Savage axis trigger

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Jmassecar

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Norfolk County, Ontario
I have a Savage Axis .270 which I quite like. The only complaint is the trigger. It's not the accutrigger, and I want to upgrade it. I was looking online and found a couple options. One was to do a trigger job myself and the other is a Timney trigger. The Timney trigger is going to end up costing half of what I paid used for the rifle, so this seems like a dumb financial move. I'm considering the DIY option, as I am quite technically inclined and good with tools, I just don't want to screw anything up, cause a safety issue or end up with a light but otherwise bad trigger which really won't help me anyways.

what do you guys think? Thanks in advance.
 
Dont know what is involved in the axis trigger DIY but iv done lots of marlins with no issue. I say go for it and if you mess it up buy the aftermarket one.

All I do to test if I F'ed up is #### the gun (EMPTY) and drop it on the butt stock a few times bump them around tap the action with a rubber mallet ex. and she if she holds
 
First off, before the flames start (and I hope they don't)..... I hope you are njoying your axis and that you are hunting it hard and shooting as much as you can.....

If you Intend to keep it then buy the timney..... If you do not then just live with the trigger.... Unless a qualified smith like guntech weighs in here, in which case, follow his advice....

Don't alter a firearm without good knowledge.... Many will tell you to cut the spring etc..... And I am sure there are countless YouTube vids on the subject.....

The Internet is a great thing.... It allows us all quick access to info..... Just make sure you question the source.....
 
Hitzy said:
http://www.huntinggearguy.com/tips/diy-savage-axis-trigger-job/
Over travel screw and new spring is a pretty safe upgrade, I would not mess with the sear surfaces at all. Will make for an OK trigger....
Click to expand...

That's the DIY I saw. I feel relatively comfortable, because it is not screwing with the sear, as you suggested. I might give that a try and see how it goes. I'll bump it like crazy (empty!) to ensure it is safe. I'll also invest in a trigger pull gauge.
 
I did the axis trigger mod and it was 10x better than stock. Later I installed a timney....its the way to go, you can always recoupe most of the cost of the timney if you should decide to sell the gun at a later date. Its a great trigger :)
 
Yes, you are finding what most do with the Axis (not the Axis II).

The gun holds nice and shoots awesome but the trigger requires two men and a boy to pull it comfortably.

And as you also note, the cost of an aftermarket trigger is about half the cost of what the rifle was new.

The solution - buy the model 11/111 in the first place - it's cheaper than adding a trigger to an Axis.

But since you are there already, I would go with the Timney.

KEEP the original trigger to re-install when/if you sell the rifle and then sell the trigger separately to someone else who bought the Axis.

Two things you should never "cheap out on" on a rifle:

1) the trigger - it's the one thing that can give you consistency in making the gun go "boom" exactly when you want it to

2) the ammunition (especially if you hunt it) - that's the business end of things.

Cheap out on either and you will never be satisfied with the results.
 
Sad thing is, these are the same triggers that Savage use to use in the 10/12 etc before the accutrigger came about. Difference is they use to come with the set screws to adjust everything...Same as the timney. The rear hole that the spring sits in is already threaded for the over travel screw, they use to have one in the front for sear engagement as well, same as the timney. I had an old model 12 and once adjusted was pretty damn decent. I don't think you really get much for your $120+ buying a timney for these. Most gunsmiths could d&t for sear engagement screw or stone the trigger and add the over travel for you for probably less then $50 and adjust it to a safe 3lbs +/-.
 
galamb said:
Yes, you are finding what most do with the Axis (not the Axis II).

The gun holds nice and shoots awesome but the trigger requires two men and a boy to pull it comfortably.

And as you also note, the cost of an aftermarket trigger is about half the cost of what the rifle was new.

The solution - buy the model 11/111 in the first place - it's cheaper than adding a trigger to an Axis.

But since you are there already, I would go with the Timney.

KEEP the original trigger to re-install when/if you sell the rifle and then sell the trigger separately to someone else who bought the Axis.

Two things you should never "cheap out on" on a rifle:

1) the trigger - it's the one thing that can give you consistency in making the gun go "boom" exactly when you want it to

2) the ammunition (especially if you hunt it) - that's the business end of things.

Cheap out on either and you will never be satisfied with the results.
Click to expand...

I would've thrown a 3rd in there at optics. If your gun shoots factory ammo MOA great. But if you can't see what you're shooting at, I don't see the benefit
 
galamb said:
Yes, you are finding what most do with the Axis (not the Axis II).

The gun holds nice and shoots awesome but the trigger requires two men and a boy to pull it comfortably.

And as you also note, the cost of an aftermarket trigger is about half the cost of what the rifle was new.

The solution - buy the model 11/111 in the first place - it's cheaper than adding a trigger to an Axis.

But since you are there already, I would go with the Timney.

KEEP the original trigger to re-install when/if you sell the rifle and then sell the trigger separately to someone else who bought the Axis.

Two things you should never "cheap out on" on a rifle:

1) the trigger - it's the one thing that can give you consistency in making the gun go "boom" exactly when you want it to

2) the ammunition (especially if you hunt it) - that's the business end of things.

Cheap out on either and you will never be satisfied with the results.
Click to expand...

I bought my axis xp for under $300 - and that was before the $50usd mail in rebate. So I paid half the price of a 11/111 if that.

OP, try the spring and screw upgrade. Dont cut the stock spring, so you can return to that if you are unsatisfied with the screw/a new spring.

Make sure you test your safety a bunch too. Mine doesn't engage properly anymore, i think the screw head is interfering with the stock upon reassembly. It works out of the stock fine, and it works when i first put it together, then it gets increasingly difficult to engage until it will only go half way into safe. I used a screw that's for a flathead screwdriver, I'm looking for one that's a hex key now because the screw heads are smaller on them and I hope this will alleviate my problem.

One other thing to consider is you can only screw the screw in so far, and it doesn't entirely work as an overtravel stop. This is because the trigger is used to remove the bolt, and the release for the bolt is farther than the release for the sear.

Sic Kid said:
I would've thrown a 3rd in there at optics. If your gun shoots factory ammo MOA great. But if you can't see what you're shooting at, I don't see the benefit
Click to expand...

The glass isn't amazing, but for a newbie who has not yet been spoiled by good scopes it works great. It'll be going on my 22 after I get a new scope for my Axis one of these days.
 
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I would second the advice to not cut the factory spring, if you want to go back to what you had then it is easy. I have heard of guys stashing it in a cavity in the stock, then it is always there.

I had an axis and I made the trigger much nicer by removing the factory spring and threading a machine screw into the bottom with blue loctite and replacing the factory spring with a pen spring that slipped over the end of the machine screw to hold it in place. It made a big difference, and it was 50 cents.

It is tough to screw up the trigger with the method above, all that spring does in the trigger is add resistance to the trigger pull, so if you add a weaker spring you are reducing the resistance. The nice thing about the axis trigger is that the safety is a separate part and seems like it would be tough to mess up especially if you dont touch it.

As always OP study the trigger before hand and do your internet research first.
 
Suther said:
Make sure you test your safety a bunch too. Mine doesn't engage properly anymore, i think the screw head is interfering with the stock upon reassembly. It works out of the stock fine, and it works when i first put it together, then it gets increasingly difficult to engage until it will only go half way into safe. I used a screw that's for a flathead screwdriver, I'm looking for one that's a hex key now because the screw heads are smaller on them and I hope this will alleviate my problem.
Click to expand...

Quick update on this. The screw I am using is 3/4" long, and you cannot screw it all the way in, it stops the trigger from moving before its threaded all the way in. I tried switching to a 1/2" long one and it fixed my problem with the safety not engaging. This one I could screw all the way in, so I think this confirms my expectation that the longer screw was interfering with the stock.... But it also allowed for a lot of overtravel, and a trigger that moved a whole lot when the rifle wasn't cocked.

Getting rid of all this slop was half the reason to do the trigger job, so I went back to the 3/4" one, but first I took my angle grinder to the head of the screw to make it much smaller. Im not screwing it in all the way, so the size of the head only matters for getting a screwdriver to work. Now that I have made the screw head smaller, the safety functions fine.

My friend just got an Axis, so maybe I'll do a quick write-up on his trigger when we get around to it...
 
I also have a Savage Axis in .270 I put a Rifle Basix sav-1 on mine and don't regret it. I had never changed or touched a trigger. The instructions were ok, but not hugely detailed and I worried about slam fire or other problems. When we went camping, I brought the old trigger and some tools just in case. I had no issues with it and all went well. No slam fires and I did try.
 
I too put a basix trigger in my wife's 243 axis. It was easy to do and half the price of the timney trigger. I watched a few YouTube videos on the install then put it in myself in about an hour and a half. It only took that long because I was so paranoid of doing something wrong. Highly recommend the basix trigger for an axis

Yak
 
Yak said:
I too put a basix trigger in my wife's 243 axis. It was easy to do and half the price of the timney trigger. I watched a few YouTube videos on the install then put it in myself in about an hour and a half. It only took that long because I was so paranoid of doing something wrong. Highly recommend the basix trigger for an axis

Yak
Click to expand...

I also installed a rifle basix trigger. I bought the 223 axis for $250 and paid $105 for the trigger. the thing shot so well I ended up putting a boyds thumbhole stock on it for another $150. SO now I have a $500 gun that I like to shoot. I would not trade it for a model 11 with an accutriger and a plastic stock. Now that being said I wouldn't recommend doing it. I just got everything so cheap when the dollar was almost at par that it worked out well. also keep in mind if you buy a SAV-1 Rifle Basix trigger you can pull it later and install it on any savage 11/111/10/110/16/116.

Here is the link to the Rifle Basix SAV-1

www.riflebasix.com/product/savage-110-axis-trigger-sav-1/
 
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