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I've recently installed a VQ Trigger and VQ Sear in my MK Standard. I was surfing the net the other day and noticed that the Clark Bushing was on clearance at Midway and decided to order it. Now I'm wondering if I took on more than my limited talents will allow for. I've read that some users have had to "Polish" the ends of the bushing and other's have had to do other adjustments to make it fit. Are these bushings difficult to install? I want a "DIY" trigger in this pistol mainly because I can't afford a smith but secondly I want the satisfaction of doing it myself. Any suggestions and comments would be appreciated.

Thanks....22_Plinker

If you have done a trigger and sear the bushing will be no problem.
It is suppose to be a tight fir. In most cases it only requires a gentle tap with a small mallet or hammer to get it to fit.

The Clark bushing is over size to fit tightly/snugly into the hammer. Do not remove any material to make a loose fit. You may need to use a soft mallet hammer and small vice to push the bushing into position, I used a drill press on mine to press it in. The design is to eliminate one of the rotating surfaces on the hammer to pin. This eliminates the hammer to bushing slop leaning only the pin to bushing. With only one rotating surface you will have a very crisp clean trigger.

You only need to remove the hammer to install the bushing. So if you did the sear you should be able to do it with any problems.

blue68f100 wrote:The Clark bushing is over size to fit tightly/snugly into the hammer. Do not remove any material to make a loose fit. You may need to use a soft mallet hammer and small vice to push the bushing into position, I used a drill press on mine to press it in. The design is to eliminate one of the rotating surfaces on the hammer to pin. This eliminates the hammer to bushing slop leaning only the pin to bushing. With only one rotating surface you will have a very crisp clean trigger.

You only need to remove the hammer to install the bushing. So if you did the sear you should be able to do it with any problems.

Thanks for the replies and confidence guys. I knew not to remove anything from the bushing to make a loose fit but the article I read seemed to suggest that the bushing was too long to fit into the pistol. I will know more when I see it I guess. I had the same idea of using a vise to push the bushing into the hammer. Thanks again...

22_Plinker

You can also use a small ratcheting wrench socket to help seat the bushing. Just place the socket over the bushing and tap it with the mallet to seat.

R,
Bullseye

Bullseye wrote:You can also use a small ratcheting wrench socket to help seat the bushing. Just place the socket over the bushing and tap it with the mallet to seat.

R,
Bullseye

This is why I come here and go to RFC. It's the simple answers that make the most amount of sense that us newbies might not think about. That is a fantastic idea. My main concern was that the bushing would be longer than the original factory part. I knew the point of it was to fit snugger to take out the play. Thanks again to you all. I feel much better about this now.

22_Plinker

Just got my bushing in the mail today so guess I'll try and install it tomorrow. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Regards...22_Plinker

Well got the bushing in and wow...didn't think the trigger could get any better but it sure seems better. It was a little tighter in the frame but once in it was great. I was wondering though, why does the oversized pin stick out so much? Is it to ensure that the pin does not move within the frame?

PS...Bullseye, your tip worked out perfect...thanks for the suggestion.

22_Plinker

PS...Bullseye, your tip worked out perfect...thanks for the suggestion.

Shhh! Don't tell anyone or they'll expect me to give tips out all the time!

R,
Bullseye

Glad you like the results of a very cheap upgrade. It's amazing that removing a little slop can improve a trigger, but it does. Depending on how much slop you had, improvements vary. Mine hammer had over 1/4" side to side movement so it did a big improvement to mine. The pin sticking out more on the left side is to insure it does not back out. I had to add a little tape to the grip to hold mine tight. and there may be a difference in frame tollerance too.

22_plinker:

Good job! This Forum has helped all of us enjoy our plinkers.

Now to a slightly different problem. I installed a V sear and adj trigger plus the Clark hammer bushing and pin in my MKII. Trigger felt simply amazing with no perceptable movement of internal parts. However, I immediately began to have light-strikes at the range.

Looking at the casings it was obvious that they were lightly struck. Took OUT the Clark bushing and pin and the light strikes went away. Now that springtime (rangetime) is around the corner I want to experiment, reinstall the Clark bushing/pin, and see if a little tweaking can get the gun to run.

I called Clark when I discovered the problem last fall and they were extremely helpful and wanted to make it right but I told them for a $20 part set that I was not unhappy and would find a solution.

Any thoughts?

One cause could be the trigger adj post travel. If you have this too tight it will drag on the hammer. I use a marker on the hammer to check for this.

If that does not correct the problem check the fit between the bushing and pin. One of mine had a burr or rough edge on the bushing making it drag on the pin. I just took a small countersink and deburred the ends and all was well. The bushing to pin should allow the hammer to swing freely, and drag from the pin/bushing or sear/hammer (post travel) can cause problems.

I believe Blue is on the right track, the new Clark bushing can change the hammer's position/location slightly within the frame and if the overtravel stop screw is set very close that could cause the top of the sear to drag on the hammer as it strikes the firing pin. You can check this with the receiver off of the frame. Install the mainspring in the frame and use your thumb to catch the hammer as it releases. Check to see that when you squeeze the trigger that the sear face clears the hammer hook and hammer body completely. If the sear touches the hammer body it will drag on the hammer and bleed off much of its energy. Backing out the overtravel screw will allow for more clearance on the sear face.

One word of caution to those who recently bought Bargain Bin VQ sears, many of these are out of specifications and cause the sear to drag on the hammer. This is because the sear pivot pin hole is misplaced and at a slight angle. The result is no matter how far you turn out the overtravel stop you cannot move the sear far enough away from the hammer. The top of the trigger will strike the trigger well face and the sear still cannot pivot far enough to rotate away from the hammer. Most of the out-of-spec sears can be spotted by inspecting the slot below the sear face. If the pivot pin hole is visible through the slot then it is out of spec. Looks like this:



R,
Bullseye

i guess this is an example of "You get what you pay for"

Thank you for your replies. Notes:

(1) Bought all Volquartsen parts over the past years from Rimfire Sports to support a fellow Virginian. No mention of bargain parts.

(2) Because I'm an avid reader of this Forum, I backed out the pre & overtravel screws when I discovered the "light strike" problem. No change.

(3) Sent a lot of time with a bright light and magnifying glass studying the inside workings of all MKII parts (after I cleaned the gun) in an attemp to understand the relationship between parts, etc. Couldn't find a thing. Will do it again with Bullseye's instructions.

(4) It's raining today and I'm out of fired .22 casings and can't get back to the range for a few days to make a couple hundred more empty casings. I really like making empty casings!

Will post further results when the range time & inspection is complete. Thanks again.