Savage 110 sear spring help?

I hope some of you will be kind enough to help me with a problem, caused by my own stupidity. :-[

I have my dad's old (sn 11611) Savage 110. I thought I could lighten up the trigger, but realized the trigger and sear (plus sear spring) were all held on with one pin. On removing the pin, my spring went flying. :-[ Got another from Numrich. Actually ordered two sear springs and one bushing. The one spring and the bushing were too wide to fit in the slot between the bolt release lever and the rest of the sear. When I finally got the very stiff spring into the slot and got the pin through it, I realized that it will not work without the bushing, as the spring has enough play to slip under the release lever. I have exhausted every idea except possibly making a special tool to hold the compressed spring in order to reinstall. Is there some trick I am missing? It is hard for me to believe that Savage would design the gun for easy manufacture, and then have a part like this spring that is virtually impossible to put back in. Is there a secret? Hoping to fix this without a trip to the smith. Thanks in advance for any help. :)

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Originally Posted by JOE PA

Is there a secret?

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Yup.
if you take a punch, philips screwdrive, or piece of wire and insert it on the one side, and the pin on the other, you can get stuff lined up, and push the pin in, and push your tool out.

Not sure I understand why there is a bushing involved for the spring. It must be a very old Savage. What is the letter prefix before the serial number. In all the models I have had there is no way for the spring to "slide under the release lever once the pin is in place." Is this the part? If it is I use an allen wrench to line things up and then push the pin through and it pushes out the allen wrench.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/...fcb21e0507.jpg

Thanks for the replies. ;D

That is much like one of the parts I got, but it is the one that is too wide. Spring that works is like that, only 2 winds between the ends, which are at a wider angle, but must be compressed to a fairly sharp V to get installed. I had an idea after posting this last night, and I'm headed for a local hobby shop to get some small tubing today.

I don't know for sure when my dad got this. Had it when I was a teenager for sure. Mid '60s?

S/N is just 11611, no letter.

Thanks again. If my idea works, I'll post a pic or 2. Rarely have I been this frustrated working on a gun, but maybe it can finally be finished. 8)

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Originally Posted by wbm

Not sure I understand why there is a bushing involved for the spring. It must be a very old Savage.

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What he has is a gun with the older style 3 piece sear, they don't have to be very old as Savage used this design up until the late 80's early 90's. The sear spring has a bigger look, and there is a small steel bushing that sit inside the loop of the spring. When Savage changed the design of the sear to a stamped one piece unit, they also changed the sear spring making the loop smaller, and eliminating the bushing.

This forum is different than the ones I am used to. Thought I would post a pic but not sure how to on here.

Got the idea of sliding tubing on each of the ends of the spring, then using the tubing for leverage and also to help place the spring. Would have worked if the tubing was strong enough. It would tear out just as I was getting the spring into place. Instead, used two of the dremel bits for using the carbide disks. Took out the screws and the spring ends went in there. Worked OK, and the gun is back together, functioning well, and it shot a 5/8" group at 100 yards. ;D

If I had to do this on a regular basis, I would make a pair of thin, steel tubes with holes just big enough for the spring. Maybe knurled on the end and a little clip to keep the spring compressed so you could place the spring with one hand and hold/move the pin with the other. It was cool how compressing the spring to install it made the spring tighten down on the bushing, holding it in place.

Thanks again. Nice to have the gun back together and shooting well. ;D