FAS 603 .32 : Trigger adjustment help request.

[Fortitudo Dei]

I was initially going to add this to our current thread on match .32’s (“none perfect”?) but realised this was starting to get a little off topic!

I have recently acquired a FAS 603 .32 in near-new condition. It was in the hands of a dealer (new) for about 5 years before being purchased by its previous owner who never really got into CF. It is however an older example (there are no holes through the frame to access the adjustment screws of the hammer box).
It fits my hand like a glove and shoots a very tight group off a rest. However I’m struggling a little with adjusting the second stage of the trigger – something not helped by the very rudimentary instructions on the early example of the instruction manual.

Having to remove the hammer box to adjust the trigger weight is a bit annoying, but something I can deal with. My problem is that I find the amount of “creep” on the second stage to be excessively long (squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, “this has got to go off sometime…” squeeze, squeeze, "errr.." squeeze, BANG!).

If I try an adjust the allen-screw in the hammer box to reduce the length, it seems to make little difference - until suddenly a point is reached where the trigger turns into a three-stage trigger with a very crisp (and quite heavy) trigger point. My ideal would be just a fraction of creep on the 2nd stage before firing. Can anyone suggest what I might do to improve matters? Or have I been spoilt by the superb trigger adjustment potential of my FWB AW93 .22 and will I just have to get used to the FAS trigger system?

Any advice most welcome!

[David Levene]

Like the 602, the 603 was designed so that the "ideal" feel of the trigger is:-
Free play at the front end (you must have some or the trigger will not re-set).
Reasonably long first stage trigger movement ending in what feels like the trigger rolling into a groove or hitting a wall.
Second stage trigger pressure with virtually no movement.

If you do not realise that the free play is not actually doing anything to the hammer box then you might describe this "ideal" set up as 3 stage.

It sounds to me as though you initially had the allen screw in too far which would totally negate the final stage. It sounds like you then undid the screw until the final stage appeared, although somewhat too heavy. You now need to do the screw up again a tiny bit at a time until the final stage disappears again, then back the screw out a tiny bit until the final stage is there. When I talk about a tiny bit I mean putting the short end of the wrench in the screw and applying pressure on the tip of the long end. As soon as you feel movement, that is a tiny bit.

These adjustments can quite easily be done with the hammer box out of the gun, just use a small screwdriver to apply the pressure to the lug on the side. You will still be able to feel the groove/wall just before the final stage.