Triggers & Safeties

[Murphy]

Ok. The subject is Triggers and Safeties.

What do you like/dislike about the trigger/safety of your favorite rifle. Or what is the ideal trigger/safety to have on a rifle and why.

What about a dangerous game rifle where a failure could be more costly than just a lost trophy or dinner. What other considerations would apply.

Those who have commented on a particular brand of rifle, tell us about the trigger & safety. I know there's more to a rifle than just a trigger but this is the lockwork, the heart and soul of a rifle.

[brav01]

I BELIEVE, a trigger is required to function properly in the rain,snow, mud, ice,sand. Triggers should break clean and crisp without excessive creep or travel. Pull weight is only a factor on varmint or bench rest type rifles as long as it can be in the 3-7 lb range. Safetys should be easily accessable, and lock the bolt or striker not the trigger.

[Snowwolfe]

I was a life long Remington rifle fan. I also love hunting at Kodiak and other places where the temperatures can go below freezing with rain, ice and snow.
In the lower 48 the Remingtons worked flawlessly. My first trip to Kodiak proved otherwise. Every trip to Kodiak where either my son or I took a Remington rifle we had problems with our triggers freezing up. I blame this on two things. The first being the triggers were properly set up with minimun creep and overtravel (my fault-we love a tuned trigger) and the second being the enclosed "box" that held the trigger.
This situation was easy to remedy. We just carried a few containers of "Heet" and would pour this over the trigger to remove the ice before leaving camp. But I kept on thinking, what if this happens while we are hunting? The problem was not that I was not degreasing the triggers. There is simply no way for water to flow out of the trigger mechanism fast due to the solid sides.
After our last trip to Kodiak two winters ago we came back and I sold every Remington rifle we had and converted to Win 70's as our main choices. Also tossed in a Ruger and kept a few Savages and wife likes her Kimber Montana.
I love how the trigger is on the model 70's, very open and only a few parts to deal with.
I never had any problem with the safety on the Remingtons and it did not bother me the safety did not lock the bolt into position on the newer models. A safety to me is almost after thought as I never chamber a round untill I feel I need it.
I played with this issue for 20 years before realizing I couldnt fix it. But I'll never own another Remington 700 in Alaska again. In the last 4 years I sold over a dozen really nice left and right handed Remington rifles that were all very accurate.
My top three trigger choices are:
1. Winchester 70 and clones such as the Montana Rifle Company-easy to tune, very durable, and I never heard anyone claim they froze up or had one broke. Certaintly my first choice for a Dangerous game rifle.
2. Ruger 77- horrible out of the box but very easy to fix
3. Savage Accuatrigger

[brav01]

Main Battle Rifles have the qualities both needed and sought after by hunters. Reliability and flawless operation in all weather and conditions. I personally use a Commercial 98 Mauser as it has filled all of these requirements already on every continent for over 100 yrs. It has a readily available supply of parts should anything fatigue through the years and requires fewer parts than most of its newer knock offs.

[walk-in]

My favorite rifle is an '06 built on a Husqvarna Mauser action. It has a Timney trigger set to about 2 1/2 lbs and the stock 2 position safety. Timney triggers are a must IMO, and I don't really care much either way if I have a 2 or 3 position safety.
The other rifle that I use quite a bit is a Ruger M77 Mk II in 35 Whelen. Ruger's factory triggers are horrible, so it also has a Timney. Easy to install, and it makes it feel like a completely different gun. I know one guy who doesn't like the M77 safety because he thinks it is hard to get to in a hurry if you have a scope mounted on the rifle. I personally don't find it to be a problem.

[brav01]

For all of you who have interest in the topic; I found this INTERESTING.
www.african-hunter.com/lessons_learned.htm

It gives you some insight on modern rifles and their problems.
SORRY Murphy; the next link isn't really about triggers but I feel it may answer a lot of questions often encountered on these forums. It's 3 parts a covers the use of a shotgun on dangerous game.
www.african-hunter.com/Rifle_choice_4_Dangerous_Game.htm

Hope everyone finds this informative.

[SoldotnaDave]

A Thumb Saftey is my favorite type of safety. Its fast and right there where you need it. I love Remington 870 shotguns, but hate their safetys. I much prefer the mossberg thumb safety over my remington. My marlin 45/70 also has one of these same type of safes the remington 870, and I would never have the safety on when in thick brush. Drather have to lever the action than to work the safety in a stressful situation with my trigger finger.

[highcountry]

winchester m70. the trigger is quite easy to get to break cleanly and creep free w/o worry of freezing, they are adjustable and if need be a little blueprinting can match as good a trigger as can be bought. the safety......well how could it be any better?

mark 2 rugers share the same feelings on the trigger and safety but I like the winnys lines more.

[highcountry]

come to think of it I do sort of like my weatherby ultralight also.

[.338 mag.]

Murphy, I have used Mod. 70's for along time. That trigger is as simple and rugged as any I am aware of and it can be tuned to a crisp 3 lb. break. I don't know how it could be any simpler and still work. The safety locks the sear and the firing pin. It also locks the bolt down and in the half way position it allows the bolt to be taken apart and cleaned. You get all this as well as a mechanical ejector and controlled round feed on a Mod. 70. So yeah, I like them! But, you already know all this. Go kill a critter. You sound bored.

[RainGull]

I love the Remington safety as far as location and ease of use, but then I shoot my left-handed father's BDLH often, so it is right where it should be.

I prefer the Weatherby safety though as it is all exposed with no crevice to fill with dirt and sticks and muck, is quiet, easy to operate etc... The Weatherby is my favorite action though.

The only stock trigger I ever liked was pretty well every S&W revolver I ever cocked the hammer on. Never felt a bad one yet from 629's 686's and 60's.

[fremont]

I've had a hand in building two rifles (338-06AI and 6.5-06AI) with Mauser actions. Both were enhanced nicely with Timney triggers and M70 style 3-position safeties.

[schloss]

i shoot rugers almost exclusively. not a huge fan of the trigger, though it is way better than what we had on the m16. the trigger on my 308 is better than most, for some reason. like how the safety locks the firing mechanism. like the three position safety, but think the positioning is awkward. i thought it would be more logical to have it on the left side of the bolt where the thumb naturally lays.

[TomM]

Triggers- I like the Mod. 70 the best, due to its simplicity. It is very easy to tune w/ simple tools. No housing for debris or ice. Easy to inspect. The only thing I dont like about them is the firing pin fall. Seems weaker than the Rem's and Ruger's. Had issues w/ 2 Mod 70's and CCI primers in the cold. Yes, they were degreased, but the firing pin fall wasnt strong enough to fire the primer on those hard CCI cups in the cold. I have looked around for a "stronger" spring, but havent found anything to my likening, so have switched primers, and keep bolt sleeves extra clean. Off the subject, but the fact that I can take the firing pin assembly out of a M70 bolt sleeve w/o tools is awesome.

Safety- Anything but Rem's. The fact that the trigger is what is blocked, is not very comforting. I dont usually carry a round in the chamber, but the thought of bearing down on an animal, taking the safety off and boom.... scares me. Have never had it happen to me, but heard of it happening to many times to chalk it up as a extemely rare occurence. I believe the two-postion safety is much easier to use in the heat of the moment. It took some practice to get use to the 3-postion, but am very comfortable w/it now. I feel the two-postion is just more natural w/o practice. My solution is too only use pretty much all 3-position. When I am going to hunt with a 2-position, it gets lots of range time to re-acquaint myself.

So in my opinion, the pre-64 Mod. 70 is the way to go. Then practice, practice.... I have learned some things the hard way by trying to shoot a deer with a ruger M77 Mark II in the middle postion. Wont go off no matter how hard you squeeze. Also learned its hard to find the front shoulder of a deer 25 yds away w/ your brand new scope turned up to 9X. My .02

[Matt]

I like everything about the model 70 trigger and safety. The trigger is an easily simple and open design and the safety can black the firing pin.

And the Remington 700 safety and trigger well, there ain't much good to say about that (not talking about their new trigger since I have no experience with it).

[Paul H]

Personally I think for a hunting rifle the Ruger M77 mk II trigger is about the best design there is. Very few moving parts, well protected by the housing that is cast as part of the reciever, and properly tuned it provides a very good release. To me adjustments are an add on to a poor design, and something to go wrong in the field. With the ruger once it's set right, there is nothing to get out of wack.

As for safeties, I'm partial to a striker block safety, ie one that is on the bolt and positively blocks the travel of the striker. A side benefit of these safeties is they ease of field stripping the bolt. So I'd say a Win M-70 is the way to go. I don't care for the Ruger adaptation, it only blocks the striker in the rearmost position, it is more difficult to access, and it isn't a part of the bolt so the bolt is more difficult to strip.

[Darreld Walton]

When possible, I keep the action open with an empty chamber.
Of commercially available bolt guns, the M70 had the best safety and trigger going. Second, in my mind, but as reliable, and even simpler, are the single and two stage military triggers with Mauser type swing safety. Drawback to the Mauser type is that there's seldom room to swing it to a 'middle' position to open the bolt with the striker locked when a scope is mounted.
On lever guns, I try to keep the chamber empty and the action closed if possible. Only takes a flick to load and fire. I have no use for half-cocks...
For speed, it's tough to beat a tang safety, or a cross-bolt type in the trigger guard, but they won't block the striker or hammer, only the trigger.

[brav01]

Darreld on the 98 Mausers try a Bueller low swing safety. They are as easy as a simple flick of the thumb and are on the right side for RH shooters.They still lock the bolt and clear the scopes line of sight.

[Darreld Walton]

Thanks! I've got Beuhlers and a couple other makers' low swing safeties on converted 98's and 1903 Springfields. They work fine. Only fly on them is that once applied, you can't open the bolt. Not a real 'biggie', more a nuisance, and not an issue at all, really, with a magazine floorplate that will open.
One thing that I've noticed with them, though, is that not everyone is equally skilled when putting them in. I've picked a few rifles up where their function was only cosmetic till I finished the fit between the safety and striker.

[brav01]

Very True !!!!!