possible, you keep surprises to a minimum.

We don't have much of a problem in Colorado. The muzzleloader season is in the middle of Sept. I've never needed gloves.

After reading that I was thinking exactly what you said.

Back around 2001/02 or-so, I went hunting with my new Pedersoli Rolling Block Inline 54-cal. It was cold that late fall/early winter.

I sold that ML (with less than 25 shots on it) the very next spring, because of it's small trigger guard. I completely 'overlooked' eyeballing that triggergurd when I purchased it. Never even considered the fact that my fingers and toes are always the first to go numb while hunting.

The very next day after waving goodbye to a really nice looking/nice shooting 54-cal inline, I purchased my 50-cal T/C Omega SS/Laminate. I still got it...... best ML I ever purchased.

When I am out hunting in cold weather I use some wool gloves I have. They are like mittens that the top half of the mitten folds back, and leaves a fingerless glove. I only fold it back right before I have to take a shot. Trigger finger is always warm.

My new gun has a really cool set trigger. It's a single trigger that has a 4lb pull when just pulled with no set. For the set trigger the trigger is pushed forward to set the trigger, and then pulled to fire. The set trigger is adjustable from 3lb down to 2oz.

Same here Pete. Hunters know how to adjust!

MD54,

I was going to get back to you and tell you not to go to any great trouble for me. I don't think I said set triggers were/are useless. They're just not for me. I think anyone would be well served by a nice crisp 3# pull. My Parker crossbow has a 4.5# pull, and while I'm not in love with it, I seem to shoot it OK. I'm just careful keeping my hands warm. I don't get cold easily, but if my hands do get cold, they are really hard to warm up again. This could be because of the carpal tunnel I had 20 years ago.

I have seen rifles from 200 years ago with set triggers, but there's a difference. 200 years ago we didn't have hunting seasons, limits, game commissions, or any of that. People probably chose to hunt when the weather was nice, and stayed in the cabin on the harsh days, making jerky, repairing gear, what have you. Say in Pennsylvania, where I used to hunt, the second flint season started after Christmas, and it could get cold! I think a nice single trigger would work just fine.

But thanks for the post.

OldBob

I tend to prefer a single trigger. However a double trigger does have its advantages.,can be used as a single trigger in cold temps.

I always seem to get great deals on single trigger models because everyone seems to be looking for dbl triggers. I've paid as little as $35 for a good condition New Englander before.

A set trigger is made for offhand shooting. Nobody can hold the sights still shooting offhand. So, what you do is time the sights as they pass over the target, and pull the trigger. Yes, I said pull, and not squeeze. You only have a nano second the pull the trigger as the sights pass over the target. They are moving, and if you squeeze the trigger you'll be past the target when it fires. Squeezing the trigger is for shooting from a rest when you can hold the sights on the target for long periods of time.

I only shoot offhand, and use a figure 8 pattern with the sights. A set trigger is light with zero creep. It just takes a light touch to fire. Timing the moving sights with the trigger pull has to be fast. The set trigger is perfect for doing it.

Anybody who doesn't like a set trigger probably shoots from a rest.

The problem with TC single triggers is all the gritty creep, and hard pull they have.