Problems with my Savage Accu-trigger

[Titletown101]

I have read multiple forums/articles with regards to the accu-trigger, however I trust all of you much more than some of the comments I have been reading. Here is the problem I have recently experienced. I own a Savage model 10 .243 predator rifle. Up until now this has been an amazingly reliable and deadly accurate hunting rifle for me, I have only experienced a very few misfires. I want to verify that the "misfires" are not the trigger "locking" because I engaged the main trigger without depressing the "accu-trigger" safety first, I quickly figured that out. This is an actual misfire where I pull the trigger, it releases, but not a dam thing happens. The last time out to the range this happened at least 10-12 times, and sometimes multiple times in a row. At first I thought that maybe I had a bad batch of primers, but the firing pin does not even strike the primer. This is very frustrating, I do like the accu-trigger but am willing to replace it with something different if that happens to the problem. Have any of you guys/gals experienced this? I also wanted to mentioned that I was completely re-cocking the gun when it acted up, sometimes that worked, but more times than not it made no difference. Please help. John

 

[hepburn45110]

The only time this happens on my Savages is when the trigger is set too light.

 

[Taildrag15X]

I'd think you'd be ahead with a Savage 2 Rifle Basix replacement from shootersdiscount.com.

http://www.shootersdiscount.com/cart/accessories/rifle-basix-triggers/rifle-basix-sav-2-savage-trigger-4-oz-to-3-lbs.html

 

[acloco]

......and disassemble your bolt and clean everything. I use STOS for lubricant on all firearms. Synthetic, stays where you put it, and very, very little is required. You will be pleasantly pleased with the results.

 

[fdshuster]

Both my "Accutriggers" began to have problems at approx. 1500 rounds fired, to the point where I was getting unintentional discharges. Both were set at 1 1/4#, so being too light was not the problem. Both were worked on by a highly skilled trigger knowledgable gunsmith, worked for a while then the same problems.

The Model 10 was replaced with the cheaper version of the Rifle Basix and the Model 12 was replaced with the top of the line Rifle Basix Sav 2. Both are an improvement over the "Accutrigger". Just another reason why I prefer Remington 700's, all of mine now having Jewell's.

I would never buy another Savage unless/until Jewell triggers become available to fit them.

Good rifles/ crappy triggers.

 

[lal357]

i currently own 4 savages(sold my last remmy and bought another savage )the 2 with the red accu-trigger have not given me any problems 1 is set at 10 oz. the other @ 8 oz. i also have a rifle basix sav-2 it also work great set at 6 oz.(had it at 4 oz but son said it was tooooo light ). ther are good after market triggers sss makes one also .

 

[fdshuster]

lal357: I must always get the "bad" triggers. I tried a new SSS trigger, before the Rifle Basix, and it was worse than the Accu-Triggers.

All professionally installed, because I'm not a tinkerer, especially with something as critical as a trigger. Had a lot of $$$$$ invested in Savage triggers, easily adding up to more than the cost of one of my Jewells in my Remington's, Panda & Bats. Over all, a bad experience, and that includes the points lost in match's when the rifle discharged as I very gently ( I never "slam" the bolts closed) closed the bolt on a live round.

Watch yours when you get around 1500 rounds fired. That seems to be the "magic" number total when problems begin. Will last a lifetime for the once a year deer hunter, but one season for those of us who shoot thousands of rounds annually.

 

[Nomad47]

I have a Savage 12 BVSS with 2116 rounds on the trigger - the original 22-250 barrel plus rounds down a 6mmXC and a 6-284. The original trigger is set under one pound and will lock up if the trigger & blade are not pulled STRAIGHT back.

