MtnBiker6510
Sharpshooter
Sorry if this is a little long.
Last spring I purchased 2 Savage Axis. A 308, which I have since sold after ordering a Savage 11 in 308, & a 223 XP Predator Package in Mossy Oak Brush with a 3-12 Bushnell. The 308 wasn't what I really wanted, I wanted a heavier, shorter barrel and the very heavy 7.5lb trigger wasn't conducive to my novice accuracy. I've loved everything but the trigger on my 223. I've been able to shoot it pretty good, but always felt I could do better than the 2moa I kept getting. I felt the heavy trigger was to blame. It is a cheap rifle and I didn't wanna put any more money into it, so I did some reading on the world wide web.
Browsing the Axis threads over at SavageShooters.com turned up a trick I thought I'd try. They explained that the trigger spring could be easily removed and replaced with the spring from a bic pen and it would cut trigger pull in half!
Then I found some information on PredatorMastersForum regarding doing the same thing, but then polishing things to smooth it up.
I'm not a gunsmith, but I have a bic pen and I have time. Getting to the parts was really easy and even though I am mechanically inclined, I have never done any real trigger work before. I have done alot of reading and have done some polishing of feed ramps and such but never done anything significant.
Replacing the trigger spring with another makes zero permanent alterations to the rifle. If I didn't like it, i could simply put the factory spring back in and be good as new.
Accessing the spring to be replaced was easy. Verify the gun is safe and clear. Remove the bolt. Remove two screws in the stock to remove action. Remove clip on pin through trigger and push trigger pin out. Then the trigger easily just falls out and in a way that is easy to visualize. I unthreaded the factory screw and laid it aside.
I had to go through several Bic pens to find one that had a spring that had the right hand twist to it. My older ones all twisted to the left and wouldn't thread into the hole in the trigger, but once I had it in, I trimmed off the tight coils at the top and reassembled everything. Put the bolt back in and test fire.
Now I don't have a gauge to tell what it was before vs after, but the difference was noticeable, and highly recommended. Probably cut 3lb off of the trigger pull.
You Axis guys & gals should really try it.
I was feeling brave however (famous last words, eh?) and having some time to myself in the workshop today I kept thinking how I could improve it more. The notch in the trigger which holds the sear is huge and even my amateur eyes could tell that it was that sharp edge which while held the sear in place also caused friction which made the trigger heavier. I wanted a light trigger, but not too light that it would go off if dropped.
I don't have smithing tools, so I grabbed what I had: ad dremel and polishing wheels, some finishing steel wool left over from some 10/22 work and a sharpening stone. I wished I had some good needle files, but the stone would work for what I was gonna do...I hoped. I started by polishing the contact surfaces of both the sear and trigger and got them to a mirror shine. I tested it for oops "I dropped the gun" and also for pull. It was better, but not by much. This confirmed that I needed to remove material. I focused on the trigger, leaving the sear polishing but with a nice smooth edge. I started taking off material from the "cliff" on the trigger using my sanding stone. I'd take a a few strokes and then polish and test. I had to do this maybe 4 times until I hit a "eureka!" moment when the trigger was light & crisp, yet held when I dropped the rifle butt down repeatedly on the floor...hard, really hard. It snapped like a glass rod with about the pressure it takes to pop poppy paper. I knew what I was doing was working, so I did it one more time and thats when I could tell it was perfect. Less than poppy paper in weight, crisp with a good break and no roughness. It held when I again dropped it, wincing. I now have a perfect trigger. Heavy enough for the field. Tested safe and light enough to affect accuracy only minimally.
Now I was brave and don't recommend this to everybody with an Axis, but for me it was a success and a great educational experience. The Axis trigger in its design is the perfect trigger to learn on. I am very glad I did it.
Below is a pic from predatormastersforum which shows basically what the original author did. Pics help.
I am proud of myself for trying this and succeeding through patience and frequent testing. Maybe some of you can learn from my experience.
BTW here is my Savage Axis XP Predator Package 223 in Mossy Oak Brush. I found it at Gander when they had a $50 rebate and have never seen the same rifle anywhere. Guess I got lucky. I did replace the provided mossy oak brush bushnell 3-12 with something better I had laying around.
