Safety Selector Switch

Greetings All,

I am a new member and came across this forum when researching help with troubleshooting my safety selector switch operation (Mark II FV owner with AccuTrigger). Has anyone encountered a switch firing on safe? If yes, were you able to identify a solution. Open to receiving any suggestions and ideas.

Never had any other rifle malfunctions. However, I think the magazine spring is weakening and it might be time for a replacement. Does anyone have experience with purchasing Wolff magazine springs?

Gracias, Happy New Year and shoot straight!

mrnate8

Can you give more detail on your history with this issue. Are you original owner? Did problem just start? Have you made any mods or been inside working on anything? Etc, etc.

Honestly, I would call Savage and discuss, but I am just curious.

Hey Chisel,

We (daughter and I) are the original owners. It started a few months ago. The detent spring has always been super firm to activate safety. I assume over time, something caused it to stop working.

I don't toss the rifle around to avoid having to rezero the scope. Besides fitting the action with a new glass bedded (barrel lug) tactical stock from Boyd's, there are no other modifications I have made to the FV.

I discovered this great forum after striking out on other platforms (YouTube, rimfirecentral, etc.)

I have also not toyed with adjusting the AccuTrigger as the factory setting has been satisfactory for me (50 yd zero groups are .45-.63).

To detail the operation for you, the rifle fires on both the fire and safe settings. I did disassemble the trigger completely to better understand the mechanism's operation, but was unable to identify anything. I did see the older non-AccuTrigger editions have a safety spring included in the diagram here (part no. #40), but I don't think this applies to my specific rifle.

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-man.../mark-ii-lkfld

I did intend to bring the rifle to Savage in person (I grew up in MA), but COVID wrecked havoc on my family holiday travel plans. They gunsmith department was closed Christmas week anyway.

Open to suggestions before I ship it to Savage.

Thanks!

Regarding the safety spring, it is hard to say whether it should be there without knowing more about the age and model. But, my question really is this - what is retaining the pin that the safety lever rotates on? Is there any kind of retaining clip holding that pin in place?

So here's my thoughts. The safety spring you mentioned has a dual function: 1) to act as a retaining clip for the safety lever; and 2) to provide some spring force to ensure that the safety is ALWAYS pulled inward toward the action. The latter is extremely important, because IF the safety lever is allowed to sit too far away from action, then the little 90 degree tab on bottom of safety lever may not be fully engaged into the path of the trigger mechanism and thus being allowed to stop the trigger blade from traveling to a fired position. I would take a close look at that, and try to identify if the safety lever has some side-to-side play, with action both in AND out of stock. I would also check that the tab doesn't have any abnormal wear - from where or why, I have no idea, but you never know.

Take a look and post back what you see.

EDIT: On a similar note, since you changed stocks, I would also ensure that the new stock is not pressing on the safety lever pin (from opposite side of safety lever) and forcing the safety lever away from the action. This could also cause the issue I just mentioned.

I don't know if my experience with my Savage mark II BV will be of any help to you but here it is anyway. The trigger weight is about 2lb but I decided I wanted it lower - I don't know why since this rifle is one of the most accurate .22 I've owned. I purchased the Basix Trigger. I spent a few hours trying to get the safety to function. I could see the tiny adjustments I was making but I could not get the safety to function. The rifle would fire with the safety on. I could bounce the stock butt on the ground and the rifle would fire - it was too dangerous so I returned the Basix and re installed the original trigger. I don't know what the parts involved are called (there are 2 of them working together) but if your trigger assembly is like mine you can actually see them function. I don't remember but think I was messing with the accu trigger adjustment screw and a small adjustment might fix your problem.

I grew up in RI and my first rifle was a Savage.

I have the AccuTrigger for sure. I peeked at my FFL and it's dated 2016.

There is a teeny c-clip that retains the pin holding the safety lever.

Unfortunately, the action fires on both safe and fire - both IN the stock and stand-alone. I will take it out again to confirm that operation still stands.

Also will confirm the new stock does not press on safety lever pin.

Last, I will mount the action to the original synthetic stock.

Will report back with findings. Thanks for the suggestions.

mrnate8

Safety first! That's scary. I read on some other forums that was an issue with light trigger weights.

I will mark the AccuTrigger tension with a marking pen so I can return to factory tension after testing various trigger weights and see if that also impacts the safety operation.

Friar alum here (not the biggest Cooley fan, don't be fooled by team's ranking).

Just to be sure I read your earlier post correctly. The detent spring IS still there, and the detent function IS working, correct?