 

[jhelmuth]

I have read multiple forums/articles with regards to the accu-trigger, however I trust all of you much more than some of the comments I have been reading. Here is the problem I have recently experienced. I own a Savage model 10 .243 predator rifle. Up until now this has been an amazingly reliable and deadly accurate hunting rifle for me, I have only experienced a very few misfires. I want to verify that the "misfires" are not the trigger "locking" because I engaged the main trigger without depressing the "accu-trigger" safety first, I quickly figured that out. This is an actual misfire where I pull the trigger, it releases, but not a dam thing happens. The last time out to the range this happened at least 10-12 times, and sometimes multiple times in a row. At first I thought that maybe I had a bad batch of primers, but the firing pin does not even strike the primer. This is very frustrating, I do like the accu-trigger but am willing to replace it with something different if that happens to the problem. Have any of you guys/gals experienced this? I also wanted to mentioned that I was completely re-cocking the gun when it acted up, sometimes that worked, but more times than not it made no difference. Please help. John

John,

I can help...

First off, the Savage Accu-trigger is a fine "factory" trigger. However, it IS NOT thee quality of many after-market triggers (duh - the same can be said of Remmy factory triggers, and most factory rifle triggers for that matter). OK... now that we've established that Savage is no different/worse than other similar factory rifles, lets "fix" the accu-trigger issue.

The problem with ALL versions of Accu-trigger (there are 3 - with the "lightest being the Target Accu-trigger only found on the Target Actions and those have a different sear engagement and one cannot take a non-target accu-trigger and upgrade it to a Target model by swaping parts - you have to swap the whole thing). Anyway... the issue is almost always noticeable at the lightest setting and is due to a trigger pull technique which is less than perfect. To get the accu-trigger to function at the lowest/lightest setting, you will HAVE to have a nearly perfect trigger technique, making sure that you apply 100% of the pressure directly back toward you along the axis of the rifle. Any side motion (and I mean ANY) will cause the firing pin to stike the primer lightly. I'm not positive, but I think this has to do with a timing problem and ALL of my actions which have been timed and trued by SSS are flawless with the accu-trigger (which is partly how I drew this conclusion - a worthy modification for the Savage Target actions, and I have 4 so I know from what I speak here). I discovered this quite by accident as I took my Dad to the range 2x and he had issues (exactly as you describe) with ALL of my rifles. I was perplexed, as they would function perfectly when I would go try it after he would get frustrated (and that just frustrated him even more). What tipped me off was the fact that he is NOT a shooter, and I finally had this happen later on (once) when I was shooting next to a fella who had the loudest 30.06 I had ever heard (yes - I had my ear protection in place... he just had a horribly loud muzzle brake). Anyway... he was to my back and it happened that when he got off his shot just as I was near getting my trigger to break, I had this issue happen. Now since it was now "me" having it happen, I set out to discover why. Long story short (right...) I figured out that the reason it would miss-fire was that if I were to apply any side movement to the trigger, I could reproduce it 100% of the time.

So... try this out. Go back and re-try this, but make 100% sure that - when you experience it - you recock the trigger (just lift the bolt back up) and make 100% sure you pull the trigger back 100% to the rear (no slight deflection to the side at all).

Having said this, I would actually recommend a trigger upgrade (who wouldn't given the typical factory trigger quality of any stock factory rifle). The Rifle Basix are truely an awesome trigger and the one I'd recommend (albiet the SSS can also be great - just not as easy to install and make it work correctly - or so I've heard). IF you can work on your technique, you can set the accu-trigger to it's lightest setting and it will work as designed. It's also not a bad idea to keep the accu-trigger away from the lightest setting as this also makes quick cycling of the bolt inconsistent with the cocking of the trigger as this can set off the safety mechanism that will not allow the trigger to fire.

Good luck and all the best!

Jim

 

[1S1K]

Check that the BAS (the screw at the rear of the bolt) is tight. It uses a 1/4" allen wrench. If that's tight check the firing pin protrusion. If all is still OK, take bolt apart , clean firing pin, spring, everything. Lightly lube then reassemble. If still having problems go to: www.Savageshooters.com and pose the question there.

