I'm searching for my first bolt action rifle and I have a trigger question.
I hear the savage accutrigger is great. I shot one last week and it was great with the safety trigger then the light pull.. nice.. understand the reason for it. light pull/less accidents..

but what about the other adjustable triggers.. like the Remington X-Mark Pro Trigger. looks easy to adjust..

Is there a "best" proven, trigger out there??? or which do I stay away from.

I was looking at the Savage and also Rem 700 but open to others.

Primary use will be target shooting mostly for now, 200 yards. I'm a bow hunter and plan on eventually rifle hunt with it. looking at .308

thanks for any help

Only "new style" factory trigger I've tried is the Savage, don't know about the others.

Lots of folks don't care for Savages.

A Left handed Savage was what I could afford when I went looking at rifles in HS and I've been shooting one since.

No problems, usually very accurate.

Not a real pretty or fancy weapon, but does everything I need right now.

The savage accutrigger is pretty good, but if you want really good then get a Remington & put a Jewell trigger on it. Nothing else comes close

The best triggers on the market are usually aftermarket replacements for whatever rifle you chose.

I've had great results with Timneys and Shilens for 700's.

Nothing wrong with Jewell, but they're not the only game in town. For aftermarket triggers, my first choice is usually a Timney.

Timney for hunting, Jewell for a bench.

Sounds like you're confining your search to factory triggers.

The Ruger American has a very good trigger, much like the Savage Accutrigger. They should adjust down to right at 3 pounds just be turning the adjustment screw. At least mine did. Mine breaks very cleanly with just a hint of overtravel but some examples in stores I've tried had a touch of creep.

The Tikka T3 has a great trigger, it can be adjusted down to right at 2 pounds again just by turning the trigger adjustment screw. Mine breaks very cleanly and is very consistent. The ones I've tried in stores were heavier since they hadn't been adjusted down to their lowest setting but all of them without exception have been very crisp.

The older Remington triggers could be adjusted to 3 pounds or under and break very cleanly but if you went much less than 3 you ran the risk of a slam fire where the striker falls if you close the bolt hard. That varies with the individual trigger. I have no experience with the new Remingon trigger.

Of the currently made factory rifles I'm familiar with the Tikka has the best trigger if you count weight, crispness, consistency and ease of adjustment.

They are a bit more expensive than the Savage and Ruger American, that's for sure.

Check out Howa.You will love the trigger.

thanks guys.. you are right I am looking for advice on factory triggers... as I am on a budget and a plan... I want to get the rifle now, use it stock as is, get some decent glass and start shooting.. as I get better and save some money I will look for advice on what to upgrade first.. all depends on what i get..

the Remington trigger i think goes to 3 lbs and is easily adjustable.... the not sure if the accutrigger is adjustable

does the Ruger trigger adjust from the outside like the Remington.. or do you have to go internally..?

JH88,

You can spend a lot of time and gold investigating rifle triggers. I recommend you start with a Remington M700 as that will give you a platform for which all the makers have something to offer. As well as the after-market triggers you can find talented trigger smiths out there who modify original items for specific purposes. You might look for a copy of Stuart Otteson's Benchrest Actions and Triggers too.

jim

Shilen trigger for a hunting gun, jewel for everything else. Tuned up Remington trigger is nothing to sneeze at though.

The Remington 700 will give you the largest selection of after market excellent triggers and the stock trigger can be made to satisfy just about anyone's hunting trigger requirements. I would not advise a hunting trigger under 2 lbs. It's too likely to go off before you want under hunting conditions with cold or gloved hands.

A Tikka or Sako has a very nice factory hunting trigger adjustable down to 2 lbs.

The Savage, Marlin, Ruger,( basically same) is acceptable and a lot better than a lot of factory triggers but having had some experience with better triggers, I hate the side to side play(wiggle). You likely won't notice it when making a shot while hunting.

