Let me describe a scenario for you - your rifle or carbine looks great, the barrel is pristine, headspace is perfect, but the trigger pulls forever and breaks about as easy as pulling a nail out of a block of wood!

I had a German Mauser 98k that matched this description. I once took it out to the range for a shooting session with the intention to write a "Range Report" for the German 98k Rifle Section on Surplusrifle.com. I was so embarrassed by the performance, no matter the ammo used, that I never wrote the article. Maybe I will save the pictures of the targets for a Military Shotgun Section, if I ever create one. It just never shot right! Hell, I have SKS Carbines that have better trigger pulls then this 98k did.

I had been thinking about writing a "How-to" article based upon installing a high-performance trigger in my 98k and taking it to the range to see if it would help.

John F. Huber contacted me via email to discuss his new trigger. The timing was excellent.

John owns Huber Concepts and crafts the Huber Anti-Friction Ball Trigger, for some of the greats in Military rifles - the US Model 03A3, Enfield P-17, SMLE, Arisaka Type 99, and the Mauser 98k.

He asked me to give him a call, so I did and after we discussed the idea for the article he shipped me the trigger.

John told me that he was confident that he made a product that would stand up to anything else made; a solid stainless-steel trigger with a very unique anti-friction ball that made the trigger pull, smooth.

The Huber triggers come in three flavors -

1. Match Grade: Looks pretty much like the original trigger on the outside;
2. Ultra Light: A skeletonized version of the Huber trigger;
3. Custom: Out of this world in appearance. Your imagination is the only limitation.

Note: You can view pictures of the different types of Huber triggers at the end of the article.

Legend

Click on any of the images below
to see a larger version of the image.

When I first took the trigger out of the package, I was really taken with the unique look and design (as shown in the legend above and figure 1)! Very distinctive looking, almost like a piece of jewelry. I read the instructions and it definitely seemed like I could handle the installation. What did I have to lose? I never took the rifle out of the safe to shoot anyways. I had even thought about selling or trading it for something else.

On close inspection the Huber trigger is very adjustable.

You can make three adjustments via the supplied allen wrench:

1. Over-travel;
2. Anti-friction ball;
3. Trigger creep.

over-travel is how far the trigger travels after you break and fire a round.

Anti-friction ball adjusts the sear engagement.

Trigger creep is how far the trigger travels before you break and fire a round.

After disassembling the 98k, the trigger is easy to remove. I removed the entire trigger assembly including the sear by punching out the sear pin (as shown in figure 4).

Using a punch, I tapped out the trigger pin and the original trigger fell out.

Installing the Huber trigger is just as easy as removing the old trigger. I placed it in the sear and tapped the trigger pin back in.

Note: In figure 5 the Huber trigger has more metal surface area below the sear, when compared to the original trigger pictured in figure 4. You will need to remove some of the wood in the stock for the new trigger to move freely without obstruction.

Figure 7 shows the completed stock modifications. Don't worry - you cannot see any difference on the exterior of the rifle stock. I noticed after tightening the trigger guard screws that it was difficult to pull the trigger, so I had to remove just a little more wood and everything was fine.

Adjusting the trigger is easy.

With the bolt installed in the rifle, I found I did not need to adjust the trigger's ball, but there was noticeable trigger creep and over-travel.

I adjusted the over-travel by installing the bolt and while pulling the trigger I found the drop-off point or break (the point where the rifle fires). I adjusted the trigger so it would not travel any further than required to break and then per the instructions I backed the adjustment screw off by 1/2 turn.

Next, I adjusted the creep so the rifle had a short and crisp trigger pull. 

Note: Once you are finished adjusting the trigger, it would be a good idea to put some Locktite or some of your wife's nail polish to keep the adjustment screws from coming loose.

Wow - what an improvement! 

The real test would be a shooting session at the range. I loaded up with three different 8mm Mauser loads that I had in storage and headed to the range.

I warmed up at 50 yards and found it shot like I had always dreamed my 98k could. Finally the rifle was really something to be proud of. I had considered prior to this hanging it on the wall for decoration.

The trigger pull was excellent!

The instructions that come with the trigger state the following - "the trigger will roll over the wall with a smooth clean break at less than 27 ounces."  No false advertising here! The trigger pull was smooth and crisp and broke very clean for every shot. I was grouping really well and decided it was time to up the ante.

I decided to move the target out to 100 yards and see how she would perform.

Figure 12 shows my first 5-shot grouping at 100 yards. I would have shot a perfect score, but I jerked the rifle by accident and hit the 9 ring on the last shot. After this photo, I fired an additional 20 rounds and literally knocked the center out of the target. Not one single shot was outside the black!

Afterwards I shot a Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 that I had previously thought had a very clean and crisp trigger and found it was considerably harder to pull than the 98k outfitted with the Huber trigger. I am now really anxious to try one of the Huber match grade triggers on a Yugo m48 project gun I am working on.

The trigger I reviewed costs $64.75 and can be ordered from:

Huber Concepts
514 Thorp Street
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin 54935. 
email:
phone: (920) 921-9641

John is currently working with Brownells to get his triggers added to their catalog and I will post the link when it is added.

Click on the images below to see other trigger styles and read the instructions that come with the trigger.

jlm ;)

New Article Update - April 9, 2003
Yugo M48 Match Grade Trigger Installation

I followed the same exact steps laid out in the above 98k article for the installation of the trigger in the m48.

After disassembling the Yugo m48, the trigger is easy to remove. I removed the entire trigger assembly including the sear by punching out the sear pin (as shown in figure 16).

Installing the new trigger is easy, I placed it in the sear and tapped the trigger pin back in.

I had to remove pretty much the same amount of material inside the stock as I did with the 98k installation. I used the rotary tool and a cutting bit to accomplish this.

Note: You do not modify any exterior surface of the rifle or rifle stock. You only need to remove enough wood inside the trigger area of the stock to allow the trigger to travel back and forth. There is no visible modification to the exterior of the rifle. It still appears stock military.

It may look like a normal Yugo m48, but I guarantee that it did not shoot like a stock m48. Usually when I get to the range it takes me a little while before I start to warm-up and get reasonable groupings. I sat down at the bench and loaded a single round and fired at 100 yards. I then checked the spotting scope and saw that I had scored 10.

I thought it was a fluke and loaded the magazine with five more rounds and fired quickly. I went back to the scope and saw the grouping you see in figure 19. It was a long 15 minutes until a cease fire was called and I could walk down range and photograph the target. I was able to do this repeatedly.

I found this Teflon coated trigger is actually smoother in operation (but not by much) than the Huber Stainless Steel Ultralight Trigger that I installed in the 98k.

jlm;)

John's Technical Notes

- John Huber

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