Savage Action, Jewell Trigger

[Terry Balding]

Has anyone modified a Savage Action to accept a Jewell Trigger?

[yobuck]

Has anyone modified a Savage Action to accept a Jewell Trigger?
No but i did pay a good smith to modify a custom action to accept a Jewell which is a Remington type.
It was a bad decision, im not at all happy with the Jewell trigger for my use which is long range hunting from a bench.
Ive had serious issues with the thing getting contaminated with just a slight amount of oil getting into it.
Storing guns upright in a safe as most are its hard for that not to happen.
I keep lighter fluid handy for flushing the thing out when it happens.
If a gun wont cock when you cycle the bolt thats the first thing you should check for, a contaminated trigger, and its worse when the wether is cold.
Pour lighter fluid on it and keep cycling the bolt and it will usually clear up.
The so called best isnt always the best for every purpose.
On the other hand ive never had a single issue with any of my tuned up old Remington triggers.
Too bad that guy in Ohio isnt still making those good triggers for Savages.
But if you find a gun that has one, buy the gun.

[Robinhood]

Besides machine work on the action you would have to use a Remington bolt also. Not sure what you are wanting to do but a Bighorn Origin might be the cure.

[sharpshooter]

I have, but..........it was among the 12 or so triggers that Arnold made just for the Savage back in 2002. Sad thing is they were made to fit the pre-accutrigger bracket and when they changed the bracket, it meant more work. I actually cut a deal with Jewell to be the exclusive distributor of these triggers, but after much thought, he didn't think the market was there, so the deal fell through. He did offer to sell me the patent,though.

[Robinhood]

I have, but..........it was among the 12 or so triggers that Arnold made just for the Savage back in 2002. Sad thing is they were made to fit the pre-accutrigger bracket and when they changed the bracket, it meant more work. I actually cut a deal with Jewell to be the exclusive distributor of these triggers, but after much thought, he didn't think the market was there, so the deal fell through. He did offer to sell me the patent,though.

So, how good were they sharpshooter? Your triggers were, ahhhhem...are good. Were they that good?

[sharpshooter]

Arnold built these triggers like a Swiss watch, and honestly I don't know how he sold them for what he did. At the time the price was $225.00. The installation instructions were 10 pages long, and it was evident that installation by the average guy was going to lead to complications and probably a lot of phone calls to Arnold. They were more complicated than his Remington version, but would go down to 1.5 oz. and had a max of around 10 oz. They also used the safety, and featured a similar safety blade like the accutrigger. The triggers themselves were very consistent, but would vary from gun to gun because of the tolerance in the actions. This was Arnolds concern and why he called on me because he figured I knew more about the all of the quirks pertaining to Savage actions. This was evident when playing with the first one he sent me. When it was installed in several "out of the box" rifles, the weight range would vary from 4 to 8 oz. with no additional adjustments made. When installed on a trued and timed action, the range was 1.5 to 2 oz. This was definitely not gonna be a typical user install, and Arnold was not familiar enough with Savage actions to give installation advise over the phone, hence that why he wanted my advise. I agreed to sell them only installed to avoid all the technical chaos that it would ensue. That got Arnold off the hook and insured the installation was correct. At the time, he only had 6 left from his initial run, and the plan was to start production in 6 months when his son was finished with a much needed vacation and the arrival of his first child. Arnold was officially retired, and his son Brian was taking over the shop. When I contacted Brian several months later, he didn't think the market was that big and besides he was buried with current orders. Honestly, I had to agree with him about the small market, especially compared to what he was building for Remingtons and others.
It was somewhat of a coincidence, at the same time Arnold was developing his trigger, I was also working on a BR trigger that went down to 6 oz. Both of our designs were based on the current production trigger bracket of the time,(pre-accutrigger) that still used the beam style return spring. The tab on the bracket that held the set screw for spring tension was utilized for part of the positioning of our respective triggers. In 2004, the bracket was slightly changed and the tab was eliminated, that and the fact that the safety had been revised, caused a major problem making everything fit correctly. I manufactured 100 units of my version, and after several incidents of improper installation, confusion and ignition issues,caused by the cross over in parts, the only way I sold them was installed by me. It took 3 yrs to move 100 triggers, so I knew the market was not that big. On the other hand, I knew the market had to be somewhat bigger for the Jewell trigger, just for the simple fact of his name and reputation. But when you have no control of what the manufacture does, especially small petty changes, it can create hell for the after market suppliers, for example: the bottom bolt release.

[Robinhood]

Thanks for the drive down memory lane Fred. A fantastic detailed piece of history. I am always grateful when you impart some technical or historical information.

[yobuck]

I didnt realize there was a Jewell connection to the SS trigger.
Anyway the one i had was bought in 08 as i recall for an old model 11 in 243 that i had a smith convert to a 6.5x300 WSM with a shouldered Brux barrel.
I installed it myself with no issues, but later decided i should put a drop of locktite on that nut on the side of the housing.
Another good tip is to never attempt to apply just a small drop of locktite directly from the tube.
So next day the trigger was all locked up and i took it apart to clean it up.
That part went well, but the putting it back together part didnt go well at all.
So i very reluctantly made a phone call and was told to just put it in a plastic bag and send it back along with the shipping cost for another one.
I think i had the new one even before i shipped the old one back.
It was probably the nicest trigger i ever had, but then im no doubt not as fussy about things as some are.
The gun was another story, although it finally got all the issues resolved it just wasent a good fit for me for what i do.
But i do wish i had swapped the trigger before it found a new home.

[Smokey262]

What an interesting story. Thanks all

[Herc]

I was lucky enough to by a target action a few months ago and it had one of the jewell pro types on it. Or at least that’s what I was told. But i love it.

[Robinhood]

I was lucky enough to by a target action a few months ago and it had one of the jewell pro types on it. Or at least that’s what I was told. But i love it.


Awesome Herc. Got any pictures?