Bix’n Andy Savage
- Thread starter Kracken McGraw
- Start date
memilanuk
Gold $$ Contributor
So... mine showed up in the mail yesterday - while I was away at a match, with the gun it's destined for. Figures 
First impressions:
Holy hell, this thing is *THICK*. I mean like, over 1/2" wide.
Also... it's *DEEP*. That thickness extends pretty much all the way down, all the way around, except maybe a small section that is maybe 1/16" less deep at the rear.
You end up re-using the factory bolt release / sear piece, pivot pin, 90 degree spring and safety button - but not the safety slide bar.
Got it installed last night on my 12 Palma action... according to the Lyman digital trigger gauge, it broke repeatedly @ 13.5-14 oz out of the box, with no adjustment. Very crisp.
This morning, I went out and tried adjusting the trigger weight down... backed the adjustment screw out one full revolution, and the pull weight was down to 7-8 oz. That's right where - or slightly below - where I normally run my target AccuTriggers, so I left it alone. I'm perfectly comfortable with that trigger pull weight - shot a 150-10X @ 600 yesterday with the AT - but others may want to try going lighter. The manual (not included, but downloadable as a PDF from Bullet Central) says 250-1000 grams, or ~0.55 - 2.2 lbs. My experience has been that going below the manufacturer advertised minimum starts flirting with reliability issues. You do you.
Now for the less fun part. As is, there was *no* way that chunk of metal was fitting inside the McMillan XIT stock on this gun. What I thought was going to be a quick 5 minutes with the Dremel turned into more like 45 minutes with a lot of test fitting. Part of it was the huge blocky body of the trigger. And part of it was an apparent issue with the original inletting for the trigger and guard being about 1/16" off to one side. That part didn't reveal itself until I finally took the trigger guard off to see from underneath where things were still hanging up. Even once I'd relieved a bunch of material inside the body of the stock, the trigger shoe was still rubbing the slot in the guard. Couldn't really move the guard over, so out came the diamond drum tip and I polished enough off the inside of the slot to allow a double thickness of paper for clearance on that side.
In the end, it's all installed and breaking crisply @ 7-8 oz. Hopefully it shoots as well as the AccuTrigger it displaced.
First impressions:
Holy hell, this thing is *THICK*. I mean like, over 1/2" wide.
Also... it's *DEEP*. That thickness extends pretty much all the way down, all the way around, except maybe a small section that is maybe 1/16" less deep at the rear.
You end up re-using the factory bolt release / sear piece, pivot pin, 90 degree spring and safety button - but not the safety slide bar.
Got it installed last night on my 12 Palma action... according to the Lyman digital trigger gauge, it broke repeatedly @ 13.5-14 oz out of the box, with no adjustment. Very crisp.
This morning, I went out and tried adjusting the trigger weight down... backed the adjustment screw out one full revolution, and the pull weight was down to 7-8 oz. That's right where - or slightly below - where I normally run my target AccuTriggers, so I left it alone. I'm perfectly comfortable with that trigger pull weight - shot a 150-10X @ 600 yesterday with the AT - but others may want to try going lighter. The manual (not included, but downloadable as a PDF from Bullet Central) says 250-1000 grams, or ~0.55 - 2.2 lbs. My experience has been that going below the manufacturer advertised minimum starts flirting with reliability issues. You do you.
Now for the less fun part. As is, there was *no* way that chunk of metal was fitting inside the McMillan XIT stock on this gun. What I thought was going to be a quick 5 minutes with the Dremel turned into more like 45 minutes with a lot of test fitting. Part of it was the huge blocky body of the trigger. And part of it was an apparent issue with the original inletting for the trigger and guard being about 1/16" off to one side. That part didn't reveal itself until I finally took the trigger guard off to see from underneath where things were still hanging up. Even once I'd relieved a bunch of material inside the body of the stock, the trigger shoe was still rubbing the slot in the guard. Couldn't really move the guard over, so out came the diamond drum tip and I polished enough off the inside of the slot to allow a double thickness of paper for clearance on that side.
In the end, it's all installed and breaking crisply @ 7-8 oz. Hopefully it shoots as well as the AccuTrigger it displaced.
Yep, I noticed how large it was when mine showed up last week. I’ve been reluctant to remove the red-blade AccuTrigger on my Savage 6 BR-A. It’s actually pretty sweet how it currently is and the rifle shoots lights out. Probably gonna save the Bix N Andy for the next build and see what happens. Sounds like you went through quite the ordeal concerning the installation.
memilanuk
Gold $$ Contributor
<shrug> It's an experiment. Kind of like how people change out perfectly good barrels, stocks, swap bolt handles/heads, get parts painted/coated/polished, all things that have... questionable, at best... 'value'. I think most of us have blown more money on stupider things. Get over it.
I don't need to get over it, your explanation makes perfect sense. I suspect it will become a confidence thing if nothing else. I am sure I would be more at ease with a B&A than a stock trigger. I read many years ago that Arnold Jewell spent years trying to make a crisp light trigger for Savages and eventually gave up. I think the issue is not with the trigger but the sear, and until the sear comes out the bottom of the bolt and works like most of the other triggers in the world attempts to make the trigger fix the sear will be in vain.
Arnold Jewell actually made some super triggers for the Savage. He only made a pilot run of a dozen.
He sent me one to evaluate, and eventually we cut a deal for me to be the exclusive dealer/installer. He sent me the remaining 6 that he had, so I put them into the hands of the best competitors I had on my customer list. Never got a bad review.
This is where things went south.....Arnold was retired at the time and his son Brian was running the show. He was expecting a child and hadn't had a vacation in ten years, so he was taking some time off. I was told by Arnold at the time, to give him a call after the first of the year and get a production run scheduled. When I finally got to talk to Brian, he was skeptical about the market, and was overloaded with orders for whatever their bread and butter triggers were , so he decided to mothball the Savage trigger. I could not disagree with him, as the market was not that big at that time and is not that big at the moment to justify what it would take to make it worthwhile.
He sent me one to evaluate, and eventually we cut a deal for me to be the exclusive dealer/installer. He sent me the remaining 6 that he had, so I put them into the hands of the best competitors I had on my customer list. Never got a bad review.
This is where things went south.....Arnold was retired at the time and his son Brian was running the show. He was expecting a child and hadn't had a vacation in ten years, so he was taking some time off. I was told by Arnold at the time, to give him a call after the first of the year and get a production run scheduled. When I finally got to talk to Brian, he was skeptical about the market, and was overloaded with orders for whatever their bread and butter triggers were , so he decided to mothball the Savage trigger. I could not disagree with him, as the market was not that big at that time and is not that big at the moment to justify what it would take to make it worthwhile.
I would agree with that having worked on my own Savage triggers. That weird sear thing and bolt cocking pin are contrary to a lot of criteria. The fact that Savage makes the target accu-trigger work as well as it does is a compliment to their assembly teams.
I have not tried a Jard, but, they went all out and redesigned that release mechanism. Some say it is really good, others not so much.
I have not tried a Jard, but, they went all out and redesigned that release mechanism. Some say it is really good, others not so much.
memilanuk
Gold $$ Contributor
Mine worked at a nice 7 oz., until it didn't. I fiddled with it until I got thoroughly irritated with it, then got rid of it.
rjtfroggy
Gold $$ Contributor
I would disagree with this statement. I've been on here for quite a while and I was also on Savage Shooters for years and the biggest complaint is the trigger, almost everyone wants a trigger with out the safety blade that is adjustable down as far as they can get it to go.
I believe that this is the reason you don't see many Savages in the equipment list at competitions.
I believe that with proper marketing the triggers would be a huge hit.
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