New Trigger For My Rem 700

[Baldrick314]

I'm replacing the trigger in my Remington 700. I'm tossing up between getting a Timney or a Jewell. From what I've read online the Jewell can be adjusted lower with more consistency so is better for bench rest but can have issues if you get it dirty where the Timney is fine adjusted down to about 1-1.5 pound and doesn't have any issue with getting a bit dirty.

My application is about 90% shooting at the range and 10% out in the scrub so I don't foresee too much chance of getting dirt into the trigger mechanism. Also I've priced the triggers and there's a huge discrepancy, the Jewell is $520 from my local or $370 if I import it myself but I have to jump through all the ITAR hoops. Whereas I can buy the Timney for about $250 from the local.

Anyone have experience with either trigger or advice as to which they would buy? Is the Jewell worth the extra $?

[on_one_wheel]

Have yo considered having your standard 700 trigger worked by a good smith ?

I had mine done and its pretty sweet now, and cost just a fraction of the price of a new trigger mechanism.

[Baldrick314]

Have yo considered having your standard 700 trigger worked by a good smith ?

I had mine done and its pretty sweet now, and cost just a fraction of the price of a new trigger mechanism.

Was yours the X-Mark Pro or the older Walker trigger? Is it adjustable for weight after having been worked over or fixed at one weight? I hadn't put much thought into having it worked over.

[6mmdasher]

Why not give Adam Davies a call in Castlemaine in Victoria, He make a real nice Remington trigger. I have been using Davies triggers for years without any problems and they are adjustable.

[Baldrick314]

Why not give Adam Davies a call in Castlemaine in Victoria, He make a real nice Remington trigger. I have been using Davies triggers for years without any problems and they are adjustable.

Thanks for the suggestion mate but looking on his website it wouldn't really suit my application. He has triggers adjustable from 250-500g which would be perfect for bench shooting but impractical for field use and then his other triggers are 1-2kg which would be perfect for field use but a little heavy for target work. The triggers I'm looking at have a wide enough range to handle both situations

[on_one_wheel]

Have yo considered having your standard 700 trigger worked by a good smith ?

I had mine done and its pretty sweet now, and cost just a fraction of the price of a new trigger mechanism.

Was yours the X-Mark Pro or the older Walker trigger? Is it adjustable for weight after having been worked over or fixed at one weight? I hadn't put much thought into having it worked over.

My 700 has the older Walker trigger, It is adjustable for pull weight via one of the 3 adjusting screws, sear engagement, overall travel and pull weight are all adjustable but must be done in a very specific sequence... not as straight forward as a timmey.

Im not sure just how light you can go with the standard trigger... but it might be a cheep thing to try out first, remembering that any trigger adjustment can be dangerous and should be treated with caution and do your basic safety checks after.

[Baldrick314]

My 700 has the older Walker trigger, It is adjustable for pull weight via one of the 3 adjusting screws, sear engagement, overall travel and pull weight are all adjustable but must be done in a very specific sequence... not as straight forward as a timmey.

Im not sure just how light you can go with the standard trigger... but it might be a cheep thing to try out first, remembering that any trigger adjustment can be dangerous and should be treated with caution and do your basic safety checks after.

Yeah. I'll check prices with one of the local smiths, if it's really cheap I might get it done. Thanks for the info

[Chronos]

ebay trigger guy charges about $40 plus postage, much better option for a factory rifle than a jewell in my opinion

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TRIGGER-JOB- ... 43c2f59466

Chronos

[Mich]

If you don't have a gunsmith available locally the Timney triggers are very nice.

I've used a few and they're always light and crisp.

[Baldrick314]

I took a quick trip to the range today to do some final testing of my factory trigger before committing to replacing it.

Both groups below were shot at 200 yards.


The right-most shot in this group was the first shot from a cold, clean barrel and was far removed from the rest of the group so I didn't include it in the measurement of the group. The four shots measured 1.5" outside and 1.198" centre to centre.



