Aftermarket trigger recommendations

[berudd]

I have a 110 in .270 I bought used about 16 years ago. It shots well, around 1" at 100 yards, but the trigger seems really heavy and as a bit of slack before it fires. So, I'd like to upgrade it. I've looked around and Timney and Jewel seem like popular choices? Any other ideas. FWIW, I don't know the area gunsmiths enough to know if I would trust them to simply work on the existing trigger.

[FW Conch]

Welcome to the Brotherhood:-)

Jewel does not make a trigger for the Savage.

What kind of shooting do You want to do? Hunting or Bench/Target?

Will You install the trigger Yourself?

If not, You will have to ask around and find a smith that You can have confidence in.

[big honkin jeep]

What type of trigger do you currently have? A pic would help.
If it's a pre accutrigger 3 screw (with the sear adjustment) that was produced in the 1990s it most likely just needs a little tuning up to be a very nice trigger.

[berudd]

Its a deer rifle so yeah, really just hunting and occasionally shooting paper for fun. And I do plan to do the work myself. I'm not sure what trigger it is so I'll have to look into that. I didn't realize it might be adjustable so I'll do some checking on that. Is it possible to adjust it to far so that it becomes unsafe?

[big honkin jeep]

Yep it's possible.
I think the biggest mistake I've seen is folks not using some fingernail polish to lock the sear adjustment screw in place once they have it right (guilty) and another mistake is not having an arch in the trigger return spring that some also call the "trigger pull weight spring."also guilty.
Thanks to safe handling I never blew a hole in anything but have been quite surprised and sent an unintentional round into the berm and learned valuable lessons from mistakes made long ago when it comes to triggers. Nothing like a .300RUM slamming the bolt into your thumb with a big boom as soon as the safety is taken off.
The trigger spring (the slightly arched one on the side of the trigger) can easily and safely be replaced with a lighter one as long as it has an arch in it when you're done. I typically use .043 piano wire from the hardware store and a pair of needle nose pliers to make these springs. Some guys also use the spring steel wire off of a spinner bait arm to make em. Just bend it in the shape of the old spring and swap it out. As far as the sear adjustment (set screw is in front of the trigger and threaded from underneath) it will take most of the creep out of the trigger when done properly. (The "Lawyer triggers" don't have a sear adjustment screw) Once the sear is adjusted the safety and over travel screws will also most likely need to be adjusted too for proper function. Pretty sure there is an article on adjusting these triggers around here somewhere.
Just remember this: whether the instructions you find tell you to or not and no matter what the pictures show, be sure to to use nail polish to lock down the screws and make sure the trigger spring has an arch in it when you're done.
Good luck and be safe.

[Zero333]

Great advice about tuning the pre-accutrigger.

I've tuned 2 of them and they're so crisp I can't help but say WOW every time I pull the trigger.

Besides changing the arched spring, I also made a slightly lighter sear spring, then honed & polished the trigger & sear. Like I said, WOW. I also have a Timney that I honed and polished and it's not any better than the pre-accutriggers I tuned.

You can order a spare trigger and sear from brownells or somewhere else and if you mess up (which is not likely if you take it slow) you will have a backup just in case.

I'm sure there is some videos on trigger tuning on youtube. Basically the idea of honing and polishing is the same for all single stage triggers so you don't have to watch a Savage specific video.

[berudd]

Thanks for the tuning advice. I'll try the adjustments before I mess with honing or different springs. Perhaps that will be enough.

[berudd]

My fairly tardy update...

So, as you guys recommended I did some adjusting on my trigger. WOW! Made a huge difference. I'm going to shoot it some and would like to get a scale to test it. I may actually add a little pressure back to it since it is strictly a hunting rifle. It did take some back and forth with sear engagement and safety adjustment but got it very light and crisp with no creep that I noticed. Was able to reduce over travel as well. If others are going to do this I'd recommend testing the safety adjustment at the middle position as well. I found that I could have a safe safety position but then I could move it to the middle position and give the trigger a very firm squeeze that the trigger would release when I took the safety off. Some back and forth with safety adjustment and a little increase in sear engagement got me to what I think is a safe place. I reassembled, and tested by firmly squeezing the trigger with the safety on and in the middle position then switching the safety off and smacking the stock near the action with the heel of my hand. It did not fire.

I'll try to get some range time in and I'm really looking forward to how it does now.

Thanks for all the good advice.

[RC20]

Nice when some gets good advice and runs with it.

Well done and good follow up.

[kjk200]

Yep it's possible.
I
I typically use .043 piano wire from the hardware store and a pair of needle nose pliers to make these springs. .
Good luck and be safe.

Where exactly in the hardware store should i be looking for this wire? I have never seen "piano" wire in a hardware store, but maybe i am looking in the wrong areas.

[olddav]

You can use the wire from a fishing lure "Buzz Bait" for your spring.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

If you still consider switching triggers, think about the Rifle Basix. Easy install. For hunting, look at the Sav I. Sav II is made for bench shooting.
Got the Basix on two of my rigs. One on my early Savage "J" Model and one on my Remingtom XP 100 converted rifle. Love them both.

[berudd]

Took it to the LGS today and they checked the trigger pull and it average to just a hair under 4lbs. I might put just a tad more tension on the spring to be safe.

[bplumcrazy]

all of my hunting rifles are set at 2.5 lbs.......if you like the feel I wouldn't mess with it

[FW Conch]

4lbs is "super safe", as far as weight is concerned.

[Zero333]

Thanks for the follow up and good job. It's very satisfying to do this yourself and always learn new things.

I set my hunting rifles triggers to 3 to 3.5 lbs. Since you just went from somewhere around 6 or 7 lbs down to 4 lbs it will take a short amount of time to get used to it and it will feel light, even tho most of us think 4 lbs is heavy.

A final safety check to see if the sear will hold in the worst case scenario is to slap the bolt closed. If it catches the sear then it's safe. If it skips the sear then you need a little more fiddling.

Do it a few times. Slap the bolt closed, and then pull the trigger... If the trigger fires then the trigger didn't skip the sear (obviously), and all is good.

[Robinhood]

Good advice Zero. I even give it a bump on the mag well. If it survives that you are good to go.

[berudd]

Thanks, Zero. I did slam the bolt in several times pretty hard and it always performed correctly. But, I'll be doing it again just to be safe.

Here's an odd thought. Metal contracts when it gets cold. I was 70 something when I set the trigger. I will not, I hope, be in the 70 during deer season. Is anyone aware of the metal trigger parts contracting from cold and affecting sear engagement?

[big honkin jeep]

Nope but I do know for a fact that the adjustments can be jolted from recoil. hope you have them locked in place with some nail polish or equivalent after final adjustment.