I've got two Ruger 10/22s which are too easy to piss lead away with, and just not always a lot of fun to shoot. For a long time I've been wanting a lever action 22. With a bit of TLC the JW-15 is a joy to shoot.Christmas is coming up so I'm thinking of making it an excuse to get a new rifle. Everything here is for informational purposes only, and if you’re uncomfortable, unskilled or lacking in confidence, you should either take your rifle to a qualified gunsmith or leave the thing alone. Remember, as always, that whatever you do with your firearm is up to you. I find the best combination for a light trigger on these rifles that is safe and pleasant to use involves taking a few coils off the spring, polishing the individual trigger components and adjusting the grub screw to lower the sear as much as possible without creating an unsafe action. I don’t know anyone who would recommend trying to change the shape of the sear or sear ledge – at least not for the DIY operator. When one of these surfaces is rounded, the other can easily break the hold when the rifle is bumped or dropped. The issue here is that the sear is angled sharply like that so that it holds the sear ledge till the very last millisecond, providing a clean and safe break. Don’t mistake this for a lighter trigger pull – there is a difference. What this does is remove the “harshness” from the trigger pull, making it soft and easy. The third, and most dangerous (and pretty stupid) way, is to lightly round off the tip of the sear. In other words, a useless, dangerous gun. This is an irreversible step, and too much polish will leave you with a rifle that won’t cock or that will fire every time you try and close the bolt. This means taking away the grittiness of the finish, not changing the shape. The second way is to (lightly) polish the sear surface and/or sear ledge. Obviously you test this with a dummy round. If the firing pin drops while you are cocking it, there is not enough positive sear engagement – with enough force, you made the firing pin go right over the sear and hit what would be a live round. I like to check this by ramming the bolt home as hard and fast as possible. This method is reversible, and with thorough testing of the trigger mechanism is the safest way of adjusting the sear.
This means less effort is required to break that engagement, dropping the pin and firing the chambered round. This will move the trigger to the rear and lower the sear in relation to the firing pin – i.e. less of the sear is engaging the firing pin. The first way is to adjust the grub screw behind the trigger. If you don’t have a punch set handy, you can readily make your own with some nails and a grinder. The last thing you want is a rifle that will go off when you bump it. There are three ways to adjust the sear on the JW-15, and none should be attempted without a serious level of confidence or skill. It can take a perfectly safe firearm and make it a loose cannon. Sear adjustment – it’s your callĪdjusting the sear is a risky move. If it’s brand new, you’ve got a lot of grease to remove before you get to this point. Just about every part of the trigger could do with at least a polish. PolishĪ lot of the machining on the JW-15 requires some work with a file, sandpaper and grinding paste to get to an acceptable level. I’ve not found a pen spring that would do the job, but you might. If you are not so bold or would like to return your firearm to original spec one day, replacing this spring with a lighter/shorter one will do the trick. I know of some people who have used springs from ballpoint pens. Beware though, that if you cut off too much, the trigger won’t spring back into place after you’ve pulled it – which makes it pretty useless. I simply cut off a few coils to lighten my spring. Trigger weight spring The trigger mechanism in the JW-15 is uncomplicated to say the least. With such a blank canvas, there is plenty of room for improvement with this trigger. It can be gritty with excessive over-travel (a symptom of the Mauser-style trigger not absent in the Brno), but the ones I’ve tried all break like a glass rod at weights that are not excessive for average shooting. The trigger on the JW-15 is not pretentious at all. One of the first things you can improve is the trigger. I agree with those people 100 per cent, but I also think that with a little bit of elbow grease, this humble Brno-clone can be a decent shooter. An implement meant to be thrown on the quad bike or back seat, and touted around the farm for practical purposes. There are many that will say that the Norinco JW-15 is an excellent tool.