Whenever you adjust a trigger, do it with the action out of the stock and give it some fairly hard rear end and sideways smacks from a rubber hammer to make sure it will stand a drop or bump in the field. You need top do it outside the stock since I have seen some improperly relieved stocks split by bumping the butt on the ground for a test. A target or match trigger does not have to pass a bump test and likely won't, but those users know to take extra precautions and not load unless they are to be fired.

jarhead88, please don't take this the wrong way. You're shopping for a leash before you get the dog. There's a trigger waiting for you for most of the quality/popular bolt guns out there.

Having said that, I would haunt the used gun market for a 1970s era Remington 700 in the model and caliber of your choosing. Proven track record for accuracy and dependability and one of the best triggers out there when it comes to adjustability.

You will have a rifle to enjoy and pass on to your grandkids without the expense of buying an aftermarket trigger.Spend the $$$$$$$$$ on a good pillar bedding job.

Trust me on this. JMHO

Denny.

The while is excellent that is the trigger on my 338 Laupa M-700

Sound advice, my go to rifle is a Sporterized Springfield 30/06 I bought years ago from a local shop. It has been re barreled and is in a Fajan Monticarlo stock that has been reworked and glass bedded. The trigger has been replaced with an adjustable trigger of unknown pedigree. Nothing special about the gun but it has done the job for both me and others putting a lot of game on the table.

I'm with 284LUVR . There are a lot of older Rem 700s around , and they have very good Triggers once they are tuned . You can find Trigger Adjustment Instructions on the Internet , or if unsure , you can go to a good ( and I mean good , not necessarily famous ) Gunsmith to fine-tune that Trigger . I have found that almost every one will go Safely down to 32 Oz. or a tad more . In After Market Triggers ( and I'm talking about Target / Varmint Triggers ) , you can't go wrong with a Jewell , but I've even seen one bad Jewell probably mis-adjusted by its owner . The old Canjar Single Sets were excellent . I have felt some excellent Rifle Basix Triggers and some not so Excellent . I have heard good things about Jard , Shilen , and Kelbly , but most of these After Market Triggers are spendy . I've had bad luck with Timneys , but these were all already installed when I bought the Rifles . These were all on old ( but minty ) Rem 700s , and I could not get them to adjust for Pull Weight or Creep .... but they might have been damaged by the former owners .

Remington seems to be have such a solid reputation... just finding out which model is hard, there are some many 700s. different barrels, styles.. so many to look through. not sure which will give me the best start

For Savage fans there are these:

www.sharpshootersupply.com/CenterfireTriggers.html

The one needs installation by SSS gunsmith Fred Moreo, the other can be a DIY project. The Target AccuTrigger on the Precision Target Actions I use are plenty good enough for me, but these are available.

Otherwise I use Jewel, Timney, JARD, and J.P. Enterprises triggers.

This

You really have to decide what you are going to use use it for.

Dual purpose rifles can be frustrating for the newbie in that one rifle maybe great for you in one area but not exactly what your looking for in another.

Saw your post about target shooting thus the above comment.

Denny.

Hands down best triggers on the planet are: Anschutz 2-stage, Barnard 2-stage

In an AR-15: Geissele
700 single stage: Jewell
700 2-stage: Huber concepts or Xtreme CG

I had a target accutrigger in a Savage that I built and it was great for what it costs, but until you have tried one of the above, you are truly living the saying, "Ignorance is bliss".

YUP!!!!! but someone new to the game can't tell the difference other than "WOW !!! that feels nice". I 'd like to save our friend some bucks till he gets down the road a bit further and still have something he can enjoy. He has kids.

Denny.

Pretty much applies to Geissele shooters who haven't used an AR Gold trigger.

I've used them both and apparently you haven't.

I own a brace of each.

On a consistent basis, Tikka has the best trigger and barrels/accuracy in a light weight package on the market for the money.

The trigger on my Cooper 57M was no slouch either. from the factory, it was set light with zero creep.

For hunting, the old Winchester Model 70 gets my vote. Ruger would be second place for hunting.

Im a lefty so I am limited in my options. I have a saveage 114 and it is a very nice trigger especially for hunting. It adjusts by removing two allen screws and the then the barrelled action comes out of the stock and the adjustment was right there. I checked mine when I got it and it was set as light as it could go from the factory. Gun is also very accurate.

