Accutrigger Sticks

[Salvo]

I finally had good enough weather to go to the range and fire the first few rounds out of my new .243 Savage from the custom shop. I had dry-fired it a few times at home and was pleased with the trigger pull.

It has a stainless short action in a laminated thumb-hole stock with a 24" stainless barrel and a hinged floorplate. - That's the custom part.

Click the image to see it bigger.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff206/arwatch/Firearms/th_IMG_1304.jpg (http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff206/arwatch/Firearms/IMG_1304.jpg)

At the range though, upon chambering the first round, I found that the trigger was stuck. - The accutrigger blade would not move at all, it was stuck fast. The gun could not be fired.

I removed the round, closed the bolt again, and the trigger worked normally.

I chambered the round again, and again the trigger was stuck.

I tried pulling the bolt handle up and moving the bolt back a few inches and then rechambering the same round, and it still would not fire. The accutrigger blade was stuck fast, making it impossible to fire the gun.

I tried partially opening then re-closing the bolt several more times, and on the seventh attempt the trigger worked normally and the gun fired.

After that though, it went right back to the earlier behavior.

I had to travel 40 miles to get to the range and could not depend upon the good weather to last, so I experimented a bit.

One thing I had noticed was that when the trigger was stuck, the safety was too. The button would not move.

I tried closing the action up empty but cocked, then engaging the safety in the middle position, so that the bolt could be worked with the safety on. Then I opened up the bolt and chambered a round, clicked the safety off, and the trigger worked normally.

This became my routine for the rest of the shooting session, as I was wanting to break in the barrel a bit and get a few initial groups to look at.

With the safety on the middle position, I could chamber a round, turn off the safety, and the gun would fire.

If I forgot to turn on the safety before chambering a round though, the accutrigger blade would be immovable again, disabling the gun.

If I closed the bolt without a cartridge, the trigger always behaved just fine.

When I got home, I remembered a post on the Texas Hunting Forum, where a guy had the same problem:

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1344798/Savage_ACCUTRIGGER#Post1344798

He sent it back to Savage, who returned it unfixed - perhaps because they did not try the gun with a cartridge but only dry-fired it when checking for function.

Another guy on the same forum posted a fix that entailed de-accutriggering the accutrigger so that the blade was no longer there. Part of that fix was to increase the sear engagement.

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1346502/gonew/1/Savage_Accu_Trigger_Redeux#UNREAD

Has anyone else here experienced this same problem? - I recognize that the accutrigger is a great innovation and that it apparently works fine for just about everybody. What I am asking for is some feedback from the few who may have encountered the same glitch with their accutriggers - and how they resolved the problem.

I would rather do a repair than to de-accutriggerize the thing as the post above outlines. - I'm too broke right now to consider an aftermarket trigger so one way or another, I am going to have to get this one to work correctly.

Apparently there is something about the relationship between the trigger and the safety that is not quite right.

I'll take the action out of the stock tonight, chamber an already fired round and see if I can figure out where the problem is.... Any advice?

:) The first two rounds at 50 yrds were touching each other, and the 100yrd groups were at or slightly above 1" with flyers by the way. - It shoots just fine. With the 24" barrel and slightly heavy laminated stock, the recoil is almost nonexistent with 100 grn Federal Premium loads... A real fun shooter!

[EFBell]

might sound like a dumb question but have you tried increasing / decreasing the trigger setting and rechecking for the problem?

[trappst]

Sounds like a clearance problem in the trigger assembly/stock. As EFBell suggested, check to make sure the trigger isn't set too low....while you've got the barrel action out of the stock, try chambering a dummy round to see if things work.

Might also try it with the rear action screw backed out a little bit. It could also be a case of the screw being a hair too long.

[Salvo]

might sound like a dumb question but have you tried increasing / decreasing the trigger setting and rechecking for the problem?


No, I've never had the action out of the stock. - It came from the Savage custom shop with a very light trigger, so I was never tempted to mess with it. It feels like it must be two pounds or less, much lighter than I am used to seeing on new guns.

