Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Remmy Action Trigger and Poor Weather

The wisemen on the innanets says one of the drawbacks for Remington actions and the custom clones is the triggers not operating in poor weather due to the safety slot allowing moisture/debris to reach the trigger which can render it inoperable.

My question is are there any trigger makers that have manufactured a trigger design that covers this slot like the older FN mausers/or tikka? Or something to go on a bolt shroud that would prevent this from happening?

Gentry 3 position bolt sleeve safety and cover the now unused slot with anything from Plastic Wood to glass bedding compound. Or and not advised, go with no safety at all bench rest trigger style. Or a black powder style cow's knee or something similar from a bicycle innertube.

My own preference is an older design Model 70 -- just put my foot in my mouth not knowing that a Classic Model 70 trigger is a newly manufactured design with MIM technology not "classic" at all.

I like a traditional Mauser trigger be it one or two stage. It pleases me to have something closer to my notion of the Platonic Ideal for a rough country rifle but with normal care I've never had a problem. Then again I've been out in such weather but I was surviving not hunting. I'm not going to dress and walk off with the game in weather I can't keep my eyes open without goggles.

The trigger tech trigger can handle dirt and dust well but no help if the safety ices up. The Gentry from the above post might be the only option to eliminate the entry point. I have not had this happen but I don't hunt in severe conditions much. I have had the exterior ice up but it didn't get into the safety cut out.

Maybe pair a Gentry safety with a TT Trigger?

I was out with a friend on a snowy winter day in Alberta. The temperature was -42 degrees. He had a Remington 700. I had a pre-64 Winchester. Both rifles fired when the trigger was pulled, didn't fire when it wasn't and, in general, handled the cold better than we did. GD

I wish .458 Win. "Phil" could shed some light on what trigger problems he has seen on his fall brown bear hunts. About the only trigger issues I have had information on were Rem. 700 triggers. How much of that is real or a result of negligence and incompetence is beyond me. I have several friends that swear by their older Rem 700 rifles and hunt with them every year. They also maintain them and pay a gun smith to adjust or work on their triggers.

Our nations military has used lots of armorer tuned Mod. 700 rifles in adverse conditions. That's also the same group that generally gets their stuff from the lowest bidder.

Back in the 60's during some of the winter moose and caribou hunts we always degreased our rifles bolts and triggers with gasoline and left them out side on the snow machine or in truck until the hunt was over.

I could be wrong but I think with the changes we have seen in the hunting fields of North America most rifles don't see the hard use and neglect they saw from years gone by. Shorter seasons, seasons catering to a certain type of weapon, etc., especially in the lower "48" where many do day hunts and are normally not to far from civilization.

I consider the trigger the most important part of a rifle, it has to be 100% reliable all the time.

You people are coming up with problems that don't exist, I've been hunting and shooting for over 70 years, there's no way I can tell you how many Remington 700s I've used and seen used in every weather condition that exists, and I have never seen a trigger fail. But please go on, I am sure you will come up with some real B.S. Rio7

If you like WD-40, I can understand your trigger problems.

I've only had one trigger problem that was with a 700 (my favorite rifle). It was from a rifle I bought on Gunbroker. The trigger was aftermarket and was set on maybe an ounce. The barreled action was glued in. (That's probably why it was on Gunbroker.) A bump or slamming the bolt would release the trigger.

I've also hunted with 721's, 722's, 725's for a very long time following with 700's and 600's when they came out. I agree with RIO7.

The problem with Remington triggers is that anyone (Bubba) with an Allen wrench or screwdriver can adjust them or spray them with WD-40. I knew a guy who bragged that all the triggers on his rifles were set at two ounces. I never wanted to hunt with him or be around him when he had a rifle near by. There are two ounce triggers out there, but the ones that come on the rifle from the factory should not be adjusted so that two ounces is all it takes when in the gun room.

There are a few bubbas that should not take the barreled action out of the stock, should not be sold screw drivers, allen wrenches,, red lock-tite or any kind of glue and maybe shouldn't be carrying a rifle, IMHO.

Back in the early 90's I was in a meeting with about 8 guys who were what I consider "gun guys", part of our duties was armed prisoner transports, during our break the conversation turned to hunting and rifles. Three of the 8 guys there said they had their personal Remington Mod. 700 rifles drop the hammer when the safety was placed in the fire position. I was astounded to say the least and can't for the life of me explain how they could all be wrong, not all three of these avid shooters and trained gun handlers. Time has dimmed my memory and I don't remember claimed trigger weights of pull or if they had been tinkered with. I also don't remember if they sold the rifle, sent it in for repair or could duplicate the incident again.

I am not trying to bash any ones "Old Betsy" and realize the Rem. 700 is probably the most popular centerfire big game rifle in North America and is the basis for many tricked out highly accurate rifles. Ultra light trigger pulls on a big game hunting rifle scare me and I know many carry them afield every year. On a big game hunting rifle here in Alaska I like a crisp trigger break between to 2.5 to 3 lbs. and all our Mod. 70's are set that way and are drop tested on the butt to make sure they don't discharge that way. I also don't understand why the newer Mod. 70 rifles have a new trigger design and consider the trigger one of the best features on older Mod. 70 rifles. Darn bean counters!

