Savage 10 trigger?

taylorce1

New member
I have a customized Savage 10 in 6X45. Rifle was originally a .223 youth model. I'm trying to figure out how to adjust the trigger, and there doesn't appear to be much that I can do to it other than swap a spring out. Her is what I have:





It's a non-accutrigger and not like the old 2 &3 screw triggers that I'm used to. If anyone can help, it will be appreciated.
 
That trigger does not look like the original. On the original factory trigger, the set screws were smaller, and the rearmost screw was located closer to the second screw and acted as an overtravel stop by bumping into the back edge of the trigger housing that wraps around the trigger. The inner screw was a safety stop and was adjusted until the safety stopped the trigger from being pulled enough to release a shot, but it was still allowed to slide back and forth. That spring is not an original part, and where my old trigger (IIRC; I replaced it 20 years ago with a proper compound match trigger from Sharp Shooter Supply that is, unfortunately, no longer made as it didn't fit the Accutrigger housing) had a third screw further in that adjusted tension on the trigger return spring.

It looks to me like that spring is for adjusting the trigger pull within the limits of the spring. However, A WORD OF CAUTION on that design. Despite the additions, the trigger mechanism is still a basic sear override trigger. It doesn't have any internal levers to lighten a stout sear engagement, as the more expensive aftermarket triggers do. When you lighten that simple trigger toward the target trigger engagement level, the gun can fire as you close the bolt. I speak from experience with this. You cannot expect to get a truly light trigger. Indeed, that spring at the back may be chosen specifically to limit you to a trigger pull weight that won't do that.

All that said, it appears to me that there is room to put a very small set screw between those two adjusting screws so you at least have an overtravel stop, which can help trigger feel quite a bit. If the trigger is hard enough, though, you might need a carbide drill and tap to do that. In that instance, my approach would be to remove the rear screw, anneal it at about 1100°F if you have an oven, or just soften it with a torch (red heat without quenching) and then drill through the bottom of the hex socket for the biggest screw that slips into the socket freely or one that just barely kisses the flats of the hex recess, then heat and quench the threaded screw to get it hard again. A long, small-diameter inner set screw can then be turned into the threaded through-hole in the bigger screw's socket. I would do that after getting the big screw back in place for the spring and Loctite it at the right height. The small screw would be chosen to reach all the way down through the spring to touch the receiver to provide the adjustable overtravel stop.
 
That's an original Savage trigger. I don't know if it's for that rifle, but it's an original trigger. The spring at the rear screws in and out through the trigger housing to adjust trigger pull. If it were mine, I would buy a Timney trigger. Savage put a trigger like the Timney triggers in the Elite accuracy series, that trigger has traditional screws to limit overtravel, weight of pull and the safety, as well as a sear engagement adjustment on the front arm.
 
I think some of the 22 rimfires had that rear spring. I know it's not what was in my pre-Accutrigger 10FP, nor was it on the drop-in replacement from Rifle Basix that I tried before going to the compound override trigger I got from Sharp Shooter Supply. Currently, Rifle Basix makes a drop-in compound override trigger they claim can be set down to a few ounces, like the one I got, and that it will work for both Accutrigger and pre-Accutrigger model 110s, 10s, and others. It is not cheap, but if you want to get below three pounds or so of trigger pull and not risk having the gun fire on closing the bolt, I think it is the only way to go. Optics Planet seems to have the best price on it, currently.
 
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