shortening the trigger on the 4.0

[bassnut]

Does anybody know how to shorten the trigger pull on the 4.0? thanks in advance

[Linko829]

you can probably get velocity springs for the gun but its hella hard to install, my frined got it for his 4.0 and he shoots hella fast i think 8 per sec fast fingers






Line up
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Jt excellerator 4.0
VL200
PMI X-Ray Thermal
20oz Co2
2 POD harness

[SilentTension]

wouldn't new springs just lightin the trigger pull?

[krzybum420]

velocity springs have nothing to do with how fast the trigger is. trigger springs is what lightens the trigger pull to achieve a better rate of fire. shorting the trigger pull is rather complicated to understand. goto the kingman forums and it says there where Hsuve made a sticky on that. by the way velocity springs are VERY easy to install; as long as you can oil your gun, you can install new springs :)

[Icefire]

These was something I wrote up a little while ago. Read though it first and make sure you understand what is going on before you start. Have fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought I help everyone out by detailing the trigger job for the JT here. Most of the information I am about to give you is from TLplus84 from the PBReview forum. I believe he said that he complied it from other sources. I will modify it for the JT.

Disclaimer: If you decide to do any of this modification to you marker, it is your choose and yours alone. Neither I nor the JT Excellorator Owners group will be responsible for anything that is done by you. If these modifications are done, it will most likely void you warranty. At a minimum, it will void the warranty on the parts that you modified.

Things you'll need:
- Hammer
- Nail
- Needle nose pliers
- wooden dowel or metal dowel/tube 1/16” diameter (I used wire connectors from Radio Shack)
- metal tube - 1/16" ID, 5/32" OD (From most hardware store)
- Dremel Tool or a hack saw
- Wet-Dry sandpaper - I used 320, 600, 1000 grid
- Epoxy

1.) Shortening the sear travel
When you pull the trigger, the sear gets pivoted, releases the striker, and the sear comes back down and rests on a pin. If you put a sleeve on that pin, the sear is seated lower, thus it will take less trigger movement to release the striker. We will cut about a .2” of the 1/16” ID tube as the sleeve. Take one end of the sear spring off using the pliers. Remove the resting pin using the nail and hammer. Make sure that the grooved side comes out first (usually hammer from the right to left, but not always), or the frame will be damaged. Insert the pin through one side. Put the sleeve in and insert the pin the rest of the way using the hammer. Check to make sure that the gun will cock. If it doesn’t, sand it down with the 320 grid sandpaper, and finish with the 600 and 1000. Reassemble everything

2.) Lighten trigger pull
Remove the trigger pin from the frame using the nail and hammer making sure that the grooved side comes out first or you may damage the gun. Take your trigger spring and cut about 1 1/2 coils off of it. After you cut the spring, stretch the spring a little bit, and put the spring back in with the side you just cut facing down. DON’T put the pin all the way in yet If you do not want to cut your trigger spring, go to a local hardware store and buy a spring that is the same diameter and length that is lighter (less force to compress spring).

3.) Shortening the trigger pull
Take a piece of wooden dowel or metal dowel/tube that will fit comfortably inside the spring. Cut roughly .3” and place it in your trigger spring. Reassemble the trigger (don’t hammer the pin all the way in yet), and make sure that the bolt will fire. Then, hook your air up and make sure it will fire every time. It may fire when not gassed up, but it may not fire when gassed up. Trim the dowel with sandpaper till you are satisfied.

4.) Shorten trigger return (This will disable the safety! You can fix that in step 5)
There are several ways to do this and I not will describe them all. Two will require a drill, tap, drill bit to match the tap, and a screw for the tap. I will not go into that unless there is request for it. Anyway, that should be left to someone with experience in taping which most of us do not have.
- If you look at your trigger from the top view, you will see that there is a tab there to cover the trigger spring. The top part of that touches the main gun body. Now pull the trigger back until trigger is touch the sear (middle of the frame when look from the top). Note how much that when down by. Take the trigger off again, Take some epoxy and build up the tab to the amount of travel that was noted earlier. Wait for it to dry, and afterwards attach the trigger frame to your gun. If it fires, then leave it. If it doesn't, sanded a little off and try again.
NOTE: I didn’t use the epoxy. I just took a soft piece of metal (copper wire connector) and gently hammer it into the groove. I then use sandpaper to adjust it. Like I said, there are several ways to do this.

5.) Fixing the Safety
If you did step 4, you safety will no longer work. To fix this, you will need to take some of the trigger matters off. To determine how much to take off, you will need to push the safety in and hold it. Pull the trigger several times until it feels smooth. Take the trigger off. At the front part of the trigger, you’ll notice that there is some wear from the safety pin. You will need to take of the part that is not damaged (the bottom part of the front of the trigger). Take it off with the Dremel or what ever you have. Sand the cut area down. Reassemble and test. If the safety doesn’t go in, sand it down some more. If safety goes in and you are able to fire the gun, add some epoxy to the trigger until the safety can go in without firing the gun.

