I�d like to adjust the trigger of my Remington 700 VS (.223) for target shooting, but I don�t know what each of the three adjusting screws is for. The factory settings are not very useful...
Can anybody help me?

This should help. It is from the GGVG site.

REMINGTON CRISP: A RECIPE
by Thomas M.Ferruzza
REMINGTON CRISP is a recipe for crisp triggers with a Remington 700 rifle. It was born out of my dire need to abate developing the physique of a fiddler crab when I was shooting my prized Remington 700.

The factory trigger of a Remington 700 is fully adjustable and can easily be adjusted to remove any unwanted backlash or excessive weight of pull. By following this easy recipe, and by taking the time to test & consider each adjustment, you too can soon have your REMINGTON CRISP cooking at your next shoot!

The first step in preparing for REMINGTON CRISP, is to be sure your rifle is unloaded, then by removing your barreled action from it's stock and placing it in a gun cradle upside down you are ready to begin. Remove any surface oil or debris from the trigger assembly with alcohol or a solvent, then dry it carefully with a lint free cloth.

Now, take a small sharp edged tool, such as a small knife or flat screwdriver blade, and scrape off the epoxy like clear coating that covers the two trigger adjustment screws on the front of the trigger assembly, this will expose the small slots of these screws. Use a sharp pick to clear these slots and remove any residual epoxy from both front screws.

The first adjustment to your trigger should be to remove any excessive backlash. This adjustment is the top screw on the front of the trigger assembly. This is the screw closest to your barreled action, which is now the bottom screw when the barreled action is turned upside down in your cradle. Slowly turn in this screw a quarter of a turn at a time, trying the trigger with each turn, until the hammer will not fall. Then, in eighth turn increments, checking each adjustment before further adjusting the screw, back this screw out until the hammer falls. Then add one more eighth turn and stop adjusting the trigger for backlash.

The bottom screw of the Remington trigger, the top screw when upside down, controls the weight of the trigger pull. Considering the legal climate what it is today, it is easy to understand why the factory trigger pull is set at the combined weight of the all supreme court justices multiplied by the gross national debt. Adjusting the weight of the trigger pull is a very simple task. By backing out the bottom screw at eighth of a turn increments, the trigger pull can be reduced to about three pounds. Again, be sure to check each adjustment a couple of times until the desired weight of pull is obtained.

Do not epoxy over these screws until the rifle has been reinstalled in your stock and you are sure you are happy with your new trigger adjustments. Also, I recommend that prior to fixing your adjustments with epoxy, that the rifle is cocked and rapped hard on it's butt to make sure the rifle will not accidently discharge with too light a trigger adjustment. Then after a trip to the range to insure that your adjustments are what you wanted, then fix your adjustments with epoxy.

My recipe for REMINGTON CRISP does not include sear adjustment. This adjustment is preset at the Remington factory and an improper sear adjustment can cause an accidental discharge of the rifle. Should you have any concerns regarding your sear engagement, return your rifle to Remington for proper sear adjustment and be safe not sorry.
VH

For what is worth I'd say find a good smith and let him do the work.....leave it to an expert.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dogz

HK, E-mail me and I'll send you instructions on how to get your trigger way under 3lbs., safely, this will include sear engagement adjustments, jarhty28@hotmail.com, Jay

Hutt, No offence to you, but I've tried Pablito's version of the Rem. trigger adjustment and it stinks, varmint hunters 'recipe' is good except it has no sear adjustments, and if you want a lighter trigger, you'll have to turn the weight adjustment screw out a bit more, and then you"ll get some creep, usually, then a sear adjustment is in order, the lightest I can get 2 of my Remington's is 19oz., but I've tested them thoroughly, and I get no pin dropage when cycling the action in a fast slam type motion, in fact I just tested my 708 again, and she's good to go, Remington would have a shitfit if they knew how low my triggers are.

HK: if you have access to some acetone "finger polish remover" you can remove the "seals of God" that Rem. has put on them.
Its a lot easier than scraping them off.
As for the "snipecountry.com way" of adjustment, its not much different than the one Varmint Hunter stated, but Varmint Hunters way is a lot easier to fallow and will get the job done satisfactorly down to about 18 oz. To get any lower you will more than likely need to get to a good gunsmith who knows what hes doing with these triggers.
Jay: you are right about the creep, you will get some. I done one of my VSSF and didnt get any creep then a friend asked me to do his and I couldnt get rid of it no matter what I tried.

Bolt

[ 10-11-2003, 20:35: Message edited by: bolthandle ]

JMHO, but if you're going to the trouble to take the rifle down, why not just install a Jewell?
I adjusted 2 700 triggers to about 2 pounds, before I replaced them with Jewells, but couldn't get the trigger on my nephew's 700 below 5 pounds. I installed one of my old triggers in his rifle...
Regards, George.

If the rifle is one of the newer Remingtons I'd let a gunsmith do the job. I just had my Remington VLS trigger pull adjusted. It was a miserable 8 lb. pull. The gunsmith got it down to about 2 1/2 lbs., and said he couldn't safely go any lighter. Maybe Remington has made some modifications to their triggers. I'm not sure. This entire issue is lawyer driven so it's hard to tell, but I wouldn't mess with it myself. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Here are some more places that may help
http://quarterbore.com/library/articles/rem700trigger.html
http://www.varminthunters.com/tech/crisp.html
http://www.clcweb.net/Shooting/Rifle_Trigger_Adjustments/rifle_trigger_adjustments.html