Gunsmithing Help with Timney install failure - spring and sear disintegration

[mcdoosh]

Hey I’m hoping someone can help me rectify a failed Timney installation.

I tried to install a Calvin Elite in my Rem 700 5r 300WM. Problem I ran in to was that the hole for the front pin was partially blocked by the bolt release lever. Regardless of what position I try, I cannot move the bolt release lever into any position that does not fully or at least partially block that pin hole. This picture shows the best I could do.



No problem, I think, because I have a skinny punch that will still fit and I'm supposed to push the pin out the other direction anyway. So I get the old trigger out and I'm ready to put the new Timney in. There's a slave pin in the front of the Timney that will need to be pushed out the left side of the barrel when the front pin is pushed back in. But wait, the friggin bolt release is partially blocking that hole, so there's no way for the slave pin to come out of the side when the real pin is pushed in.



No problem, I think, because I'll just remove the slave pin and hold everything together with my fingers while I tap in the real pin. . .

Of course, that failed, and a little spring popped out along with what I believe, based on poking around the internet, is the “sear,” but I’m a total novice so hell if I know what it really is. . . This picture shows the trigger, the spring, the sear (?), and the little slave pin that held it all together initially. (There was actually little pieces of tape on the sides of the trigger holding that slave pin in place when the trigger was still in the box).



I have come up empty on the timney site and elsewhere, and I am hoping someone here knows how to put to spring and sear (?) back together in this trigger.

Also, any suggestions on how to install this fother mucker without using the slave pin, given my partially blocked pin hole? Would you suggest removing the bolt lever and spring first, then get the pin installed in the front of the timney, and then get the bolt lever and spring back in place? All instructions I've seen say DONT let that bolt lever and spring come out, but maybe I have no choice. . .

Many thanks for any advice!!

 

[jasonk]

Pull the bolt release out of the action completely. Install the front pin using the slave, make sure the permanent pin doesn't stick out the side and interfere with the future bolt release. Then install the rear pin and bolt release.

Post a picture of the trigger from the top and I'll see if I can point you to where that little spring drops in. Probably a pin it slips over or a notch it drops into, not sure on the Calvin.

 

[jasonk]

Check out these pics, all Rem triggers are similar, that spring will go in the general area shown and have some way to keep it from moving around(again, a slot it drops into, a pin it sits on, etc.)

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/xmarkpro.jpg

http://www.utterpower.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/WalkerXray-ANNOTATED.jpg

 

[mcdoosh]

Ok I think I see what's going on here now. I see the spring on the second diagram. Don't laugh but I don't even know how to orient the sear but I think from the pictures that the concave part points down. I'll post a couple more pictures later today. I owe you a beer!

 

[jasonk]

I would think it installs just as your last picture shows, insert the slave pin then flip it back over 180 degrees to have it fall in the trigger housing. That make sense?

 

[jasonk]

This is my guess how it goes, you'll know real quick if it works or not when you put the bolt back in and try to dry fire it.

Check out my super fancy MS Paint work....

 

[jasonk]

Ok I think I see what's going on here now. I see the spring on the second diagram. Don't laugh but I don't even know how to orient the sear but I think from the pictures that the concave part points down. I'll post a couple more pictures later today. I owe you a beer!

And lastly, the spring on the first diagram is in about the same place, but it's at a weird 30 degree angle or so and looks like a solid pin in their picture.

 

[mcdoosh]

Jason - thank you so much. Before I saw your message above I put the sear back in, but now I think I probably did it upside down.



After looking at the diagram, it seems like the spring would go somewhere near the pivot point for the sear, maybe somewhere in here?



By the way, once I get it reassembled properly I will post pictures for posterity. I can't believe Timney doesn't have a picture or diagram or anything showing how this thing fits together.

Did I already mention I owe you a beer?

 

[mcdoosh]

Well hell I got an email from the Tech at Timney who set me straight, so I gotta give them props for the response. Turns out the picture below is the correct installation of the sear:



The spring -- doesn't belong to the Calvin at all! It came from the original xmark trigger. I guess I have to admit that this would explain why there was no diagram showing the location of the spring!

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Papa_K]

Very similar experience here. When I took out the old X-Mark Pro (XMP) trigger, the sear and a small spring fell out. The spring had me wondering where it belonged, so I googled around a little. The spring is shown in the upper left of the XMP trigger picture below.



With the Timney Calvin Elite, I wasted some time trying to leave the keeper pin in when installing the front pin.
The instructions could definitely use a change or two for this trigger. As mentioned, the keeper pin is at the front, and not the rear as per the instructions. Also, with the bolt stop in place, the front pin will only come out one way. There's no way to drive the keeper pin through, since it's blocked by part of the bold stop. It appears that the keeper pin has to be removed before installation.

I ended up installing the front pin first, holding the trigger in one hand and tilting it down into position, while holding the sear in the same hand with all the holes lined up to get the front pin started. With the front pin started, I swung the sear into position and lowered the rear of the trigger down to line it up with the rear pin.

That sounds like I knew what I was doing the whole time, but it actually took some time and a couple fumbled attempts to get there. I think a new photo or two in the Timney instructions would help a lot.

Very impressed with the new trigger so far. This is on a new 700 CDL LH in 7mm Rem Mag.

This doesn't qualify as "help" for the original post, but it might be useful for the next guy searching for help with the Timney Calvin Elite trigger and Remington 700 combination.