111 LA trigger question

New member.

A friend inherited a Savage 111 .270 that has terrible trigger (he says about 10 lbs. & he's close). He asks help from me. After some disassembly here are my findings:

1. Spring tension adjustment is so loose that spring is barely attached.
2. The sear is a 3 piece affair staked together (originally), but is now a 2 piece affair (the bolt release section is no longer attached).
3. Sear pin is bent.
4. Safety is impossible to operate (too much drag)
5. Savage no longer services parts for products produced before 1995: therefore no sear replacement from them.
6. Gun Parts Corp. lists a sear #103871, but is is not in stock.
7. Brownell has a #103872 which is the 1 piece version in SS. They also have the sear pin.

I have done trigger work on several types of firearms, but never on a Savage so I ordered the Rifle Basic SAV2 which uses the OEM sear.

I don't feel comfortable trying to re-stake the original sear back together, so I took a chance & ordered the 1-piece SS item from Brownells. I also got a new sear pin from them.

Question: has a member ever substituted the 1-piece SS sear for the 3 piece staked together item with any success ?

Any help is appreciated.

Henry

I haven’t substituted one for another but I have repaired them (my rifles only). Used a bit of JB Weld and a center punch, it is a bit of a bubby fix but it does work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by olddav

I haven’t substituted one for another but I have repaired them (my rifles only). Used a bit of JB Weld and a center punch, it is a bit of a bubby fix but it does work.

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Thanks for the response. I repaired the outboard (lever) side & it held. However the inboard side failed in the process of assembly/disassembly/reassembly when I was trying to diagnose the safety problem. It was then that I decided on the Rife Basic trigger & the 1 piece sear. I don't want to sound negative, but I was underwhelmed with the original set-up. Failing to hear from someone who was tried the substitute within the next few days, I'll proceed with the experiment. The 1 piece version is a much better idea although the lever side hole is a larger diameter than the sear pin (?). However this larger hole should not present a problem since the 1-piece design provides super rigidity.

Thanks,
Henry
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A real sport involves either gasoline or gun powder......all others are just a game

If i remember correctly the sears used a small flanged bushing that "centered" the sear spring over the sear pin. The large hole was for the bushing. Installing them was kind of a pain. They worked just fine without them. Thinking Savage discontinued the bushing but left the large hole. From a manufacturing standpoint the blank is punched, then bent, and finally hardened. It would require a perfect process to get all three holes to align good enough for the pin to slide through.

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Originally Posted by mnbogboy2

If i remember correctly the sears used a small flanged bushing that "centered" the sear spring over the sear pin. The large hole was for the bushing. Installing them was kind of a pain. They worked just fine without them. Thinking Savage discontinued the bushing but left the large hole. From a manufacturing standpoint the blank is punched, then bent, and finally hardened. It would require a perfect process to get all three holes to align good enough for the pin to slide through.

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Thanks for the response.
I have that bushing from the original sear & it will not fit into that outboard (larger diameter) hole. Anyway, the other 2 holes are the important ones to hold the sear & provide a pivot point.

You're correct: to punch the holes & bend in a separate operation would be difficult enough to align 2 hokes much less 3.

This Savage trigger design is a boon for the aftermarket folks.

Update:
1. The installation video from Rifle Basic shows that oversized 3rd. hole on the L. side & there is nothing filling it. This being the case, I'll hereafter refer to it as the "mystery hole".

2. The installation of the 1 piece sear went smoothly up to the installation of the reset spring. Background: The Rifle Basic kit assumes that if the gun is already equipped with a 1 piece sear, it will have a 90 degree spring. The kit includes a 150 degree spring that allows doing away with the spring bushing, but is designed to be used with the 3 piece sear (confused?).

3. Due to #2 I had a decision to make since I'm scheduled for carpel tunnel surgery Thursday (12/03) & am unsure about the recovery period. To get the gun in shootable condition I chose to repair the 3 piece sear. I was heavy with the center punch & light with Marine Tex & got it into useable condition (probably better than when it left the factory).

