Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Model 70 trigger , when did it change ?

I have several Model 70s from the '90s with triggers that were honed, polished and adjusted by a highly regarded gunsmith and they are simply like nothing I've ever experienced elsewhere, so crisp and clean. I have a safe full of Trigger Techs which I like but not nearly as much when I pull a 70 out of the safe and fry fire it!

Grumpy old guy agrees.

Thought I'd heard or thought about just about everything........but never heard of fry firing a trigger before

My model 70 wears a Jewell trigger. I have hunted the chit out that rifle and in harsher conditions than most. It hasn't missed a beat.

Guys who wax on about the New Haven open trigger have pretty low expections. They where crudly cast using the MIM process and never were worth a darn even when tuned by a competent model 70 Smith. The surfaces when stoned never smoothed up like the pre 64 because the grain structure of the cast metal was coarse. In addition you can't set one to 2lbs safely in most cases and certainly not below that. I promptly replace that poorly executed New Haven trigger with a Jewell on every NH gun I've owned.

The one MOA trigger I have is great with a simple trigger spring and a look over by my gunsmith.

The BACO rifles in general are much better machined and finished than the best New Haven guns and light years ahead of the latter New Haven guns.

Melts the ice that jams the trigger overnight🤣

Must work wonders, I guess?? I thought that is what my buddy called it when he and his friends fired off 200 rounds (yes, 10 boxes of expensive factory fu cking ammo), one day, through his BACO 300wsm EW when it was shooting like schidt. He said, "it would either shoot better when he was done, or it would need a new barrel"... I later asked why he didn't just buy a Tubs fire lapping kit for the sob... Now he asks me why he's getting split necks when he fires that rifle.. I give up!!! He's also the same friend that was using some of those bad Winchester primers in that rifle and now his bolt face is etched very badly. I just shake my head sometimes.. I did change the trigger spring in that rifle and it made a nice difference, just like all the other BACO moa triggers I changed the springs on. Brought the pull weight down to 2.5 pounds on his rifle. That's about what I got on all the others. One of my 300WSM's was a consistent 2 3/8 pounds and it was very useable. That ernie the gunsmith spring really does help, for the most part.. I wouldn't have a MOA without one..

That trigger has been out for 14 years now, and I've only seen one example of a freeze up online.
I think they are fine, and FN is not known for making unreliable designs. The pull is decent and crisp even if around 4 pounds. Once used to it, you'll be good with all the other FN model 70s.

If I wanted lighter pull, I'd probably get a Timney or some-such.

Given that the Tikka T3 survived rigorous Canadian government testing in the arctic to become the official Ranger rifle, I'm not *that* fussed about enclosed designs. Also, people always talk about their go to Marlins, and I would have thought if anything were to freeze c--k stiff it would be those (and I really like Marlins too). As long as take down is easy and I can deal with the issue, no worries.

Seen rifles of every type and stripe being beat to schitz in the arctic. I think most things are less crucial than the nail-biting on forums. That said, I do agree that simpler is better and would take an FN M70 over most other rifles as I trust the design. Lots of factory-to-landfill junk out there. I also like that it's a platform for everything from .22-250 to .458 WM in all shapes and sizes.

I purchased a model 70 with the MOA trigger in 2011.....

I have no complaints about the trigger even though the 4.75# factory pull weight setting may be a bit much.

It a nice crisp trigger......as was the new haven trigger on a 1991 model 70 ranger ADL

Turns out that freeze-up was a classic model with the old design. So I haven't seen any examples of failure with the MOA trigger, but I have seen a failure with the old trigger. Go figure.

Looks like a pretty simple design even if it is enclosed:

Enclosed triggers get a bad rap because of the Remington 700 design. The safety lever alot at the back of the action is a funnel for water into the trigger group. The model 70 does not have this poor design and the trigger is pretty isolated from the outside of the action.
I've hunted in fouler weather than most and have never had my model 70 with a Jewell enclosed trigger miss a beat. Also haven't had a BACO trigger issue either but to be honest I only hunted it for three years before I sold it to my brother. He has had no trigger issues either.

The MOA design looks simple enough:

I grew up in Alaska using old style Mod. 70 triggers and consider it and the ability to field strip the bolt with out tools the best features of the old Mod. 70's. I only hunt with an old Mod. 70 Featherweight 30-06 and a late 80's custom Mod. 70 "Stainless Classic" .338.

Both triggers are gun smith tuned to a crisp 3 lbs. and were "drop" tested after the stocks were solidly bedded.

I like the rigger on my Tikka T3X Superlite, a crisp 2 lbs. But, it is also shot off of the bench more then any rifle I own.

Again, given all the working Tikkas and Sakos in the arctic, including the extensively tested Canadian Ranger Tikka T3, I don't think I'm that worried. Especially when the one arctic failure I see online is a Classic model.

Two stage Tikka T3X Arctic model trigger designed especially for the Canadian Ranger Rifle, which was tested in and will undergo heavy arctic usage:



https://www.recoilweb.com/tikka-t3x-arctic-131608.html

I have a BACO EW bought in 2012 in a 243....and my MOA trigger breaks at 2.8 lb. Got a NH Stainless Classic in 308 bought in 1993 with the old style trigger....it breaks at 2.3 lb. Can't really tell ant difference when you squeeze off a round on a buck.