 

[BoydAllen]

Some years back, when the SAV II trigger was new, after installing one on a single shot varmint rifle, and installing the barreled action into one of Shehane's drop in varmint stocks, I wrote an article, I think the first one, about both products, that was published in the recently demised Precision Shooting Magazine. About that time, in response to Bob Brasfield's (the owner of Rifle Basix) asking me if I could come up with a better way to explain how to install the SAV II, I suggested that he do a video with voice over, actually showing and explaining how to do all 21 or 22 (I forget.) steps involved in removing the factory trigger and installing his. He did it, and to this day, some form of that is available. As far as I am aware, this was an industry first. In any case, when I installed mine, despite Bob's protestations to the contrary, I had to do a minor amount of fitting (no big deal) and of course I just had to set it up for the lightest available pull, which was a consistent 4 oz. I should add that this rifle did not often make it into the field, but spent a good deal of its time being shot from a bench, at a range. The trigger never gave me a problem, and was a real improvement of the rifle. Some time later, a friend put one on a later version of the same rifle, and it has done a good job for him ever since. You might want to consider the upgrade. I suppose that I should point out that you can always set it up for a more field appropriate pull weight. It has a rather broad range.

 

[wmdron]

I have a Savage model 12 LRPV with the accutrigger. It would misfire and sometimes the trigger would just freeze up and couldn't be pulled. If I would then cycle the bolt it would free up. I adjusted the trigger making it a little heavier and the problems disappeared. If you want a really light trigger you are probably looking at a replacement.

 

[GrocMax]

As a contrast, I recently put on a RB Sav II, then took it back off after wasting a bunch of time on it, worse than the factory trigger by far. Could not be made bang around safe under 3 lbs. When ya get a GOOD Accutrigger, keep it. Have two normal Accutrigger actions that are great, had an LRPV midweight pull one that was HORRIBLE and got replaced.

There is one feature of the Accutrigger that often gets overlooked- the sear is blocked, the gun is safe.

I suppose that after some time the edges of the sear ramp on the trigger and sear wear and get rounded off, these parts can be replaced fairly cheaply.

Another thing- the factory does not put some super-slick lube on the sear to trigger engagement point, the type of lube you use can completely change the feel and function. Instead of moly, grease or oil, try graphite based anti-seize like Loctite Heavy Duty.

 

[GrocMax]

Oh, first things first- you have to pull the safety blade all the way back to the front face of the trigger or the sear gets blocked, if you have big meaty fingers with deep creases on the inside of your first knuckle like me, if you line the blade up with the crease in your first joint chances are you aren't pulling the safety blade all the way back, change technique and use the pad of your finger, not the crease.

 

[rvn1968]

+1 on GrocMax,If you are using ONLY the pad of your trigger finger and squeezing straight back,problems are rare.He also reccomended a lube I agree with,it attracts no dust or grime build-up. FWIW, Tom

 

[FroggyOne2]

One of these days I am going to come up with a better trigger for the Savage, I am working on it now.

 

[jonbearman]

If there was a way to by pass the factory sear and come up with a remington style trigger,it would be the greatest.I think it could be done by someone with cad cam to search out a way to get rid of the factory sear assy.

 

[FroggyOne2]

Jon,

That is exactly what I am working on..

Randy

 

[lal357]

The problem with ALL versions of Accu-trigger (there are 3 - with the "lightest being the Target Accu-trigger only found on the Target Actions and those have a different sear engagement and one cannot take a non-target accu-trigger and upgrade it to a Target model by swaping parts - you have to swap the whole thing). Good luck and all the best!

Jim

i've heard this alot on my tigershark it came with a silver blade accu-trigger (varmint) i swapped all but the sear to a red blade brought the pull down from 1.6 to 8oz it is set to just before the trigger slips the sear if i work the bolt HARD cant tell you how many rounds i have on it but it been on for about 3 years now . igenerally shoot every other weekend and son uses it to shoot f t/r .223 i think alot of the problems with them are like said before not pulling the trigger straight back and setting it up to light where if the bolt is worked hard it trips .
i'll probably always keep 1 accutrigger around they are great tools for proper trigger pulling (taught my son to pull straight back now working with the with) when my lrpv give up the ghost so to speak it will be getting a sav-2 and my neck biuld i have started will get one too.

 

[jonbearman]

Froggy,I would love to be the first to try your invention?