Overall I'm favorably impressed with the Rifle Basic SAV-2 trigger. I'm also favorably impress with the people @ Rifle Basic. I phoned them to clear up a point that I questioned & they agreed with me to skip that requirement since the rifle is to be a hunting rifle (not target/match). They answered the phone immediately & were very helpful & friendly: something sorely missing in today's discourse.

After my recovery from surgery & probably after deer season should my friend (rifle owner) want the 1 piece sear, I'll acquire the 90 degree spring & finish the experiment.

Henry
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A real sport involves either gasoline or gun powder............all others are just games

Glad you got it repaired and good luck on your upcoming surgery.

I have fixed a couple of broken ones with a spot weld using a wire welder and a file to smooth up the finished product and a drop of cold blue. Any welder would probably spot it for you for nothing more than a "Thank You". Not sure how epoxy is going to hold up.
IMPORTANT: The leaf type tension spring needs a slight arch on it to function properly and can be very dangerous without tension. I had one improperly adjusted that would fire when the safety was pushed off when I first started tinkering. A lighter spring can be made from .043 piano wire from a hardware store.. I've even heard of guys cutting the arm off a spinner bait to make a lighter spring. Either way make sure you have tension.
Sounds like the safety screw just needs adjustment. Hopefully you got that issue resolved with the new trigger install and adjustment.
Good luck and save the old factory parts (even if they need repair) they are getting harder and harder to find

Quote:

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Originally Posted by big honkin jeep

I have fixed a couple of broken ones with a spot weld using a wire welder and a file to smooth up the finished product and a drop of cold blue. Any welder would probably spot it for you for nothing more than a "Thank You". Not sure how epoxy is going to hold up.
IMPORTANT: The leaf type tension spring needs a slight arch on it to function properly and can be very dangerous without tension. I had one improperly adjusted that would fire when the safety was pushed off when I first started tinkering. A lighter spring can be made from .043 piano wire from a hardware store.. I've even heard of guys cutting the arm off a spinner bait to make a lighter spring. Either way make sure you have tension.
Sounds like the safety screw just needs adjustment. Hopefully you got that issue resolved with the new trigger install and adjustment.
Good luck and save the old factory parts (even if they need repair) they are getting harder and harder to find

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I have a TIG welder, but decided on the Marine Tex. Marine Tex is tough stuff. It can be threaded & in my opinion is equal to JB Weld. I used it as a support to a rear aluminum fender on a bike project (actually it was more or less an underside laminate to prevent flexing. That was 3 yrs. ago & it's still holding. That bike is a 500cc single: mucho vibration!

The sear spring has plenty of tension: any more & it wouldn't be installed (the limit of my strength was reached installing it).

I think that the safety issue can be traced to a bowed sear pin: I'm convince that someone has been into this trigger before I got it. The original owner is deceased: therefore no background info.

Thanks for all the info posted.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by big honkin jeep

I have fixed a couple of broken ones with a spot weld using a wire welder and a file to smooth up the finished product and a drop of cold blue. Any welder would probably spot it for you for nothing more than a "Thank You". Not sure how epoxy is going to hold up.
IMPORTANT: The leaf type tension spring needs a slight arch on it to function properly and can be very dangerous without tension. I had one improperly adjusted that would fire when the safety was pushed off when I first started tinkering. A lighter spring can be made from .043 piano wire from a hardware store.. I've even heard of guys cutting the arm off a spinner bait to make a lighter spring. Either way make sure you have tension.
Sounds like the safety screw just needs adjustment. Hopefully you got that issue resolved with the new trigger install and adjustment.
Good luck and save the old factory parts (even if they need repair) they are getting harder and harder to find

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Agree that the high shock loads on the two piece sear are why they went to "pot" in the first place. Welding would be the best repair in my opinion. But the one piece sear is by far the best fix.
Also the OP has installed a Rifle Basic so the "spring wire" spring will not come into play with this one.
But this is useful information with those still using non-accutrigger factory triggers.