Aye captain! Yes to spring. Detent switch mechanism (that triangle piece) moves with safety selector switch just fine, but I don't see any further action within the trigger group that's protruding the trigger from firing on safe. I'm gonna shoot a video clip if it can be uploaded here by weekend's end if I get to it.

https://youtu.be/_OE3UfxjvCI

https://youtu.be/oWBXPQVgtmA

Also, I noticed when the selector is on safe, there is a significant gap at the sear (sorry, pic sucks, but there's a penciled arrow - see below post - learning on fly)

Don G,

I did fumble around with the AccuTrigger to see if the spring tension would affect the safety selector engagement, but it did not seem to make any difference.

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/r35xKBk/image0.jpg[/IMG]

EDIT: Adding previously deleted info below.

There is a set screw on the trigger mechanism just behind the trigger blade. This screw is to adjust the [allowable] travel of trigger prior to contacting safety lever tab. It is typically adjusted to allow virtually zero trigger travel when safety is engaged. If the set screw has been altered, is broken, or hs been adjusted, it may allow the trigger to travel enough to allow rifle to fire.

IMO, this set screw, if adjusted too far clockwise, can cause the safety lever to catch on the screw which wouldresult in difficulty engaging safety. If adjusted too far CW, it could block the travel of the safety lever and cause the safety to not engage at all. Adjusting the set screw too far CCW, and the trigger may travel far enough to fire rifle.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrnate8

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/r35xKBk/image0.jpg[/IMG]

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My problem was the notch area in the circle opening - no matter where I moved it and there's not much distance I couldn't get the safety to function. What bugged me was it's such a simple functioning of 2 pieces of metal and I couldn't get it to work and Basix was no help with a solution.

La Salle Academy and PC - probably before you were born!!

Don & Chisel,

We have SUCCESS! Great team troubleshooting. We learn something new every day that we can pass along to others. Saved me a return trip to Savage for repairs, which I'm happy about since other ammo calibers are still hard to find/justify paying.

I did notice the discrepancy last night, but it was already 1:30 AM for us workday peeps. Needless to say, that sear safety screw (marked with pencil arrow in image) was not high enough. Luckily for me (even without a slot for screwdriver), I was able to remove, clean and reapply at an effective height with some blue loctite to start. There was some old red loctite in the slot, but apparently the set screw did not hold and lowered over time, I presume.

I am a PC alum - 1997!

Happy shooting, folks!

mrnate8

Cool beans. Glad you got it up and running. I had posted about that screw earlier, then deleted because what Don G said made way more sense than what I was saying. But that screw was just sitting there with no other possible purpose than a safety lever adjustment. So now we know. Either way, you're back up and running. Thanks Don G for the heads up on the Basix trigger.

BTW, do you think this is a potential liability problem? Or did you fiddle with the screw at some point in the past? Not to be alarmist, but dang, that screw just seems like a really short path to an accident.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Full Chisel

Cool beans. Glad you got it up and running. I had posted about that screw earlier, then deleted because what Don G said made way more sense than what I was saying. But that screw was just sitting there with no other possible purpose than a safety lever adjustment. So now we know. Either way, you're back up and running. Thanks Don G for the heads up on the Basix trigger.

BTW, do you think this is a potential liability problem? Or did you fiddle with the screw at some point in the past? Not to be alarmist, but dang, that screw just seems like a really short path to an accident.

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Full Chisel; I don't remember seeing the screw and I don't see it in the picture but the next time I tear down the gun I'll look for it. It's probably why I couldn't get the Basix trigger to function. Basix never mentioned that screw when I explained the problem I was having - they told me how to apply the safety on & off!!

I am a PC alum - 1997!

Happy shooting, folks!

mrnate8[/QUOTE]


Yup, I graduated from Providence College way, WAY before you were born.

I don't think it's a liability problem because I didn't make any deliberate modifications to the trigger group to compromise its safety. But what do I know?

I think either the red loctite effectiveness wore off and the sear screw settled over time or was caused by the firm safety selector switch. It's also possible the corresponding spring has condensed over normal wear and tear and contributed to the sear gap increasing.

After researching the safety selector switch, I have seen MANY modifications that would violate liability concerns such as tapping out the spring depth and dremeling part of the sear.

I've had no problems with the factory setting of the AccuTrigger. The only time I've cleaned or disassembled this trigger is when I started troubleshooting this safety when the thread started.

Side note: while researching the safety problems, I came across a video for a CZ455 bolt. I sanded the bolt with wet/dry sandpaper and polished it with a Dremel tool. The action is super silky smooth like butter now!

Go Friars!

Don G - you can vaguely see the screw height (and its gap) in the image above. Follow the pencil mark I made on the trigger group and you can see the difference in light. That's if we're talking about the same screw here.