Today I picked up an browning x-bolt at the shop and I will be ordering one of those this year in a lefty model. It had a very nice adjustable trigger as well. The nice touch was that it didn't have the safety trigger the savage had so it has the more traditional appearance.

thanks guys for all the advice. a lot of it will be great when I get better and money to upgrade. I am really interested in the best/good trigger available on stock rifles in the 500-600 range.

I seem to be leaning between savage and remington....

Gotta agree heavily with post 2 and 3 here.

I know the Campfire crowd has an absolute love-fest infatuation with Jewells, but on a hunting rifle in particular, there are better options.

On a stock rifle out of the box in your price range I would get a savage it will be accurate and the trigger is very nice. I am very happy with mine. It is sub moa out of the box and I am the limiting factor with accuracy in that gun. Im only capable of so much.

I'm with the buy a good used rifle crowd.
My preference is Winchesters with the 3 position safety so naturally I have no issue thinking the trigger in one of them can be fine, sometimes with a little work.
With that said, I have Rugers, Rems, Winny's, and used to have a Tikka. I have adjusted, modified, or replaced every trigger on every gun except one. My son recieved a new Win M70 as a graduation present and right out of the box it has a very smooth action, nice trigger, and still has the classic good looks.
The old tang safety Rugers are easy to adjust without disassembly for pull weight. Newer ones can be done at home but unless you've got someone to tutor you you probably should take them to a 'Smith. Rems adjusted correctly are fine, and I've doen both Ruger and Winchester triggers with aftermarket springs with good success. The trigger isn't the biggest issue really.
Get something that covers the widest amount of your personal wants & needs, have it bedded and the trigger adjusted, get the best glass you can afford. You'll find that with the factory trigger tuned well, bedding and good scope you could shoot it for years without really needing anything further.

The Tikka T3 blued version is your best choice if you are wanting a hunting rifle. No need to later upgrade the trigger. If you want a hunting rifle that you can later modify to a target rifle then the only choice is a Remington 700 but you will invest up to 4-5 times the original purchase price for upgrades.

It's hard to know exactly what you are wanting since it is usually only dedicated target shooters that are anal about triggers. Most any hunting gun can be easily modified to have a trigger well suited for hunting requirements.

Again the Tikka has a very nice trigger out of the box or with just a simple screw turn to adjust. It is also a very accurate hunting rifle. Very hard to beat in the under $600 price range for accuracy and a good trigger.

Seems like the Remington 700 comes up a lot. like many mention later on it has the most options to upgrade. Which model though? Is there a concern with wood vs synthetic?

i use a jewel sit at 1# on my 700p 300rum. really like it.

Again you haven't told us of your intended use of the rifle. Give us an idea and we'll try to help.

As far a wood vs. synthetic not much can be done with the bedding area in the factory synthetic stock but the sky is the limit using wood. I'm a wood guy but own several rifles with expensive synthetic stocks.

Which model, you ask ? Again the options are so many it can work against you. What are you going to use it for and how often.

Denny.

jarhead88,You have a PM waiting


Denny.

I have to admit liking the Shilen on your 700 an awful lot.

That being said, most factory triggers can be made very serviceable. I have a worked over MOA trigger in my M70 that I am very happy with, also have had the factory triggers in M77 MKII Rugers worked over to a very nice trigger.

It will mostly be for target shooting for now and eventually deer hunting. but mostly target shooting inside 200 yards, that is the longest around here.

I'd add that the Remington trigger, while it can be reworked into a first class one, it can also collect debris, and moisture that can cause problems in the field.
For that reason, I've had much better luck and first class triggers from the open deigns in the older M70 Winchesters and the old tang safety Rugers. Something to consider in a hunting rifle. E

Doesn't sound like your going the serious competition route so I'd be looking at deer rifles. You can take your deer rifle to the range and have a ball target shooting.

On the other hand if you buy a heavy target style rifle and go hunting with it shooting it offhand as well carrying a heavy gun around all day is going to get old fairly quickly and you're going to be shopping for a hunting rifle.

Denny.

Just put a Timney (w/safety) on son's 700LH. He likes it.