Is adjusting a Remington factory trigger something that someone with a basic understanding can do at home? I've adjusted Winchester triggers, but have not tried a Remington. Does anyone have or know of a place (web site) to get some guidance on this?

JAB,

Before attempting ANY work to ANY fire control system on ANY weapon be aware, as you turn the screws to make the adjustments to the trigger, a line is forming by folks wanting to take your house, your current or future income and possibly your freedom at the slightest misshap.

Keep in mind when toying with a weapons trigger, in America, there are more law suits than business suits and with the odds against a person hitting one of the big lotteries, folks will be looking for new ways to get rich. Never trust a weapons safety, proceed carefully and do not allow yourself to become the host body of a litigious blood sucking event.

When professionals perform trigger work, they test and retest every conceivable motion that could cause the trigger to fail. They certify the weight of pull and seal the trigger adjustment screws to maintain the integrity of the job.

They spell out in the form of a liability release, the nature of such "contracted" work and the consequences of using the weapon after having received such work, and then by obtaining the customers signature to the trigger document, the owner of the weapon assumes all risks and liabilities associated with the use of the weapon.

Good luck,

Malm

Well said, Malm. Thanks.

A very simple task indeed. Reliability and consistancy while closing the bolt and disengaging the safty quickly is paramount as well as knocking the gun around in every concievable way, and hard too.

And as GM said, the safety is NEVER to be TRUSTED, even to begin with for that matter. People are shot all the time, this doesn't happen unless the muzzle is POINTED at them are something hard that would ricochet, both a fools folly.

That link should give you a good idea and start.

Hot Core,
What do you mean by your comment?
Who do you refer to?

JAB
Hope this helps

Background:
The Remington trigger system is a very good system that in years past came directly from the factory with a crisp and reasonable pull. These days however, Remington is producing triggers that are not as smooth and are liability proof with pull weights that have gotten to the point of being ridiculous. These changes are due to Remington trying to reduce the cost of their rifles and the ever present fear of civil liability from a trigger that is too light. If you are not conscious of gun safety and are not smart enough to keep your fingers off your trigger until you are ready to fire, I kindly ask you to read no further and find another hobby as I accept no responsibility for stupid people. The modifications that I am about to discuss have the potential to be extremely dangerous if not done carefully! If you have the slightest doubt about what you are doing, I strongly urge you to have a competent gunsmith adjust your trigger for you as the cost is minimal.

The Remington trigger:
The Remington 700 Trigger has three screws as shown in the following image.

When you look at your trigger you will see that the heads of these screws are covered in a glue or loctite. To adjust your trigger it will be necessary to scrape this glue off the screw heads and then determine if your screw heads are slotted or allen head. The next step in this process is to break the screws loose and add a small drop of oil to help with adjustments. I normally run the screws in and out a couple times to make sure that the screw is not binding and the surfaces of the screw are completely covered in oil.

Adjusting the trigger:
Back out the spring tension (trigger pull) screw to a light trigger pull that is adequate to keep some pressure on the trigger but is very light (trigger pull will be set later). Next back out the sear engagement screw, and the over travel screws several turns.

Once the screws are adjusted as above, close the bolt (without dry firing) and SLOWLY turn the sear engagement screw in until the firing pin is released. From this point, back the screw out a half turn. Without recocking the firing pin, screw the over travel screw in until you feel it contact the trigger lightly, preventing the trigger from moving. From this point, back the over travel screw out a quarter turn. When you pull the trigger at this point there should be a very slight movement of the trigger.

To adjust the trigger pull, adjust the spring tension screw to a pull that you like. As you turn the screw in the trigger pull will be increased and the pull will be reduced as the screw is backed out. I would not recommend going lighter than 1 to 1.5-pounds with a factory trigger and I prefer a trigger closer to 2 to 2.5-pounds for a big game rifle.

Work the bolt several times to cock the rifle and try the trigger with the trigger gauge and your finger to make sure that you are happy with how the trigger pull and release feels and the weight is something that you are comfortable with. I also recommend the use of a good trigger gauge to confirm that you are getting a consistant break. If the break you are getting is not consistant, then you may need to increase the trigger pull or consider having the trigger rebuilt or replaced by a compentant gunsmith.

Safety Checks!
After you are happy with the feel of the trigger it is essential that you perform a safety check as described here. First, slam the bolt closed HARD up to a dozen times watching to see if the sear allows the firing pin to be released. If the firing pin is released, back out the sear engagement screw another 1/4 turn, and repeat slamming the bolt again.

Next, cock the firing pin and put the weapon on "SAFE" and pull the trigger, release the trigger, put the weapon on "FIRE". Repeat this process several times and if the firing pin is released, increase the trigger pull and repeat this process.

Once these safety checks are performed, take nail polish and seal the heads of the screws and allow it to dry. I normally try to use two coats to make sure that the screws are properly glued in place. Once adjusted, the Remington trigger rarely needs additional adjustment and can be as good as many after market triggers.

Postscript:
I have recently purchased a new Remington 700 Classic that quite literally had the God awful worse trigger I have ever felt on any gun. This trigger was rough in the sear engagement and the trigger spring itself was too stiff to allow for any adjustment that was acceptable for my taste. I understand that it is possible to buy replacement trigger springs and to have the sear surface polished but these are tasks that are beyond my level of understanding so I took a trigger out of a well used Remington 700 ADL from the early 1970's and swapped it for my new trigger. I felt guilty selling my old ADL with that new Rem. 700 trigger that was so lousy, but at least the gun that I wanted to keep has a crisp 2-pound trigger that I can trust to work as a quality trigger should!

If your rifle has a really bad trigger, you may wish considering looking for replacement in the form of a used factory or an aftermarket trigger.

Thanks for all the info...and the safety tips.

Hot Core
Remember me, by chance I finding you *STILL* blowing your own horn about how awesome you are...

<<"I readjust all my triggers and don't think twice about it.">>

I see you still shoot your mouth off the same way, without thinking twice...

Get a life ;o)

<<"At the same time, I always keep the muzzle pointed in a SAFE direction and always consider the firearm loaded whether it is or not.">>

100% of the time all your life, you mean to say you have *never* even inadvertently had it pointed in an adverse direction to others even without you knowing at the time because someone moved or other similar mishap of this nature, loaded or not, NEVER?

And lastly, if your rifle were to inadvertently discharge you could predict with utmost certainty where the bullet would come to rest whether pointed up or down after impacting a hard surface, is that what you would have the world believe?

Regards, Augustis ;o)

JAB
Just remember, Fools rush in where angles fear to tread...

Augustis ><>

Augustis, this is "classic" Hot Core... he doesn't come right out and name Jack Belk directly, rather he snipes in a vague way from the shadow's casting dark inuendo...

Brad
Then he will come back with a smoke screen to cloud the issue with emotion...

Regards to you Brad, Augustis><>

JAB, IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW HOW TO ADJUST THE 700 TRIGGER GIVE ME A CALL AND I'LL WALK YOU THROUGH THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT BOB MILEK WROTE SEVERAL YEARS AGO. IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME BUT THE TRIGGER WILL BREAK CLEANLY. 907-842-1251.

Mark Young---

Bob Millek didn't have a clue....and I told him that face to face and explained why. He changed his mind about the adjustments.

May he rest in peace. He was fun to shoot with. Funny, too.

JBelk,
I know that it leaved some overtravel and excess sear engagement this way, in most cases, but it is better than the factory setup, is it not?

I fine tune mine with a little less engagement and overtravel but the initial instuction is a place to start.

Are we missing something else here too?

Brad, you think that dog is asleep????

JAB,
I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth on this subject, for what it's worth.
I have 2 Remington 700's, a VLS in .243 and a Classic in .17 Remington. Both came with horrid triggers, and I adjusted both down to 2.5 pounds. I purchased a real trigger pull gauge to do the adjustments, and tested the triggers thoroughly before chambering a live round. JMHO, I don't trust a Remington factory trigger below 2 pounds, so I think you should give yourself a half pound of "safety" factor.
If you really want an excellent 2-pound trigger, grab your wallet and buy a Jewell. I've installed Jewells on both my 700's, and would never buy another Remington 700 without ordering a Jewell trigger to install in it.
My nephew has a 700 "Tactical" in .308, and he let me try it out. It had, by far, the worst trigger in the world in it. I honestly don't know how he ever hit a target with it. I tested the trigger, and it broke at about 9 1/2 pounds! I attemped adjustment, but with the spring tension screw completely out of the trigger assembly, it still broke at over 5 pounds! My solution was to install one of my old triggers in his rifle, and I advised him to save his pennies for a Jewell.
Regards, George

George,
All the Remingtons I've checked, lately, were all off the scale so I have no idea what they were.

Without just minimal sear engaugement, all were as you say about 5 lbs with the spring all the way out. I got one of them down to 1 lb but wasn't COMPLETELY reliable to over 1.7 lbs and it was set at 2.5 lbs to be that much surer.

Most others were good about 1.5 lbs but were set at 2.5 anyway. Not a Jewell, but so much better that the factory it feels like it is. For a while anyway.