My theory is that they thought I was going to use it as a light varmint rifle. They recommended a load with 70 grn bullets for it.

Actually it is intended as a family fun gun. Accurate, light recoiling on the bench but still could reasonably be used on a deer, hog or varmint hunt if the opportunity were to arise. We will probably always fire 100 grn loads through it.

[pdog06]

The sear is tripping when you close the bolt.

Add about a half turn adj. to the trigger adjustment spring and try it again. Sometimes when you set it as low as it will go it will trip the sear with a jar or from not pulling straight back on the trigger. While lightening the pull while adj the spring it is very easy to over-adjust that spring. Adding just a tad of pull weight can eliminate the problem.

I had the same thing happen with mine, and I just kept turning it in till it stopped happening. Took about the 1/2 turn and I only lost about 3-4 oz of pull weight with the adjustment.

[Salvo]

I got the rifle out to show my son what it was doing... He chambered a round - and it fired with no problem!

Later I decided to take the action out of the stock so I could tighten up the trigger pull spring a bit, and I noticed that the trigger guard screw was not very tight at all. The front action and rear screws seemed normal.

I tightened the guard screw - and the gun would not fire even when empty.

I'll go ahead and take it apart now and see if I can see signs of the trigger mechanism contacting the stock, and tighten up the trigger adjustment a bit.

I was the one who insisted upon a wooden stock on a stainless action that normally is not mounted in one, so there's not much room for me to complain here. It looks like I am on the track to getting the problem resolved, one way or another and I appreciate the excellent advice from the folks here.

[Salvo]

I saw no marks or other evidence of the trigger mechanism contacting the stock, but I did discover that the trigger was set as low as it can possibly be set.

I cranked the spring a couple of turns, and so far that seems to have fixed the problem. Even if I slam the bolt shut roughly, the trigger still works properly. The pull is still nice and light, actually better than it was before.

Originally, once the accutrigger blade was depressed, it went off upon almost any touch on the trigger... Now there is a little "feel" to it, which is much better in my estimation.

It's too dark to shoot, so testing it with live ammunition will have to wait until tomorrow.

[possum1]

Ain't never too dark to shoot at my house :D

[boy412]

Same thing (more or less) happened to me! Let us know how it goes. Its too late to head back to the range (the one I go to is 1 hr away) but I'm going to try increasing the weight on the trigger and see if that has any effect on my gun.

I would assume that the gun wouldn't come from Savage with the trigger set to its lowest setting, but I have no way of knowing. Whatever its set at now its pretty damn light!

:)

[82boy]

Yup, Savage usualy puts them low, almost to the bottom.

[Fat Tony]

Mine is doing the same thing. I have a new 10PC that started doing this after about the 30th or so round fired through it. I'm glad that adjusting the trigger solved the problem and I'm also glad I have not sent mine back to Savage for repair.

[Quickshot]

After you get the trigger set where you like it, turn in a small set screw with some blue locktite into the hole where the spring is adjusted at just touching the end of the spring. That will keep it from adjusting itself in use. Only use blue loctite because you might want to make an adjustment later. Quick

[Fat Tony]

Thanks for the tip :)

[bodywerks]

Man I am starting to sound like a broken record but here goes...
DITCH THE ACCUTRIGGER AND GET A BETTER TRIGGER!!!
EVERY accutrigger rifle I have owned has had the exact same problem you described. AND INCREASING TRIGGER PULL WEIGHT DOESN'T ALWAYS FIX IT. The real problemis that neither the sear nor the notch on the trigger that engages it are precision machined tight tolerance pieces - they are just stamped parts for all intents and purposes. When I looked at the groove on the trigger I was surprised that it engaged the sear at all!
Bottom line, get a trigger that has a more positive, and adjustable, sear engagement and kiss the jammed trigger problems goodbye! I recommend the SSS comp trigger as it has its own sear engagement cam that is precisely matched to the trigger and is a VERY positive engagement. It is also adjustable and is very safe down to a 1 pound pull weight.

[Harriershot]

I have the SSS comp trigger on my .243, only way to go.

Charlie