Savage 340 trigger job

[Rayzor]

I would like to lighten and smooth up my savages trigger a bit. I took it down and cleaned and oiled it up but it still has alot of creep and heavy pull before it breaks. I would guess its about 7-8 pound pull. Anyone worked on one of these with sucess? Its a 22 Hornet if that matters.

[trotterlg]

I probably have the clone to your rifle, also in Hornet (Mine is 90% converted to 17 Hornet).  I measured the trigger pull on mine and it is 4 Pounds, so I know you can get yours down to that.  The spring that holds the trigger forward that you can see at the rear is responsable for 1 pound of the pull weight.  I am thinking the geomerty of the sear to bolt hammer is most of the rest.  The creep on mine is not bad either, so that is probably fixable.  It does not look like mine has had any work done on it internally, it has the pins that are pienned over to hold them in, so I don't think they have been removed to work on internal parts.  If you have any questions that I can help you with or pictures of mine that you need I will be happy to help you out.  Larry

[Rayzor]

I just could not see a way of attacking the sear and trigger with stones. So i just cleaned yhem real good and that did help to a degree. Are you talking about the trigger return spring? Did you weaken your spring any?

[trotterlg]

I have not touched mine at all.  I think the angel of the sear that contacts the hammer release in the bolt is probably the place to do some work.  Problem is that to work on the sear you will probably have to remove the trigger assembly which is not an easy task on the 340.  You may be able to work on it with some good fine files from the top without taking it out of the action.  Take a good look at how it works and see what you think.  The sear pulls the hammer back slightly as the trigger is pulled, that is what causes the excessive trigger pull weight, changing the angle that the sear has against the hammer will reduce the pull.  (I think)  Larry

[gunnut69]

I've included a parts diagram at the bottom. The parts you will need to alter are 52-trigger spring, 53-trigger, and 49-sear. I would alter the angle of the catch surfaces of 53 and 49. If thisd angle is square to the pivot point of the particular part there will be no camming action and letoff will be too light as all that's holding the striker back is the trigger return spring. This means we must leave a bit of angle on these parts! How much is the question.. I would first remove the trigger housing-40 by removing the 2 screws retaining it 54 and 40A. Screw 54 also holds the magazine retainer spring-55. I strongly urge caution and never use files on these parts.. All work is to be done with stones. I much prefer the ceramic stones sold by Brownells. They polish and remove metal very slowly. Too much metal removal may go thru the case hardness and the parts will wear rapidly.. Usual first efforts are to polish and remove burrs on moving parts.. If lighter pulls are desired sear ang;es can be changed, minutely to remove---cery gradually the camming action of the trigger.. This is likely a change that should bee done by a competant gunsmith.. Parts may be hard to impossible to find and damage to existing parts possible.. Cleaning and lubrication with graphite is where one should start.. This is a fangerous operation for a neophite..

 http://stevespages.com/ipb-savage-340.html

[trotterlg]

Problem is that you cannot remove the trigger housing first.  First you have to take out all the internal trigger parts, then you can reach the screws to remove the housing.  The screws holding the housing are also staked in place, so it is no easy task.  If you remove all the internal parts there is no reason to take the housing off.  Larry

[gunnut69]

Larry- sorry about that but without a 340 in hand it's difficult.. The main thrust is that the alterations must be made to the trigger-sear interface. I hope I was clear in that I am hesitant to say this is a user friendly fix. Because it's not.. a slight error will likely turn out dangerous. Parts are hard to find so you may only get one chance to get it right.. If removing the internals of the trigger mechanism the housing should also be removed and cleaned, in and out.. The sear lever notch in the sear should be lubed with a synthetic grease(won't freeze up) and the rest lubed with graphite or moly.. It's been a long time since the last 340 or any of it's ilk.. so forgive the old and slightly infirm?? In any case don't use files and use stones very carefully. That's one of the reasons I prefer the ceramins..they cut fast but polish more than remove metal.. Means you can and should start with a much finer grit.. A little note- wet-or-dry sandpaper is a great tools for polishing flats.. sides of the trigger, sear, etc.  Start with 600 grit and remove only enough metal to round off the tool marks. If the entire mark is removed most times too much slop will be introduced into the mechanism.  In fact that last really applies to most 'polishing' of fine mechanisms.

[trotterlg]

They sure aren't a simple thing to work on.  Some have little clips on the ends of the pins so they are easy to take out, mine doesn't, they are peened over on the ends, so hard to remove.  I am lucky the trigger is good and I can leave it alone.  Good luck with yours, you may be able to find a thin stone you can work on the sear in place, then wash out the trigger real good after you are finished.  If yours has the little clips on the end of the pins it will probably not be much of a problem to take it apart to work on it.  Larry

[Rayzor]

You guys are scarin me ha ha....Anyways, I thought better of trying this one myself. The local gunsmith is a disabled vet and always sits outside his shop waiting for something to happen around here. So I took the gun in today and handed it over to  him for a smoothing. We will see how it goes, but for the 50.00 bucks its costing me and two hours of BS. whats the harm.  

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

Dragging up an old one here, but I have a couple questions:

I see that Rayzor is no longer actively posting, so we can't find out how his 340 came along, BUT

I have a Stevens 325C, and I really got a liking for it.
so, when I saw a 340 junker for training, I grabbed it also.

this 340 chamber is destroyed., mag missing, lower metal missing, and ejector parts are gone, but the rest is there, albeit some rust!

I'm going to try my hand at parkerizing.

I've not taken the 325 apart yet, so can't tell the difference on the two but the 340 trigger group pins are not staked, or clipped, just friction fitted, and were easily driven out.

from this, I'm able to tell the relationship of the parts, and where they'd need polishing.

another thing I noticed, is that although the sear lifts the striker as the trigger is pulled, to lessen creep, one could remove the depth of the sear shelf, without changing any angles.  As long as there was enough shelf there that the safety would hold the trigger back enough to keep it engaged, the safety would work as designed.

my safety catch is also just stamped metal, and the teat that holds the trigger is not 90 degrees.  It "Could" be bent more to make a tighter fit, thereby not allowing as much trigger movement, and then the shortened shelf of the sear would be of no concern.

once polished and shortened, the trigger would "Feel" much lighter, and yet not be that much different.

a bit of polishing of the striker engagement would only smooth it up a tad, and also cause no harm.


if the trigger works as planned, I may look into swapping them out.

if anyone is interested, I can take pics of what I'm talking about.  I can lay the parts out in their position so the relationship is visible, if you can't see from the schematics.
I cannot access any exploded schematics where I am now, but will when I get more unlimited access.

'nuk

[geezerbiker]

I'm not sure if I'd undertake this on my 325 but I'd sure like to see pix, if you're willing to post them...

Tony

[gunnut69]

The friction fit pins are the reason some were staked, as they usually work loose over time. Peening or staking is the common fix. The 'E' clips were the factory fix.. This a poor choice to learn with but be cautious..

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

I had thought about that, but my pins were TIGHT.  No rust, just tight.  In fact, very little corrosion in the trigger group.  Peening is not an option with mine as they do not come through the side plate.  They have a taper, and the hole is tapered as the pins will not go in from the wrong side.

What I am thinking of here, is if you never touch the contact surfaces, you can lessen creep and not change the overall safety, as long as you have "Some" creep the torque on the sear is the same.

Mine has a "Grab" feeling just before the release, which increases the pull significantly.  When I took a cursory look I saw what looked like machining marks.  I'll take a better look when I get it apart to take pictures.

to lighten the pull, I would only smooth the surface to rid of the machine marks causing the grab. (that would be the last thing I'd work on.

I never looked into the overtravel issue, but I will when I get it apart again.  Perhaps a setscrew would work the easiest...  I dunno yet.

[gunnut69]

The tapered pins start causing problems after  they're removed and re-installed.. Likely the reason the pins are peened is they have been removed and the trigger worked. The pins were too loose and were replaced and peened over...and you've benefitted with the good trigger.. This is possible but not simple. One of the problems with trigger mechanisms such this is the slack in the pins/trigger parts etc..altering the parts relationships. This is another reason the pins may have been replaced. Reaming the pin holes and carefully fitting the new pins tightens tolerences, but costs..time is money to smith..but not always to a talented ameture.. Good luck with the project..

[Antietamgw]

Kind of a cheap and dirty trigger job an oldtimer told me about before I was an oldtimer... He put a little Clover 320grit compound in a little grease on the hammer/sear notch, pressed forward on the hammer/striker if it was accessable and proceded to dry fire it on a snap cap. The extra pressure applied and the lapping compound smoothed things up but didn't change the angles. Spray it out when done and you get what you get...  I tied it once on a single shot hammer gun of some kind a few years back. I used Brownells Action Lube grease without lapping compound. It did result in a lighter, smoother pull.  I have a 340 with peened pins as well. Don't recall the trigger was that bad. It's a project gun that will get blued after I D&T it for a side mount base and finish the wood work. Good luck with yours.

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

I have heard of that technique, but worry about rounding off the edges.  That could make the trigger feel mooshy, but it would help for any burrs and machine marks.

I may have time to disassemble mine again and take pictures this weekend.

[hillbill]

my 340 breaks at about 8lbs with a bit of creep.its so predictible that i like it.the action is so primitive that id not mess with it.it prob the most accurate 30-30 i own.