Last spring I purchased 2 Savage Axis. A 308, which I have since sold after ordering a Savage 11 in 308, & a 223 XP Predator Package in Mossy Oak Brush with a 3-12 Bushnell. The 308 wasn't what I really wanted, I wanted a heavier, shorter barrel and the very heavy 7.5lb trigger wasn't conducive to my novice accuracy. I've loved everything but the trigger on my 223. I've been able to shoot it pretty good, but always felt I could do better than the 2moa I kept getting. I felt the heavy trigger was to blame. It is a cheap rifle and I didn't wanna put any more money into it, so I did some reading on the world wide web.
Browsing the Axis threads over at SavageShooters.com turned up a trick I thought I'd try. They explained that the trigger spring could be easily removed and replaced with the spring from a bic pen and it would cut trigger pull in half!
Then I found some information on PredatorMastersForum regarding doing the same thing, but then polishing things to smooth it up.
I'm not a gunsmith, but I have a bic pen and I have time. Getting to the parts was really easy and even though I am mechanically inclined, I have never done any real trigger work before. I have done alot of reading and have done some polishing of feed ramps and such but never done anything significant.
Replacing the trigger spring with another makes zero permanent alterations to the rifle. If I didn't like it, i could simply put the factory spring back in and be good as new.
Accessing the spring to be replaced was easy. Verify the gun is safe and clear. Remove the bolt. Remove two screws in the stock to remove action. Remove clip on pin through trigger and push trigger pin out. Then the trigger easily just falls out and in a way that is easy to visualize. I unthreaded the factory screw and laid it aside.
I had to go through several Bic pens to find one that had a spring that had the right hand twist to it. My older ones all twisted to the left and wouldn't thread into the hole in the trigger, but once I had it in, I trimmed off the tight coils at the top and reassembled everything. Put the bolt back in and test fire.
Now I don't have a gauge to tell what it was before vs after, but the difference was noticeable, and highly recommended. Probably cut 3lb off of the trigger pull.
You Axis guys & gals should really try it.
I was feeling brave however (famous last words, eh?) and having some time to myself in the workshop today I kept thinking how I could improve it more. The notch in the trigger which holds the sear is huge and even my amateur eyes could tell that it was that sharp edge which while held the sear in place also caused friction which made the trigger heavier. I wanted a light trigger, but not too light that it would go off if dropped.
I don't have smithing tools, so I grabbed what I had: ad dremel and polishing wheels, some finishing steel wool left over from some 10/22 work and a sharpening stone. I wished I had some good needle files, but the stone would work for what I was gonna do...I hoped. I started by polishing the contact surfaces of both the sear and trigger and got them to a mirror shine. I tested it for oops "I dropped the gun" and also for pull. It was better, but not by much. This confirmed that I needed to remove material. I focused on the trigger, leaving the sear polishing but with a nice smooth edge. I started taking off material from the "cliff" on the trigger using my sanding stone. I'd take a a few strokes and then polish and test. I had to do this maybe 4 times until I hit a "eureka!" moment when the trigger was light & crisp, yet held when I dropped the rifle butt down repeatedly on the floor...hard, really hard. It snapped like a glass rod with about the pressure it takes to pop poppy paper. I knew what I was doing was working, so I did it one more time and thats when I could tell it was perfect. Less than poppy paper in weight, crisp with a good break and no roughness. It held when I again dropped it, wincing. I now have a perfect trigger. Heavy enough for the field. Tested safe and light enough to affect accuracy only minimally.
Now I was brave and don't recommend this to everybody with an Axis, but for me it was a success and a great educational experience. The Axis trigger in its design is the perfect trigger to learn on. I am very glad I did it.
Below is a pic from predatormastersforum which shows basically what the original author did. Pics help.
I am proud of myself for trying this and succeeding through patience and frequent testing. Maybe some of you can learn from my experience.
BTW here is my Savage Axis XP Predator Package 223 in Mossy Oak Brush. I found it at Gander when they had a $50 rebate and have never seen the same rifle anywhere. Guess I got lucky. I did replace the provided mossy oak brush bushnell 3-12 with something better I had laying around.
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