This one measured 1.650" outside and 1.342" centre to centre.

Now on both groups the dispersion was mostly lateral rather than vertical. I got talking to a bench rest shooter and he reckoned it was just the projectile being pushed about by the wind. I don't know much about reading wind so I make no effort to adjust for windage and merely try to shoot when it feels like the wind has died down.

I'm shooting 168gr 308's. Do you guys think the dispersion of the group would be due to the wind? My thinking was more that I was pushing the trigger to the side when I'm squeezing the trigger.

I have noticed that the trigger is a little inconsistant, sometimes the shot would break as soon as I made the decision to fire, other times it was noticeably laggy and required substantially more pressure to break. This is the issue that originally lead me to thinking I'd need a new trigger, however if the spread in those groups is largely due to the wind then from an accuracy stand point there's not a lot wrong with this trigger I would think.

Any thoughts/ suggestions welcome

[on_one_wheel]

If the bench rest fella thinks its the wind then you can be quite sure that at least some of the inaccuracy is from that, one thing I'm sure about is that a very good trigger will improve your groups by a large margin.

[Chronos]

Hmmm. At first glance if your pics I thought either action bedding or poor trigger technique. When you say 168gr at 200y that backs up my thoughts, it would take huge variation in wind strength to cause that kind of drift.

What kind or rests were you using at the range when these groups were shot? Bipod, front rest etc ?

Chronos

[Baldrick314]

Hmmm. At first glance if your pics I thought either action bedding or poor trigger technique. When you say 168gr at 200y that backs up my thoughts, it would take huge variation in wind strength to cause that kind of drift.

What kind or rests were you using at the range when these groups were shot? Bipod, front rest etc ?

Chronos

Atlas bipod for a front rest. Bedding is rock solid, had a gun smith bed it about 12 months ago using metal bedding blocks.

I thought it would take a fair bit of wind to knock them around. Just confirms for me that a trigger replacement would be a good investment

[6mmdasher]

Just a note on trigger weight applications, the minium weight allowed for Fclass STD target rifles is one kg, a clean breaking 1 kg trigger is no handicap for target shooting or field shooting. That amount of drift is common down this end of the world. If you are concerned about wind drift try shooting groups at 100 yds, 168 gr sierras were made for benchrest use and are not a long range bullet due to their short boattail.

Instead of spending $300 on a trigger spend a bit of time and money and make some simple wind flags and learn a bit about wind and its effects. Shooting good groups from a bipod takes practice and skill, what kind of stock is on the rifle - that alone can cause groups to wander as pressures on the stock vary.

[jeebo]

Just a note on trigger weight applications, the minium weight allowed for Fclass STD target rifles is one kg, a clean breaking 1 kg trigger is no handicap for target shooting or field shooting. That amount of drift is common down this end of the world.

Huh?

How did we get from trigger to wind drift being common?

[Tiiger]

Hard to say about the wind without knowing the wind speed.

You're shooting what... 3/4" high groups there, so to get to 1.5" you're getting double the spread horizontally.

At 100m was it strong enough to add another 3/4" to your spread? A reasonable gust would be needed.

[Baldrick314]

Hard to say about the wind without knowing the wind speed.

You're shooting what... 3/4" high groups there, so to get to 1.5" you're getting double the spread horizontally.

At 100m was it strong enough to add another 3/4" to your spread? A reasonable gust would be needed.

Nah mate I didn't think the wind was anywhere near strong enough, that's why I was surprised when the guy I was talking to said it. No idea on wind speed. All I can tell you is the tails on the wind flags weren't blowing out horizontally. They maybe got up to about 45 degrees at maximum. That's just from my recollection though, as I said before I don't pay that much attention to the wind

[Tiiger]

That's just from my recollection though, as I said before I don't pay that much attention to the wind

Yeah I know what you mean.

Something to focus on next time to rule it out.

[6mmdasher]

Just a note on trigger weight applications, the minium weight allowed for Fclass STD target rifles is one kg, a clean breaking 1 kg trigger is no handicap for target shooting or field shooting. That amount of drift is common down this end of the world.

