Please help with safety adjustment

Guys, I bought a used Savage and its doing some strange things that I need some help with.

The safety doesn't function properly--when I move it to the SAFE position, the bolt (properly) won't move, but the trigger will fire. In the middle position, the bolt will move AND the trigger will fire. And in the FIRE position, of course, it functions properly--the bolt will move and the trigger will fire.

So I disassembled and struggled with it quite a bit. I turned the safety adjustment screw (the one in the middle of the actual safety bar) to where it was standing a little proud of the surface (the most I could move it out and still overcome the spring force to reassemble the trigger assembly into the receiver). No affect on the problem with this change.

I again disassembled and looked at the safety and noticed that the detent spring was sprung outward quite a bit, such that the safety felt pretty loose when moving it between the three positions. So I took the spring off and bent it a little such that it sat closer to the surface of the safety and engaged the little detent bar with more spring force.

When I reassembled, the safety now doesn't want to move into the FIRE position at all, but the trigger still improperly fires in both the SAFE and middle positions. It is also very difficult to move the safety from SAFE to the middle position.

I'm using a Rifle Basix SAV1, with the safety adjustment screw on the trigger completely disengaged, so that shouldn't be contributing to the difficult sliding. The problem existed using both the old and the new triggers.

Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.

Go over this video... maybe you missed something or something came loose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm2rEWFVvIU

Sliding is a function of the screw on the safety. Adjust it first.

The trigger firing when the safety is on is a direct function of the travel screw in the trigger. That screw needs to contact the safety after it slides back.

Start with the screw on the safety, get it adjusted right, so the safety is moved with effort.

Second, adjust the safety screw in the trigger down, with the safety on, until it bottoms out, then try backing it out to allow the safety to slide.

My experience is that your problem is with the screw on the safety... I fought a trigger until I started from the screw on the safety, got it adjusted, then moved on. I had put a new safety in, and I had a problem that sounds alot like yours.

To adjust the screw on the safety, I tightened it all the way down so it wouldnt move, then backed it out to the right tension.

I got it working now.

I followed the instructions on here for adjusting the factory 3-screw trigger, in order, and it worked great.

Thanks for the tips.