• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

BIX & ANDY: read this before you think of buying

GhengisAhn175

Last known
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 29, 2013
854
20
Last known
this is a PSA for the Bix n Andy trigger and the semi known issues out there. The fix is coming from bullet central directly and i'll chronicle everything i've had to deal with this trigger.

Rifle build:
SAC Alpha 11 (defiance deviant to their specs) this becomes important later, including surgeon & tempest owners (so far)

Jae allen chassis

Bix n Andy single stage no safety trigger

*bartlein barrels (only thing thats a non issue on this build)

All parts were sent to SAC for work and was built by SAC.

I will only be speaking about the trigger issues specifically; ive already noted my other issues with this build.


My first issue with the trigger was potentially being set on the heaviest pull weight. Per my request to SAC, use heaviest spring and set to heaviest pull weight (right around 1.25 #) It may have caused the lower sear engagement to break off. Trigger was sent back to Bix n Andy for repair and came back to me with a slightly lighter trigger pull (around 1#)

When I got the trigger back i noticed that if I run the bolt handle hard (as in slap the bolt handle down) the trigger would fire. The fix for this would be to increase sear engagement. I followed the instructions from the trigger manual and set it properly. I now took care of this issue but another issue rose; When I run my bolt handle my trigger would 'half fire' (firing pin goes forward but not fully). Bolt handle becomes really sticky and in order to reset, you need to pull the trigger (to fully have everything set, theres a barely audible click) and then cycle the bolt.

I've tinkered with it for a good while and I found the issue: If I torque down both action screws I have this half firing issue. If I loosen either the front or rear action screw, problem goes away.
Another thing I found is if I use finger pressure and push down on the firing pin head assembly I can cycle my bolt with my other hand and fire with no issues.

the third actual "fix" I found is that if I apply hard downward and forward pressure on my action to my chassis and then torque my action screws in, rifle cycles just fine without a hiccup.

To pause here, I took a look inside my chassis and trigger housing. I can clearly see rub marks on the bottom of the trigger assembly on both sides near where the magazine spring ends poke out of (photo provided in response below). I'm already at the point where i dont have any more fucks left to give on whose fault this is, im just left with the bags. I suppose I'll just have to dremel out some fucking material there myself.

I called over to bullet central and talked to chris. He is the bix n andy trigger tech over there and explained my issue to him. His first question to me was what action? I replied a defiance deviant.
his next question was, is it a factory defiance or a modified defiance (ie to a gunsmiths spec). I told him it was SAC's action. And here comes the fix(es) now for anyone whos having this similar issue with the bix n andy...

Chris goes on to explain to me that the bix n andys top sear is lower than the other competitors. Coincidentally, some gunsmiths spec out actions and one of this may be shortening of the cocking piece assembly (which is done on the ALPHA 11, Tempest, and a couple others).
*if you have a surgeon and having this issue, its because theres a bit more play in the surgeon action and therefore you're also losing top sear engagement.

I am not the first person to go to all the way back to bullet central to figure out this problem and in fact its been such a confusion until bullet central started piecing together that its the top sear engagement.

________________________________________

The fix: If you're having the exact issue I'm having, its because you need more top sear engagement with your setup. (standard remington 700's, standard defiance deviants and most other actions shouldnt have an issue). Give bullet central a call and ask for dave or chris. Tell them you saw this post on the hide regarding the bix n andy issue and Top sear engagement. They are tracking this and have a modified top sear (increased height of around 20 thousandths) and this should cure the main problem thats been plaguing the trigger in tactical rifles.
The downside: you're going to have to pay for it. I think its around 35-40 bucks or so.

A word of caution from bullet central: Do not attempt to manipulate the build assembly in order to get it functioning without apparent issue (ie how I have to apply downward and forward pressure before tightening the action screws). recoil, being out in the heat and other mechanical induced factors can possibly bring the issue out again. running the bolt hard and slamming it around in your home without issue shouldn't give you confidence now that we know what the issue is. The last thing you want is to have a loaded rifle and conditions being right and the rifle goes off without your physical manipulation.


Again, this is not a fault of "bix n andy" its just tolerance specs the perfect storm combination.

i still recommend you try it out. I'm not gonna say it makes jewels or timneys shitty. That's just ridiculous. It breaks really nicely and is very responsive. To me it's worth having to buy the modified sear to work.
 
Last edited:
[No message]
 

Attachments

  • photo51675.jpg
    photo51675.jpg
    49.5 KB · Views: 320
  • photo51676.jpg
    photo51676.jpg
    59.2 KB · Views: 323
I didn't ask them. Im gonna go on a limb and say no because this issue only happens in certain set ups and they're just now getting around to the modified top sears from what it sounds like
 
Have a B&A 2 stage with safety in my Kelblys action with no issues. Almost 1000 rounds on it.

Weird it only happens in "some" actions? and no correlation to the trigger binding in action?

Keep us updated if you hear of any other actions it happens to.

Regards,
DT

 
DTRos,

chris specifically mentioned BAT and kelby's having no issues due to the right match in dimensions.

I did confirm with mark @ SAC that up until about a year ago they stopped shortening the cocking piece. He said mine should be in normal factory spec.

We'll see once I get my modified sear. Bullet central is shipping it out today and I'll have it best case Saturday, worst case following Monday.
 