Huh?

How did we get from trigger to wind drift being common?

Wind drift is common! It happens everywhere and unfortunately lots of people blame other things because they dont believe that their favourite rifle couldn't drift in the wind. We have seen it on countless occasions on the two rifle ranges that we run where people miss the centre of the target and say that the rifle is not zeroed correctly! and the wind couldn't possibly have caused the errors! Wind drift not only moves bullets side ways but verticialy as well. There are several( heaps) of good books relating to wind drift, Extreme Rifle Accuracy by Mike Ratigan explains this starting on page 120. Applied Ballistics by Brian Litz has alot of info reguarding wind drift. When someone shows groups that are alot wider than they are high it is a fair chance that wind has caused the spread, you may not see it at 50 yds with your open sighted 30/30 but it will still be there.

[Westy]

Just a note on trigger weight applications, the minium weight allowed for Fclass STD target rifles is one kg, a clean breaking 1 kg trigger is no handicap for target shooting or field shooting. That amount of drift is common down this end of the world. If you are concerned about wind drift try shooting groups at 100 yds, 168 gr sierras were made for benchrest use and are not a long range bullet due to their short boattail.

Instead of spending $300 on a trigger spend a bit of time and money and make some simple wind flags and learn a bit about wind and its effects. Shooting good groups from a bipod takes practice and skill, what kind of stock is on the rifle - that alone can cause groups to wander as pressures on the stock vary.

A Big X 2 on this!!!!

[Aussier]

I wouldn't call myself a master of judging the wind, but a few lengths of length of ribbon does wonders.

I have one hanging off my target at 100m.

If shooting at 200m I put a rod with a ribbon and 100m in my line of sight, and so on.

With a bit of practice it improved my shooting.

[Baldrick314]

I ended up going with the Timney. I got a great deal from an online retailer (I don't know if it's kosher to name shops on here even if it's good feedback) it was $200 delivered as compared to $250- 270 from my local.

It came from the factory set at 2 pounds and measured exactly that with no variance over 5 pulls on a trigger gauge.

I did some dry fire practice at home after installing it and it's amazing. Trigger breaks as soon as I make the decision to squeeze.

Installation was a breeze, the part that took the longest was adjusting the bolt release so it engaged smoothly without binding and that only took 3 adjustments. I can't wait to go to the range and try it out properly.

[Baldrick314]

I got to the range this morning to try the trigger out. I was really impressed. All groups below were shot at 200 yards


This is the first group of the day. The left most shot at the top was the first shot of the day and I jerked it because I wasn't used to the trigger, then the second shot was the bottom left one again jerked. Then I put four into the main group which measured 1.080"

Then I shot a couple groups but I couldn't get comfortable behind the rifle and they all came out about 2"


This was the final group of the day. Unfortunately the 5 rounds I had left were made up of 2 separate loads. The 3 in the bottom group were neck turned and the 2 higher ones were the same load but not neck turned. The 5 shots spread 1.4" and the 2 groups taken separately both measure just over half an inch

Overall I'm really happy with the new trigger. It's highlighted a few problems in my shooting technique I need to work on but the foundation is there for a very accurate rifle and I'm much more confident with this trigger than I was the factory one

[Xerox]

I got a great deal from an online retailer it was $200 delivered

Not a bad price

[Tinked]

Great shooting in the last one (if not for the multiple loads )

[Baldrick314]

Great shooting in the last one (if not for the multiple loads )

I'm still kicking myself Oh well, just means I've gotta go back to the range and try again, it's a hard life

[Herdsman]

Couldn't be avoided.

If you shot 5 with the same ammo you know you would have got a flyer on the last shot anyway

Always happens

[Baldrick314]

Couldn't be avoided.

If you shot 5 with the same ammo you know you would have got a flyer on the last shot anyway

Always happens

true

[Streamline]

That damn Murphy and his law.