Now I'm curious to know if the Basix trigger install is compromised by that screw!

It's been a while since I tried to install the Basix trigger and I trashed the instruction BUT I just watched a video "rifle basix trigger for Savage Mark II FV" and I now see the safety screw, which is the screw I spent hours messing with in the attempt to get the safety to function. I don't know what the problem was with the Basix but once I re installed the stock trigger I was back in business.

We watched the last Friars game and a few of the players need to hustle a bit more or instead of the pro's they be the tallest elevator operators in NY city!! In my day, they mastered the fast break and were hard to keep up with.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrnate8

Go Friars!

Don G - you can vaguely see the screw height (and its gap) in the image above. Follow the pencil mark I made on the trigger group and you can see the difference in light. That's if we're talking about the same screw here.

Now I'm curious to know if the Basix trigger install is compromised by that screw!

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Cooley is a glorified cheerleader who doesn't know X and O's and situational coaching. His players all regress too.

In regards to the sear screw, I was surprised how easy it was to thread out with my own fingers.

Test fired operation with new polished bolt. Good as gravy, but back to drawing board to fiddle around with action screw torques (Boyd's Pro Varmint (tactical) stock). My groups opened up a wee bit to my disliking. Barrel has been good enough to shoot a dime out previously. Time for a torque accuracy test!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrnate8

C
... but back to drawing board to fiddle around with action screw torques (it's 25 inch lbs with Boyd's Pro Varmint (tactical) stock). My groups opened up a wee bit to my disliking. Barrel has been good enough to shoot a dime out previously.

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I noticed you said earlier the barrel lug got bedded. Not sure if it was before, but I had zero luck bedding that lug and getting any decent groups. Did a complete torque workup to no avail. It actually shot better with lug, but not bedded. I finally removed lug completely and things really tightened up. FYI though, I did install some pillars that the action screw studs slide down into to form a tight bond to stock. Wolf ME shoots really well in mine.

I dremeled out the barrel lug surface area so the AcraGlas had a better bonding application. My goal was to restrict movement of the action in the stock. I did not attempt to glass bed any areas further behind the lug because I was afraid of getting the substance permanently in the action. Plus there wasn't much surface area to grab. Groups did improve, but not significantly much versus the synthetic factory stock.

I was intrigued with pillar bedding, but such a project looked above my head. I figured being such a low recoiling rifle that it wasn't going to be worth the time and trouble and I would have been angry with myself if I had screwed it up further!

I think it was my mistake. I'm toying around with a SPR AR build and couldn't remember the default torque settings for the Mark II with the wood stock. It was 25 inch lbs today, but I've been reading for the last 30 minutes and I should have started at 15 :(

Dilemma - Boyd's says 35... forum says as low as 10. Ugh.

I would go with Boyds as a default since its their stock. My mark 2 G with pillars ended up at 30 front, 20 rear, tuned at 100 yards. Ditched the recoil lug after. They're not real pillars per se, they are pieces of aluminum tubing epoxied into stock, with epoxy built up around them. The action studs slide down into tubing for a tight fit. I also bedded the little bit of action that contacts stock. It shot sub half inch at 50 yd with Wolf ME afterward. Trigger is non-accu, tweaked down to 2 lb.

Hey Chisel,

I had 10 mph crosswind left to right, but settled on 25 lb torque setting for action screws. Crappy Remington Thunderbolt is what I had on hand, but I still shoot decent groups with it.

Going to inspect both the chamber and crown as well for defects in case because rifle has consistently shot around roughly around .375 or better.

https://i.ibb.co/Sx1g4TB/IMG-1252.jpg

That looks pretty good for cheap ammo. 25 seems to be your ticket. I personally would count that flyer, and use the 1.5". You obviously can shoot, so I doubt that flyer is you. Rifle just doesn't like 30 pounds with thunderbolts. Boy, yours a way more sensitive to torque than my Mark 2 G is now. My G use to be more sensitive before I did all the bedding and pillars. I've got a brand new Mark 2 TR I need to get out and do the same thing. If I'm not mistaken, Savage uses a Boyds on the TR.

Were you using rest or bipod?

I viewed an interesting video about buying ammo by the lot, which makes sense. May try that with a few of the brands that this particular barrel favors (Norma TAC22 to start, haven't tried Lapua or Eley).

I think it's a Boyds too for the TR. As you can see, I used PlayDoh before fumbling around with AcraGlas to see the action's biggest impact in the stock. Here's mine and yes, shots were made with bipod and rear bag today.

https://i.ibb.co/CVN791h/IMG-0649.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/wyt9FwP/IMG-0651.jpg