Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Remington Model 7 Trigger Issue

Okay, did I do the right thing here or not.....and I'll admit I'm still mulling it over. I bought a new Model 7 Predator with that gawd-awful X-Mark Pro trigger. I normally like the triggers on my hunting rifles set in the 3-3 1/2 pond range, and this one would not adjust any lower than 5 or 6. My intentions were to replace it with another Timney like I have on another Model 7. On that one, I had to do some work with the Dremel to get the trigger to work, as it was binding on the trigger guard, and although it turned out okay, I hated doing that again. I found a older style Model 7 trigger, and decided to use it. Put it in, adjusted the trigger to where I wanted it, and put the rifle back together. The trigger would go off when the safety was pushed off. Adjusted it, and if you pulled real hard on the trigger while on safe, then put the safety off, the trigger would fire. I messed with it for hours, but could not get it right.

Now, I'm going to take a minute here, and say that I've adjusted the triggers on several dozen Remington 7's and 700's over the years, and have never ever had a problem. I've never sent one back that was recalled, and never had a rifle to fire until I pulled the trigger, so this one had me worried.

I finally decided last night to just take that trigger off, and buy a Timney. This afternoon, I decided to try one more thing, and I did the big no-no........I adjusted the sear. It worked. I have worked that trigger dozens of times trying to get it to go off on it's own. I've put the safety off, and pounded the rifle on the floor, trying to get it to go off. It hasn't gone off on it's own no matter what I've tried.

My question........is it "right?" I've never adjusted the sear screw on a Remington before, and was very leery to, but it seems to have fixed my problem. Do you experts on this consider the rifle safe to use?

You've stated that you have adjusted several dozen pre 2006 Walker/Remington trigger groups over the years BUT never adjusted sear engagement.

ENSURE that you DO NOT have any backlash between the trigger lever & connector piece or you have a dangerous situation in your hands that NO banging the butt of the stock on the floor will duplicate.

IF confused - SEEK Professional assistance!!

Just chitcan that pos Rem trigger and put on something (read: anything) else and go huntin'.... Lots of X-Mark triggers filling up garbage cans across the US even as I speak..


FWIW

That was my original intention, but I happen to like the old style Remington triggers, and figured one would work just fine. If I hadn't bought that one, I'd just go ahead and get a Timney. You're right about the new ones, they flat dab suck. Out of several that I've seen, only one would adjust down under 5 pounds.

James you say you've adjusted several triggers before and that adjusting the sear is a "BIG NO NO".

Well you obviously don't know enough about Walker style triggers to be adjust them. The way those triggers work if you adjust one setting it directly affects the others. Making a change to the sear setting is fine but it changes the sear engagement & also the weight as you have just changed the position of the connector, please leave this to the pros as you seem to lack the knowledge.

Somewhere in my notebooks I have the correct procedure for adjusting a Remington trigger. With care, they can be adjusted down to around 2 lbs. Changing out the weight of pull spring generally helps. Adding a dab of moly grease to the sear/trigger lever junction usually takes half a pound off the pull weight. I agree with the other posters here - junk that factory trigger and get a Timney.

Sounds to me like the OP needs to go with a Timney.

DF

Thanks expert. I have adjusted a number of Walker triggers for the weight, but never had to touch a sear adjustment screw, because it wasn't needed. Everything that I've heard always suggested that if one went any further on these triggers, take it to a qualified gunsmith, which I'm the first to admit I'm not. However, I'm going to see what will and what won't work on this rifle, and I know my limits.

And your measuring this or just guess?????? This is exactly why triggers fail or have issues, stop putting grease in triggers, Triggers should be clean and free moving to reset.

And YOU cant get them under 2lbs by just adjusting them, They will not be safe without the proper techniques used to adjust them.

Wow! And we wonder why Remington triggers fail!

If you do not understand why the sear engagement needs to be set you should not be adjusting triggers, period!

If you are putting grease in your triggers you should not be allowed near a gun with a tool!

If Remington trigger adjusting is so complicated you need to keep it in a notebook somewhere you should not consider adjusting triggers!

If you think sear engagement affects trigger weight you should stay away from trigger adjusting!

I agree with all of this except the last statement. If you move the sear engagement forward you just put more pressure on the weight spring as its moving the trigger and the connector further forward. Now I'm not talking about LBs but I measure in OZ and yes it can change it.

Sorry, that is not how physics works.

But more to the point, engagement is an adjustment to "get it right" not adjust until it "feels good." Sear engagement does NOT move the trigger and connector forward. Otherwise you would be trying to catch up constantly.

Notice, if you were to polish off .010" of the connector the sear engagement point should move that much. Sear engagement is set first and further adjustment is either a mistake or shows there is a problem. There are a couple web idiots that "discuss" this. They are dangerous, clueless morons.

And I'm sorry but if the sear engagement adjustment screw pushes against the rear of the trigger (and it does), of course it move the trigger forward as you turn it in. This is how sear engagement is reduced.
All trigger adjustments are simply screws which push parts around or compress springs. On a simple trigger, like the Remington, one should be able to figure out which screw does what just by looking. If he can't, he should probably accept his limitations and leave the trigger alone. GD

I should have been more clear in that statement. What I meant was the engagement point is set and the trigger simply moves the connector from beneath the sear.

And I am not trying to quibble over semantics...

If I were, I would point out the overtravel screw pushes no parts...

I have a Model 7 ‘Predator’ in 243. I just put a Timney in, that X-Mark Pro just wouldn’t cut it.

Replace the trigger with timney or something. You've never really adjusted a walker trigger unless you touched all the screws and got them safely in unison. You've been lucky. Do yourself, family, and hunting partners a favor and replace them all. Last used 700 I bought off the shelf had a xmark that had been fully adjusted with the sear screw also. Great trigger and I couldn't get it to trip but wasn't going to take a chance and replaced it. As cheap as timneys are, its a no brainer...but I will say a properly adjusted walker trigger is a great trigger and I still have a few.

I agree that the Walker triggers can be adjusted to become very serviceable by an experienced smith but I have also had good luck getting the X-Marks into the 2# range. There is a weight adjustment screw in the front of the housing like on a Walker except it has been filled with Loc-Tite of some type. Take a small pick and remove the goop from the Allen head and exposed threads. A 1/16" Allen wrench can then be used to adjust the pull weight just like on a Walker trigger. Disclaimer, one out of ten will strip the Allen before the screw will move. The screw on the trigger face is put there to make you think it is adjustable. You can typically make the pull heavier with it, not lighter.