Thanks for the warning/write up. Wouldn't the hanger they made for the tempest specifically address this issue? I was hoping to move from my Timney 2-stage to the BnA soon.
 
Good write up James, I'm actually one of the original guys who notified Chris of this issue ( about 2 months ago now), mine also was a SAC alpha II action. They replaced the cocking piece to a stock defiance and it works...the guys at bullet central are 1st class! Chris voluntarily spent the time to figure this issue out, and all on his time and dime. All I had to do is pay for shipping and the cost of the cocking piece. No smith fee... the guys are bullet central are awesome and I will happily buy from them again! They want to make sure their customers are satisfied... btw for those who don't know Chris Harris is a world class top bench rest shooter and knows his stuff....

For those looking for compatibility issues with B&A benchrest triggers, my stock defiance action mated to that trigger perfectly, no cocking on closing at all... the Bighorn TL3 did have some cocking on closing but not to the degree the SAC alpha II (defiance machines) had. This kind of got better after a few hundred rounds though.

Did you have to dremel off some of the trigger well in the JAE to get the bix n andy to fit? I could not get mine to fit and don't really want to permanently modify my JAE.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the warning/write up. Wouldn't the hanger they made for the tempest specifically address this issue? I was hoping to move from my Timney 2-stage to the BnA soon.

No issues with the B&A hanger specifically for the tempest with mine. I also have less than 300 rounds on my rifle at the moment (probably a good 1500-2000) cycles of the bolt though. I will double that this weekend. I did need to remove some material from the hanger to get it to fit correctly in the JAE.
 
Just wanted to update this thread.

got the modified sear. As you can see from photos (maybe) the modified sear sits up higher near the rear where the cocking piece would interact with,offering more real estate.

Trigger is back to working like a charm and no issues.

Big thanks to chris and the bullet central crew

long, very long story short... if you want a bix n andy talk to bullet central. Make sure you know which custom action you're getting AND from who.
 
Last edited:
The first time it went off with out me touching the trigger I would have been done with it. But then I can not understand the reason for a one pound trigger.
 
Thanks James for setting up this thread and bringing it to my attention. This type of constructive and collaborative communication helps all shooters and the manufacturers.

To help a little, the TacSport will have a higher sear by default. Reason why we did this is that the TacSport has been designed to address the hunting and tactical rifles and we know that, by design, some of the actions are intended to have a little more play in the bolt/action body fit. The standard TacSport will be setup to work with the GAP Tempest, GAP Templar, Surgeon, SAC and MausingField. We have not tested all these actions yet. I have made measurements from all of them and expect the top_sear_0500 to work. If we identify that certain actions require a top sear a little lower or higher will will provide that.

We will also offer top sears for the Competition triggers (Competition (all models), 2-stage Target and 2-stage Marksman) that are best suited to certain actions that require them. The sear is an easy replacement and I see James posted a quick clip on how to do it.

As a guide, I have found that our Competition triggers do have top sears that run approximately in line with the lower Jewell triggers. The Rem700 Bix 'n Andy Competition trigger is designed to run in Remington 700, all Kelbly actions, BAT Machine actions, Farley, Stiller, Defiance and others. With these actions we have had zero problems. But as the trigger has gained popularity in some other styles of Rem700 clones where the cocking pieces run at a slightly different (relative) height or where there is a certain amount of clearance between bolt and action's internal diameter you can run into issues where the cocking piece can run over the top of the trigger sear. So test your rifle thoroughly when installing one of our triggers and call us for help if needed.

If triggers are ordered in advance with a custom sear, we will offer the "upgrade" at a much reduced price (probably a $10 up-charge). Currently we are providing the sear only for $35 and this is merely to cover costs.

In response to another post above, we do offer a hanger for the GAP Tempest action which raises the Competition trigger to the correct height. You can use this instead of installing a custom top sear if you wish.

Again:- the new TacSport will be shipping standard with a top sear to accommodate the actions above. If there are any other popular receivers that require a special top sear for the TacSport we will attend to that once we have researched the matter.

Whatever issue you have, please feel free to call us. We are keen to learn about your situation and we will do our best to ensure your rifle is performing to the best of its ability. Thanks for your passion.
 
I have the BnA Marksman in 2 stage Chris i bought of you guys, going in a Bighorn TL3 - do i need the new sear? I installed this trigger using your Tempest hanger and it worked fine.
 
So I called Chris and got the extra sear as had a Minuteman PVA TL3 6 Dasher in coming and didnt want to get stuck. Anyways, installed my Bix'n'andy Marksman 2 stage and it works perfectly without the sear. Man what a trigger ...
 
Don't get loctite in your Bix'n Andy, it doesn't work when there is some in there. Ask me how I know? lol.... Just don't ask me how it got in there, that part I am not sure about.

I ran my Bix at the MPA match this weekend and other than having to clean it out when I got there, a drop of loctite meant for my action screw somehow got in the trigger, it ran absolutely perfectly! I am running a Tempest with the hanger from Bullet Central.
 
I just bought the Marksman for my factory Deviant action. It shot around 25 rounds before firing when the bolt went forward or down. I adjusted the sear engagement to maximum and it worked for about 12 more rounds before "BOOM" on the bolt closing.
I called Chris and I am waiting for a return call.
I really hope it's just switching the sear because I really liked the trigger when it worked.
 
Last edited: