The safety on my 700 is stiff and loud when moved to the fire position. It is clean and in good repair. Is there a way to lighten the action of the safety? Could I bend the tab that rides across the ball out a little? Eventually I will probably put a Jewell trigger on the rifle but for now any help would be appreciated. THANKS!

The safety lever is "through hardened" and will probably break before it bends. How do I know that?

Sometimes the stiffness is just friction and not spring tension. Try cleaning and lightly polishing the contact surface of the spring where it contacts the detent-ball. Also make sure that the ball is able to turn smoothly in its detent.

As was stated by the other guy...don't try bending the spring.

Rick

Thanks for the reply's! I guess I'm stuck with it the way it is until I get a new trigger. Everything is clean and moves freely. The safety has always been stiff but I broke my thumb a few months ago and now I really notice it. I think I am sticking with Winchester model 70's from now on.