Airgun Answers: What’s a set trigger?

What’s a set trigger? Can I get one for my airgun?

A set trigger is usually found on powder-burning hunting rifles. You can fire the rifle as normal with the regular amount of trigger-pull (trigger weight), but the trigger may also be ‘set’ – usually by pushing forward on the trigger blade, or by pushing forward on a small lever attached to the rear of the trigger – to make it much lighter when you’re taking rested precision shots. While this dual feature does have its uses, it’s not something that’s encountered that often on modern powder-burners, and I’ve never seen an airgun with a set trigger. We are fortunate, though, because most triggers fitted to airguns are of a high standard and can be adjusted to our specific requirements.

It’s a general rule that target shooters will want a lighter trigger than hunters, but whatever the intended use of your gun, one thing remains paramount: the gun should only ever go off when you apply deliberate pressure to the trigger blade. You should never be taken unaware by a gun going off sooner or later than you expect. If this happens, trigger-pull is either too light or too heavy.