6.) Polishing the Sear
Polishing the sear make the trigger pull smoother and crisper. If you polish the sear too much, you will have to get a new sear because it will go full auto until it runs out of air. What you want to do is take the 320 grid sand paper and sand the black anodize off of the top of the sear, the part that is sticking out. DON’T sand too much. It is ok if there is some strikes of black there. Next, take the 320 and sand (bevel) a little (very little) off of the short edge (the edge that is horizontal to the frame) of the sear. Take the 600 and 1000 grid and repeat the previous two steps. Reassemble and test.

7.) Polishing the Striker
This has the same effect as polish the Sear and will further improve the feel of the trigger pull. If you look at the striker, you will notice that there is a part that is notched out. That is the part you want to sand down as well as the short flat area behind it. Take the 320 grid sandpaper and remove the black anodize from that area. Watch out for the lip where the sear catches. If you take too much off, it’ll be the same as polishing the sear too much. Repeat with the 600 and 1000. Reassemble and test.

Closing:
Depending on how far you take these mods, you can take the trigger down to almost nothing. I wouldn’t advise it because this could be dangerous. I have my trigger pull down to about .25” and is happy with it. Also, if you do the “Shorten trigger return” mod, you will need to do the “Fixing the safety” mod as well. Most (if not all) fields will not let you use a gun without a properly working safety. A GUN WITHOUT A WORKING SAFETY IS DANGEROUS.

I also would like to thank Tlplus84 over at PBReview for sharing this information with all the PB players out there.

[Reason]

icefire, couldnt you just save all the work and buy a whole new trigger frame like the one on your gun? by the way I noticed how you put camo over the chrome parts... is that like camo tape or something? nice JT ice fire.

[Icefire]

Reason,

You have to realize that a lot of us are on a budget or maybe we are just cheap basters. But that wasn't the primary reason. I was a newbie and the JT 4.0 was my first marker. And the best way to learn is to take things apart and put them together. To learn even more, make them better.

And you said, I can do the same thing by just putting a new frame in. No way. There were too many issues with putting the frame on that without the prior knowledge, I may not be able to get it to work. That stupid female connector really made life a living hell to put the frame on.

And yeah, those are camo tapes. After getting spotted right off in a few wood games, those tapes make a difference.

[Reason]

cool i like the camo tape idea... I would like to do a trigger job on my stock 4.0 trigger I'm just afraid if i ruined something I might end up spending more money in the long run replacing parts :P but I would love to have the nice 'crisp' 1/4" trigger.

[Icefire]

If you screw up anything, you could always buy the replacement parts from me. :p

[SlamN64]

Or you could do what I did! I sent my JT to polecat and they did the trigger job for $20. The guy lives about 20min. away from me, so I just met up with him. His website is www.polecatpaintball.com. My trigger pull is about 3/16" now, which is ALOT shorter than before! :) He's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet!

[MyJTRox]

Cool beans Slam. That should be in a highlight post, cuz there are a lot of people out there looking to shorten the pull on their 4.0's.

[hmm]

Polecat paintball 20mins from where you live, eh? Where might polecat be? I have a JT excellerator 4.0 and might want to shorten the trigger.

[SlamN64]

Well, I was quite happy with the JT 4.0 but soon wanted to a better trigger pull. The thing had a pretty long pull and I was getting tired of sweet spotting it (pull trigger, but don't release the trigger all the way). Now I fire as fast as my friends autococker. The trigger job must have improved my rate by around +3bps. I just measured the pull, and it was about 1/8" or 3mm. The guy that runs polecat is in Sunnyvale, California. I live in San Jose, which is pretty close. For most of you guys, you'll have to call or email him and arrange shipping of your JT. He's a Spyder specialist, and trust me, he's good at what he does. You should check out his website for his parts and services that he offers. It's www.polecatpaintball.com if you didn't get it yet. Also, he's built up a great reputation among paintballers. He'll check your entire gun to make sure it's tuned right too. You'll hear nothing but good things. Hear are some reviews and comments about him:

http://www.paintballguru.com/reviews/services/polecat.htm
http://paintballnyc.com/tech/pole1.htm

[Slenda]

Thanks SlamN... I hooked up with Polecat last week and got my gun back today. I haven't played with it yet, but I gased her up and let her rip. I was impressed. Much Shorter pull and lighter. I'm playing tomorrow. I'll be back with the result of my first day with a Polecat trigger job!

[Slenda]

OK... here are the results. I played last week with my new trigger job by Polecat and it was sweet. I would strongly recommend going with a legit trigger job like Polecat's over an electric trigger frame. I was easily able to out shoot my 12v Revy and stock bolt set-up.

A trigger job like Polecat's will make snap shooting and rapid firing much easier.

check him out @ www.polecatpaintball.com