2 new 308s

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oldscot3

New member
A friend of mine and myself decided that if HB3799 (hearing protection act) goes through, it would be nice to have suppressor ready rifles on hand. We decided on bolt action 308 Wins. I got a Howa with a 20" threaded heavy barrel and he got a Remington SPS 16" threaded heavy barrel. Aside from the barrel length difference, both are very similar. Black, Hogue stocks, compact but with some weight.

The shocker for me though, was the triggers. Mine has the H.A.C.T., it tripped the pull gauge pretty consistently at 2 lbs 14 ozs. His Rem with the X Mark Pro out of the box registered 7 1/2 lbs. Yeah, I couldn't believe it.

His owners manual informs the X Mark is externally adjustable by way of a small screw in the uppermost portion of the trigger. It also says the trigger comes set at 3 1/2 lbs and can be adjusted to 2 1/2 lbs. We got to 4 1/2 lbs and then the screw fell out.

A little research turned up a Remington recall for X Marks shipped before 2014. Tomorrow I'll get his serial number and find out when his gun was made. I'm afraid we're going to find out that the new "fixed" trigger assembly is what he has. Equally as bad I guess is if it's on the recall and he has to either send it to Remington or plunk down more money for a replacement such as a Timney.
 
Just buy a Timney and be done with it. The recall was because on a handful of guns adhesive dripped into the trigger during assembly at the factory, not because that trigger design is flawed. The trigger they replace it with will be the exact same trigger with the same heavy pull.

They will pay for the replacement and keep your gun several weeks or months. When it comes back you'll still need to replace it.
 
jmr40 said:
Just buy a Timney and be done with it. The recall was because on a handful of guns adhesive dripped into the trigger during assembly at the factory, not because that trigger design is flawed. The trigger they replace it with will be the exact same trigger with the same heavy pull.



They will pay for the replacement and keep your gun several weeks or months. When it comes back you'll still need to replace it.
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Ditto on the Timney. I just assume when I buy a rifle it's going to get a new Timney installed. They're great and their customer service is excellent.


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And some like myself with 3- SPS 30-06s n a308 varmit bought from December 2014 till now bought new have all been just fine on said xmark trigger pull weight.My boys and I have shot very good target shots at 100 yards and have shot w/ts.I have not measured the trigger pull weight or adjusted anything.Most on line review have said the trigger is junk but half say thier just fine.Some say removing the glue on set screw would void warranty.Yea a 1-2 hundred dollar timney trigger would be the best answer but that's an expense a new rifle should not come new with good luck bud.
 
One would think with Remington's track record on trigger lawsuits and recalls they would get their house in order and make sure every gun that goes out is up to their stated standard.
I would do the Timney, but it's my friends gun and his call. My decision was to buy Howa and I'm thinking I made the right call. I used to be a real fan of Remington and still have one, but I'm over them now.
 
the final word

So I talked to my hunting buddy this morning, he saw the recall notice and dug around in his box again. Sure enough he found paper that said his rifle had been subject to the recall, sent back by the retailer, and returned by Remington.

So if I'm to understand all of this... Remington sends out some number of firearms with goop slopped around the inside of the trigger housing. They issue a recall. The firearm(s) comes back. They disassemble, inspect, clean if necessary, reassemble, then crank the pull weight up in excess of 7 pounds and return the rifle. In my mind the last step defeats the entire concept of designing, engineering, producing and marketing a new trigger.
 
The X Mark is junk, get a Timney and wake that rifle up. Anybody saying their X Mark is fine or just as good as the Timney/Jewel options either hasn't shot one with the aftermarket option or doesn't know what they're talking about.
 
My son has two 700's, both came with X-Marks. I was very unimpressed by the first one (an SPS model), the pull weight was all over the place. The second was not bad but still did not compare with Timney we put on the first one so now both have them.

I agree with you oldscot3, it is a shame that big green is putting out quality like this now days.
 
AllenJ - My friend called Remington; the rep he spoke with confirmed that when they service a recalled X Mark, they adjust it to between 6 and 7 1/2 lbs.

Ok, fine, but to then to continue to advertise the trigger as a 3 1/2 lb. trigger that is consumer adjustable to 2 1/2 is not only factually incorrect but since they know it, it is dishonest.

I prefer to buy American when I can. I don't buy as many firearms as some do, but the last two were Ruger and Howa instead of Remington.
 
" then crank the pull weight up in excess of 7 pounds and return the rifle. In my mind the last step defeats the entire concept of designing, engineering, producing and marketing a new trigger"
Simple answer would be to see if the pull weight can be "cranked back down".
Remington used to be my first choice in bolt actions but no longer. They were burned so badly by careless, inept shooters that the "cutting edge" rifles never really returned.
Savage produced some very accurate rifles but the accuracy could only be tested by installing an aftermarket trigger(this kept the liability issues and price down). The current AccuTrigger thingie isn't even worthy of comment.
Howa turned out some accurate rifles with hitchy triggers (fixable by replacing with a Timney) before switching to the S-2 model. Even including the cost of the Timney, they were a good buy.
If your friend's rifle can't be adjusted/modified to suit his expectations, he needs to trade it for a Howa.
 
Since it is a adjustable, just adjust it. Not saying I would not consider a Timney. But he could have adjusted it in the time it took to call Remington.

As for the recall, either they adhesive they used was to runny, bad on them then, or some employees didn't care. Not sure if this really compares to the tv show they did on the old ones.


I'd be curious to know how loud the X-mark safety is and the timney. I have a 70s trigger. The safety is loud. You can push hard while moving it, but I would like a quite one.
 
Since it is a adjustable, just adjust it.
Click to expand...

That's a big part of the issue...Remington says the "user accessible" (external) screw will adjust it down. It won't in my friends case. It falls out before getting below 4 1/2 lbs.

We're going to try taking the action out of the stock, digging the tamper paste out of the other screw, and adjusting it. There's goes the warranty, but if it doesn't do the trick we'll just go the Timney route.

All things considered IMO, the Howa is currently a much better buy dollar for dollar.
 
That's a shame they are making false claims if it cant be adjusted that low. I do miss my Remington 700LTR in 308, it was a tack driver.
 
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