Rem 700 trigger advice needed

[Alderan]

Hey guys.
First time posting; so, please do be gentle

Im an amateur. Been in the sport for about 2 years. Got my self a 2nd hand Rem 700 Target Tactical in 308. Wanted a project gun, and oh boy, did i get my self a project.

Gun is stock; other than the picatini scope rail, the scope and and atlas bipod picatini adapter, i made no modifications to the rifle. Came with B&C stock, fully adjustable, 5r and 26in triangular barrel.

My problem is the trigger; omg the stock x-mark pro sucks. First, when i got it, it was at about 2.5lb. That 2.5lb is on empty chamber; with a dummy round chambred, the pull weight goes up by about 6oz (no clue why). Then i decided to clean the trigger by using Remington Action Cleaner; took the action out of the stock, sprayed, waited few minuts, used air compressor, repeted 2 times, put the bolt in.... The pull weight went up to 4.5lb. Did not touch anything other then flushed the trigger.

Then, I decided to buy a new trigger. Decided to go with TriggerTech Special (i know, i know, they are Canadian, but so am i, no one is perfect). Did not work; got nothing but problems with the trigger. But, my hat goes down to those guys; they did their best to try and help me. Exchanged the trigger after the first problem occurred and then they fully reimbursed me after the problem continued with the 2nd trigger. Got nothing but good things to say about TriggerTech customer service.

The TT Special was slam firing on me. The first one i bought was doing it on any pull weight that i set it at. The slam fire was more frequent on lower pull weights; when i would be pushing the bolt slightly up and forward when trying to feed the round from the hinge flore plate magazine. Load 4 rounds in the magazine and the spring pressure on the first round is enough to make u push way harder on the bolt. You end up pushing the bolt slightly upward because the first round in the magazine behaves as a pivot point for ur bolt. Bolt then slightly binds and after pushing hard enough u end up unbinding the bolt while slamming it forward. This resulted in the cocking piece skipping over the sear and following the bolt. The firing pin would then drop when closing the bolt resulting into a slam fire. This only happens on the TT Special; could not reproduce this behavior on the stock trigger.

I emailed TT and explained the situation. I sent the old trigger back and they sent me a new one. While waiting for the new trigger i decided to also buy a new firing pin assembly; the original one that came with the gun looked a bit different then the ones i saw at the store. The cocking piece did not have any hard edges; it looked smooth and polished. The new firing pin assembly that i bought is an Remington original. I bought it from the Canadian Remington online store. When i got the new TT special, i installed it too but the problem got worse. Not only did i keep getting the slam fire, after a while, the trigger stopped working too. The trigger srated having a take-up of about 1-2mm. I would pull the trigger, nothing would happen; then, if i touched the bolt handle and tried moving it up, the firing pin would fall and the trigger would reset.

Its at that point that i decided to call it quits on the TT Special. The TT guys reimbursed me and here we are. I am still looking for a new trigger but no idea which one to buy. This whole experience got me a bit traumatized.

I was considering the Bix'n Andy but after doing the measurements for the sear selection that they instructions specify, im at about 0.020 below their lowest sear recomandations. Again, not even sure if this measurement is right since its very hard to measure from the top of the pin to the top of the sear when the bolt is closed. No idea how anyone can do that measurement on a Rem 700 with a normal set of calipers. Seams very difficult if you dont have some special type of calipers.

Jewell HVR, Timeny CE and Bix'n Andy are my options out here in Canada. I took the gun to 3 diffrent gunsmiths; other then telling me that the "tolerances could not be marching" no one was able to slove the problem.

Has anyone experienced similar problems? Any suggestions? Ideas? Any recommendations? Which trigger should i go with? Should i just stick with the x-mark pro?

Any question, feedback, recommendation, opinion and/or idea would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Chickentoast]

Sounds really weird. I'd be afraid of that action. I have a TT Diamond on my 700 5R and it's perfect. The stock trigger was about 3.5#. I was able to get the stock pull down to 1.5# with no safety issues, before swapping for the TT. I am averaging 0.4MOA with the TT, and was approx 0.6MOA with the stock trigger. While the difference is measurable, and I'm happy with the "better" feel and adjustable weight of the TT, I'm sure I could've learned to shoot the stock trigger just as well given some more time.

 

[Trigger Monkey]

You were able to get an X Mark Pro trigger down to 1.5 pounds? The best I've been able to muster out of one of those is about 2.5-ish pounds.

OP, not sure what's up with the TT triggers, I've never used one but issues similar to what you're describing typically have to do with insufficient sear engagement. Any chance you can get a Timney 510? Kinda hard to go wrong with that, it's no Calvin Elite but it's a good trigger and if a 510 gives you fits, then something else is going on with that action I'd say.

X-Mark Pro's are shit IMO, I had one on a Model 7 where the trigger pull was heavier than the actual weight of the gun and that was as low as it was going. I could hang the rifle off my index finger by the trigger with the safety off and the firing pin wouldn't drop.

 

[Alderan]

Is it possible that there is something wrong with the action? Are Remingtons known for that type of thing? 3 diffrent gunsmiths took a look at the rifle so far; they only did trigger installation, but these were experienced guys, you think they might have not noticed that something could be wrong with the action?

Originally when i put in the first TT Special in the rifle, i put the x-mark pro in a ziplock bag and sprayed some rem-oil on it so it does not rust. When i returned the TT i put the x-mark back in the rifle without flushing it. At that point in time it was at about 2.5 to 3lb. Only after i decided to flush it with the action cleaner did it go up to 4.5lb. Is the lack of lubrication whats making it soo heavy? My understanding is that triggers need to be run bone dry, no lube or anything; am i right on that one?

Im kinda thorn between keeping the rifle and selling it. The stocks is real nice; b&c fully adjustable for everything. If i sell it im gona be loosing 500$ Canadian pesos. If i keep it im not sure how to fix the trigger issue. If i knew that the Jewell or Bix'n Andy (in my mind the more expensive solutions) would solve the issue i would get one of them, but im afraid that im gona end up with the same problem as with TT.

I read on some forum that TTs are more compatible with Remington clone actions that ware made to more tighter tolerances. But i also read that ppl had ptoblems with Timneys too.

Im just looking for a safe and reliable trigger that goes anywhere between 1.5 and 2.5 (i would be happy with anything in-between that range). What are your experiences with the Timney 510?

 

[Chickentoast]

Good vid on this subject: