Okay, I got tired of hassling with the center blade on my Savage Accu-trigger and performed some surgery on it. This post will talk about the changes that I have made to my trigger to alleviate the problems I had.
First, let's talk about the problems that some people have experienced (me included) with the Accu-Trigger. Have you ever tried to fire your A/T equipped Savage only to hear the click without the boom, and then found your trigger locked up? Have you every gotten disgusted with the fact that if you set the trigger to a light setting, and then found that the slightest jostle of the gun, or bump against something, trips the trigger and locks it up? If so, follow this post with pics, and I can show you the way to A/T Mecca.
After firing this brand new 12FV this past weekend, I was jammed up by the A/T about every 3 out of 5 shots. This was a pain in the rear. I took the gun apart and set out to do some surgery to resolve what I felt were some serious issues.
My goals... #1. I wanted the trigger to be as light as I wanted it. #2. I wanted that center blade GONE.
Let's get right into it. Remove the bolt from the action and set it somewhere safe away from your work area. Now that the bolt is out-verify that there is NO AMMO in the magazine, or in the actual chamber. Next, I started by removing the 2 action screws and separating the action from the stock.
Once that was done, I pulled the C-clip off of the end of the pin on which the trigger, and the center blade pivot.
In this pic, you can clearly see the C-clip:
Since getting that C-clip off without losing it can be difficult, I actually stick a magnet on the action right next to the clip so that when it finally pops loose, it will simply stick to the magnet. Otherwise, you can expect that clip to disappear when it finally separates from the pin. Pic is self explanatory:
Once you get the C-clip out of the way, you can then pull the pivot pin out. You can see the pivot pin also stuck to the magnet in the picture above.
With the pivot pin out, the trigger arm will separate from the rest of the trigger assembly. Now here is where the fun begins. Here is the logic & reason part of this post. The "WHY" we are doing what we are doing. The Accu-Triggers can't be set very light (at least all the ones I own) without the triggers being tripped and locked up for one reason. That reason is NOT ENOUGH SEAR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE TRIGGER ARM. So, in order to meet the stated goals above, we actually need to increase the contact surface area between the tip of the sear, and the point on the end of the trigger arm. Increasing this surface area will allow us to set the trigger lighter without the rifle discharging accidentally, or unintentionally. Since I am removing my center blade from the trigger-which is in effect a safety-if I have my trigger set too light, with not enough sear engagement, the gun could accidentally discharge. That is not good. Increasing the sear engagement with the trigger arm will solve this issue.
In this pic, you can see where I have taken a small jewelers file, and actually sanded a portion of the trigger arm surface away:
The rectangular area in the pic is the ONLY area that you want to file. Do not attempt to file, and make sure that you don't accidentally file, the raised ridge where the tip of the sear contacts the trigger arm. The reason for filing the rectangular area in the pic is to reduce that surface by at least .005-.010" of an inch. You see the foot of the sear actually rides on that flat surface. When you reduce that flat surface, you are allowing for a deeper, or greater, contact surface area between the sear & trigger arm. This insures that if you bump the gun really hard while it is cocked, or even slam the butt of the rifle down on the ground as you will do during the testing phase, that the rifle will not accidentally discharge. Now that you have reduced that surface with your file, time to polish it up. I started with 400 grit, then moved to 600, then 800, and finally 1000 grit with transmission fluid on the paper to move the particles away from the surface. Kind of hard to see in that pic, but I could almost see my reflection in the flat surface when I was done. Now, I mentioned not filing the actual ridge where the sear touched the trigger arm. Hopefully you DID NOT file those points. I do want you to go ahead and sand them just like you sanded the flat surface on the trigger arm. A couple strokes with each grade of paper, increasing the number of strokes as the paper gets finer. I found that folding the paper over on itself, and making a sharp crease got down into the groove on the trigger arm that the sear rides in when the rifle is cocked. Sand BOTH the trigger arm, and the actual sear. I did not remove the sear from my gun for sanding, though you can easily do that if you so desire by simply pulling the OTHER pin out that the sear pivots on.
Moving on, once you have those parts as mirror smooth as possible, use carb cleaner to remove any grease that might be present that is holding sanding particles, and then use compressed air to blow it all away. Try and keep as much gunk out of the action as possible, even though you will be cleaning everything later.
Now let's move on to the center-blade. Now that you pulled the trigger pivot pin out, and removed the trigger from the action, you can remove the center blade from the trigger. The spring that is on the center blade needs to be carefully removed from the other end of the blade. The reason is, that spring will trade places with the original trigger re-set spring. In this pic, you can see that the center blade spring is on the LEFT, and the original trigger re-set spring is on the right:
Remove the original trigger re-set spring by unscrewing it from the end of the trigger arm. Stick it to your magnet so it does not walk off on it's own. Now slowly remove the center blade re-set spring from the end of the blade arm. It might take a little work, but it will come off. Once you have it off, you need to take a pair of needle-nose pliers and find the very end of the spring on the larger end of the coil, and bend it so that it sticks straight out from the end of the spring. If you look at the original re-set spring, you'll see the end of the spring sticks out like a teet, and you want to duplicate that on the end of the center blade spring. The reason for that is that there is a tiny hole in the action that the teet will seat into to keep the large end of the spring in place. While my picture does not show it, if you look closely at the original spring, you'll see what I'm talking about.
Now, put some water-proof grease onto the area that you sanded, and also on the end of the sear where it will contact the trigger arm. Now guide the trigger back onto the housing being careful to insert the teet on the big end into the hole in the action, and guide the small end back into the hole on the end of the trigger arm. Once you get the trigger arm back on, and the holes lined up with the housing, push the pivot pin back in, and put the C-clip back on. Should look like this:
In that pic, you'll note the smaller, & lighter, center blade spring is now in the position that the original trigger re-set spring was in, and you can clearly see the water-proof grease at the sear/trigger contract point.
Reassemble the gun, and it should now look like this:
Clean the gun now! Clean the barrel, clean the action, clean the bolt. Be sure that you have gotten any sanding grit out of the action before you move on to the function tests.
Function tests. With everything clean, put the bolt back in and close it on an empty chamber. Pointing the weapon in a safe direction, pull the trigger. The hammer should fall.
If it passes the previous step, the next step is to cycle the bolt open then closed to [censored] the gun. Now, put the safety on and pull the trigger. Listen for the hammer to fall. If the hammer does not fall the gun has passed this step. Now move the safety to the OFF position and listen for the hammer to fall as you move the gun OFF safety. If the hammer does not fall, you have passed this test.
Lastly, cycle the bolt open then closed to [censored] the hammer. With the safety OFF, sharply rap the butt of the gun against the floor, or other hard surface, and listen for the hammer to fall. If the hammer does not fall you have passed this test.
If your gun fails ANY of the tests above, immediately take it to a gunsmith and explain what you have done so that he can correct the problem. Do not attempt to fire any gun that fails any of the tests above! To do so could put you or others around you in danger.
I'm working on the sear re-set spring to see if that will have any advantage to lightening the trigger further. I'll post back after some experiments along those lines.
