Miller Triggers

[Drew Hause]

Thank you Dan. I added your excellent pics here
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/22972484

[Dan May]

Dan,

That's a big wrench!!! I looked through all of the patents and none show a selector like that. Likewise, we don't have anything similar in all of the leftover Miller "hardware" in our possession. After looking over the patents, I believe this selector is a variation, and based upon, Elmer's 1939 patent. I'd love to see the inside of that mechanism. My guess is that the resilient pin that works against the spring which selects the trip position is mounted in the top rear of the selector switch. In doing this he most likely omitted the lengthwise shaft that would have been connected to the original rocker button mounted at the forward end of the trigger body. Just a guess.

Very interesting, the Millers never cease to amaze me. Thanks for showing us, hopefully I'll get a chance to examine your gun some day.

Best, Dan

[Austin W Hogan]

Dan; I had a Parker DHE trap, 32 inch btfe, with the Parker SST marks present on the trigger plate. The Parker SST was replaced by the Miller with rocker selector. There were several Remington repair codes on the gun but these do not infer the type of repair.

Philosophical question - would a Miller trigger installed by the Millers be more or less desirable than a Miller installed by Remington?

Best, Austin

[Autumn Daze]

Another Question...Did Remington actually install Miller Triggers?

[Blind Dog]

The nicest little 20ga Trojan I have seen is the one Larry DelGrego made for his grandson, L. D. III. It has a Miller nonselictive.

[Dan May]

Austin and all,

No person or company that I know of was ever officially licensed by the Miller Company to install their triggers. They always retained the trademarks and kept it in house to the best of my knowledge (especially after their experience with Ithaca). There have been Miller triggers installed with take-out parts from other guns and I expect that practice continues to this day to some degree. If it is stamped Miller, however, it can be assumed that it was installed by the Miller Brothers, Doug Turnbull or now, us.

An acquaintance of Howard Miller's shared an anecdote with me at the Northeast shoot. He was visiting with Howard at his shop and Howard was talking about those that try to copy his trigger. He said, "A lot of people try to copy my triggers, but nobody has my hands." He said this as he was filing and fitting a trigger. What a cool story.

Dan

[Austin W Hogan]

Dan; I think you are probably correct. Installing a Miller is not an easy task, and probably impossible without "inside" information from the Millers.
My remaining Miller/Parker is the 1920 vintage VHE live bird gun. I also have a similar era Fox C with the same model Miller. Miller equipped exposed hammer Parkers are known.
Has anyone seen a W 21 or Rem 32 with a Miller?

Best, Austin

[Drew Hause]

Rem 32

[Dan May]

The Millers were granted patents for over/under triggers in 1933, 1938, 1951 and 1962. As Drew shows above, the Model 32 was a very common conversion. I've never seen a converted 21, the 21 single trigger is usually pretty reliable. But never say never!

Dan