It reminds me of all the automobile recalls I have heard of over the years, I mean 10's of thousands of recalled vehicles. Of those recalled many did not display a problem, but there were enough that did that made the manufacturer do a recall. Admitting a fault in a design is and expensive process for a company and law suits bankrupt them.

At age 70 I long ago learned that I don't understand some things and just because I have not personally experienced something does not mean it isn't a real "thing". Law suits and the need for new trigger designs have plagued Remington for years. I am not knowledgeable enough to know if the Remington triggers have a design flaw. But, I have talked to a few salty old gun smiths over the years and shooters I trust and read what past employees have said.

Good shooting to all of you and stay safe cyber buddies!

Phil wrote an article on his .458 "Old Ugly" for our quarterly on-line magazine, RIFLE LOONY NEWS, in 2011--partly because we'd become acquainted with it in 2008, while opening ptarmigan season with him, and fishing with Phil, Rocky, Tia and Taj--among a BUNCH of brown bears. In the article described how he modified the Mark X Mauser for his uses, including changing the scope mounts to plain old Weavers from Pilkington Leupold-type rings, which wore out pretty quickly.

Anyway, he never mentioned changing the original Mark X trigger, which is a typical modern enclosed model with its own safety. Maybe he has, but if not he's apparently never had any difficulty with it.

My personal experience involves a lot of hunting in various places, and the only time I've had any problem with an enclosed trigger was on an tent-camp elk hunt in the mid-1990s, where moist snow fell the first day, and that night the temperature dropped below zero. The trigger (not a 700's) froze up, but a few minutes next to a wood stove solved the problem.

Have seen far more enclosed triggers "frozen" with WD-40, which required far more time and work to get going again.

I’ve never had a problem with M700 triggers in foul weather. For many years, my only centerfire rifles were two M700s. I did change out the .308 to a Timney a couple of years ago due to excessive creep but haven’t hunted with it since. The 700 Classic .35 Whelen has hunted elk in Washington, Montana, and Colorado without issues. We all know what kind of weather happens during elk season in those states. Just my limited sample of two. Happy Trails

MD is there away I can access that article by Phil that you are referring to? I believe I have long ago read it and maybe that is why I had it in my old head Phil had written a article on triggers.

THIS^^^!!!! In spades.

I've bought M700's that somebody had reduced the sear engagement to half of what Remington recommends. One here on the 'fire Classifieds. Trigger was probably less than a pound.

Bought a very nice 1975 vintage A series M700 that I'm pretty sure the stock had never been off of it. When I pulled the stock off dirt, wood debris from the stock, pine cones, dead squirrels, etc, came out. The trigger housing was so caked the little window where the sear engagement can be viewed was entirely plugged.

In every case it was an "accidental discharge" waiting for a happening. The Walker trigger's undoing was the M700's are the most popular bolt action sporting rifle in North America, and the trigger was eminently adjustable.

After hunting season is over, I take all the rifles I hunted with, and disassemble the bolts, pull the trigger assembly off, drop the parts into a parts can of mineral spirits and let them soak overnight or two. Wipe and GENTLY blow them out with air and reassemble. Mineral spirits/paint thinner is a lubricant. It's a very, very light lubricant but it will serve to lube and protect to some degree.

It's become a bit of a tradition for my son and I to finish up the fall big game hunting with a late season antelope hunt out on the eastern plains in sandy azz soil where LONG crawls through wheat and corn stubble is the norm. Those rifles become more gritty than any other hunting I've been involved with. I tell my son do NOT touch the lens on the optics, let them be dirty till I get home and clean them.

Yes,but you fail to realize you are dealing with Innanet experts.

I had a minor problem with a Rem 700 trigger on an elk hunt once. It was snowing much of the time and humid, but not terribly cold, maybe 25-30 degrees, and after a while, when I removed the round from the chamber and pulled the trigger it felt sort of gritty and mushy. The firing pin dropped but the trigger pull felt strange. Whether it would have set off the primer I don't know.

Eventually I got back to the cabin and warmed up the rifle and then the trigger pull felt much more normal. I think there were probably ice crystals inside the trigger that melted. I had never used any lubricants inside the trigger so that wasn't the cause. Later I blew out the trigger with compressed air and it seemed OK. The trigger pull had been set by me at just over 3 lbs. That was a minor incident but it caused me to have some skepticism about Rem 700 triggers in harsh conditions. However, I've had a bunch of Rem 700's, all with the trigger adjusted by me to around 3 lbs, and never had any other problems.

My only weather related problems with a Remington 700 trigger happened on an antelope hunt in Wyoming. The wind was steady and from 20 -40 miles per hour. The problem was dust. and lots of it. In pulling the bolt to do some action cleaning the bolt release stuck hard in the release position. It didn't stop me from filling my tags but when I got it home I flushed it with lighter fluid and worked it back where it is supposed to normally run.

Nothing is bullet proof, but the Remington 700 series triggers are close to it, if some ELMER FUDD, hasn't greased or remodeled the trigger.

Rio7