Timney Trigger Issues

[pburton]

I am relatively new to Long range hunting. I have been slowly working on my first rifle over the last year. Its a Win Mod70 7mm rem mag. I had a local gunsmith install a timney trigger. Since then I have had several problems. First and foremost is after about three shots the rear pin in the trigger assembly backs out. This causes the spring that controls the bolt release pin to back out. So to my suprise after the third shot my bolt came completely out when I ejected the case. I tapped the pin back in place and reset the spring. But this has happened 3 times now. I called the gunsmith about the problem and he told me "Well thats the way it is". Needless to say I will be finding a new gun smith. The second problem is that since he installed that trigger my safety is now very stiff. To the point where I cannot get it to the middle position. I am a little frustrated. The rifle is shooting great but I just can't trust it at this point. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pburton]

OK maybe I should put it this way. Has anyone every had this problem with Timney triggers before? Should I go to a different trigger or is this an easy fix? It looks like it should be an easy fix but I am not sure how to go about it.

 

[Bravo 4]

I have had this problem before with a buddy's Ruger 77. The "gunsmith" of over twenty years screwed one up grinding on it and the second one you had to excerpt a large amount of force on it to get the safety off. When my buddy picked it up the hinged floor plate wouldn't shut all the way and the guy made him pay for both triggers! My buddy brought it to me and in 10 minutes I had it fixed, and trust me I'm no gunsmith. A very small amount of filing and swapping the action screws around fixed both problems.
Even the best gunsmiths can make mistakes but a good one should fix his mistakes, I have yet to meet one worth a crap!!!
The only time I have had a rifle worked on and was totally pleased was with Kirby building my rifle, and I don't know if he would call himself a gunsmith or gun builder. Either way, genius is gonna be in there somewhere.

 

[Broz]

I have probably installed 30 or more of them and never had one issue. I would be getting a set of the instructions that came with it and go back over the installation to a "T". Or I would be calling Timney for advice on what you need to adjust.

For the safety issue, you might look at the stock interfering and needing inletted.

Jeff

 

[pburton]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I will be contacting Timney tomorrow. As far as the safety issue goes, it is not hitting the stock. The smith told me that he had to take the bolt apart to get the safety to work with this trigger. Not sure what he did.

 

[Rimfire]

Without seeing it I cant say for sure but most pins that are lose can easily be staked. I had one in a 70 that I also got back from a smith after a trigger job and it backed out. Staked it and it never moved again unless I wanted it to.

 

[7mmSendaro]

I just went through the safety issue you are discussing on a Timeny trigger. There is a detent pin for the safety position that actually travels out the side of the trigger housing opposite the safety lever. If there isn't enough clearance between the trigger housing and the stock for this pin to travel, the safety can't move freely.

The above may be hard to picture from my description, but remove the action from the stock and see if the safety moves freely. If it does, watch the trigger housing on the opposite side from the safety lever while moving the safety and you will see the small pin popping in and out of the housing. Make certain there is sufficient clearance inside the stock.

As others have mentioned, it can also be the safety lever itself dragging on the stock somewhere.

If the safety doesn't move freely with the action removed from the stock, call TImney.

Took me some time and choice words to figure this out on a Remington 700 a couple weeks ago.

In either case, find a new gunsmith!

 

[pburton]

I found a new gunsmith that was recommended by a couple of co-workers. I will look into the clearance issue. I looked externally but didn't think about the internal parts. Thanks for all the info.

 

[Nimrod]

The M70 install of the Timney trigger is not the easiest and in my experience has never been a "drop in fit". All the ones I have done needed some fitting involving stoning the cocking piece to get the safety to work correctly. A good gunsmith can usually turn the factory trigger into a thing of beauty.

Bob

 

[pburton]

Bob,
This is what I have heard. I made the decision to go with the timney instead of having the gunsmith modify the factory trigger like he was hinting at. I guess you live and learn. I have a new gunsmith looking at it this next week. Hopefully he can fix the issues and I can get back to shooting. Well, when the snow stops.

 

[Nimrod]

I'm sure when you find the right smith your trigger will turn out great. The last one I did had been hacked so badly that the brand new Timney was junk and so much material had been filed off the cocking piece that I had to weld it back up. It turned out good though, when I explaned what had happened Timney replaced the trigger free of charge and once I got the angle correct on the cocking piece the factory trigger turned out really nice. The customer was happy with it and was able to sell the Timney and get part of his money back. That was the last job I did before letting my FFL expire

 

[pburton]

I finally spoke to Timney this week. The tech told me to back out the front nut, secure the rear pin and re-tighten the nut. This should secure this pin. I did this so we shall see. This is my biggest issue with this trigger. The safety works as a two position safety which is ok. I hope that this fixed the problem. Although the tech did say that I may need to take the bolt apart and polish the cocking pin to get the safety to work more smooth. I have no idea how to do this so maybe the new gun smith can take care of this.

 

[nwhunter]

I would stick with your model 70 safety and sell the Timney.
I have owned 20 or more model 70's and almost always can get them adjusted to around 2-1/2 to 3 lbs.
Any compentant gun smith can do the same.
I am a BIG fan of timney though, I must have installed or owned over 20 mauser, enfield or springfield rifles with them, and they are a good trigger.