Safety Concern

I have a 7mm Rem Mag Sendero that was made in 1994. I bought it last year from a widow of our hunting club member. I have shot about 50 rounds through the rifle without any issues. Today, when I flipped the safety off, the rifle fired. I open the bolt, extracted the brass and when I closed the bolt back to the down position, the rifle fired again. I checked the trigger pull with a trigger scale and it's set at 2 lbs. The previous owner may have messed with it or it may have come from the factory that light. Should I take this to a gunsmith and have him try and adjust the trigger or just install an aftermarket trigger? If aftermarket is the way to got, what brand/model or part number trigger should I buy? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

That may be one of the ones subject to the recall. If not it could have been Jimmy’d. Those rem 3 screw triggers were easy to lighten yourself, make unsafe. I would either buy a timney or talk to Remington, or your gunsmith. You can also find a new factory x mark cheap that someone removed.


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They can become unsafe due to poor adjustment and also dirt/debris or built up lube.

You will pay a smith as much to adjust it as a good aftermarket trigger. I’m pretty partial to the timney triggers. They are inexpensive and of very good quality. The 510 or 517 are around 125 dollars and a very good trigger. The 510 is curved shoe vs the straight 517.

For a few extra bucks the Calvin elite are very nice, and the two stage option is nice too.


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Welcome aboard. For sure, the trigger is unsafe as currently configured and either needs to be replaced or thoroughly inspected by a qualified gunsmith. Replacement of the trigger can either be by contacting Remington to see if your trigger was subject to a recall or by purchasing an after market trigger as has already been suggested. The previous posts each provide excellent suggestions. Consequently, the Sendero was an excellent firearm that can deliver some fine results. I pulled the trigger on quite a number of them in the past.

The replacement trigger from Remington is terrible, heavy, gritty, spongy. I am not a fan of the new triggers. Your much better off with an aftermarket. I’d take a properly adjusted, clean walker style rem 700 trigger over the new ones.

Swapping a timney is as simple as driving two pins, there are lots a good videos showing how to do it.


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I have a Timmy in two of my rifles, one is a Remington 700. I would bet thats a far better solution than going thru the Remington recall process.

I'd stick a Timney or a Rifle Basix in it and call it a day.

Depends on how much you want to, or are willing to spend.
It would also depend on your goals with this rifle; Target shooting or hunting? Both?
Good advice above.

As the Sendero rifle was not introduced until after lawyers really started to influence the rifle manufacturers, there is little chance that it was set at two pounds at the factory.
I would say that someone took a little too much material off of the sear while trying to lower the trigger pull weight. Common occurrence and easily happens.

My own two cents...hunting rifle triggers should not be set less than three pounds. Light enough for decent shooting, with practice, but not so light that the trigger will break and you not feel it when wearing light gloves.
Having worked in rifle stores and talked with the gunsmiths, most Remingtonfactory triggers get very iffy when set less than 3 pounds, and when they are lightened further than that can cause the problems that you have experienced.

I wouldn’t worry too much about trigger weight, I have rem 700 triggers from 6oz-2lbs, my hunting trigger are generally 2-2.5 pounds. Going to a two stage trigger can help. A 3 pound first stage followecny a lighter break


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when you take the bolt out to clean the rifle the top of the trigger is right there . when you pull the brush back out , all the drippers and crud drip into the trigger assembly . this is how triggers get gummed up from cleaning the rifle . you should always use a bore guide when cleaning . by using a bore guide the solvent and crud can't run , or drip , down into the trigger . the bore guide makes the crud run down over the stock . just use a rag to protect the stock and bedding .
you could try taking the trigger out and washing it out with automotive brake clean , and blowing it out . do not lube it up , install it dry . I probably couldn't trust the trigger again , I'd replace it .
if your bolt locks closed when the safety is on , and you want to keep this feature , look at the shilen trigger . the shilen does not come with the safety linkage , you need to use the safety from the original trigger . this is what locks the bolt closed when the safety is on . I don't think any of the replacement triggers will lock the bolt . I do like the bolt being locked on a hunting rifle .

I couldn't find these couple pictures earlier .

Phil_700, welcome.

Great first post. Safety is so important!

Yes, you've got some great advice already. Most of my hunting is done with Rem 700's, and I'm careful to keep the triggers clean and not set them too light. It's a pretty well known problem.

I really ought to just replace the triggers on my Remingtons. Just to be sure.

Regards, Guy

Or just buy Winchester Model 70’s.
I seen a Remington go off one time, taking off the safety. Killed a horse. Long night, trying to save him.


Too Tall

Too Tall":219fja32 said:

Or just buy Winchester Model 70’s.
I seen a Remington go off one time, taking off the safety. Killed a horse. Long night, trying to save him.


Too Tall

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Who, the shooter or the horse? probably both after you got done with the shooter if it was a favorite horse. Just joking =>)
There are a few after market triggers mention and of them I have owned 2 of them Timney and Rifle Basics of the 2 I would get the Timney.
There is another one made by Trigger Tech I believe is the brand and Scotty likes them.
You can have the same problem you are experiencing with the factory trigger with a Rifle Basics since I had one and it took me a while to get it adjusted to where it would work right. Bolt would not stay cocked which is a sear engagement problem with it being adjusted too light.
I have a factory Walker in my M725 that I wouldn't trade anything for short of a lot of money because it is that good.

Trigger Techs here on the couple Remington's I have left. I have a standard Rem in a M600 that was pretty darned good the way it came to me. I wouldn't mess around, takes 15 minutes if you are really going slow to swap out to a TriggerTech or Timney..

Someone probably messed with the sear engagement and the pull spring weight. The bottom front screw on the older triggers is the pull weight adjustment. If it is backed out of the trigger housing at all then it's been messed with. Pretty sure it has if it's set at 2lbs. In the little window in the side of the trigger you can see the sear engagement when you cock it. The sear engagement is the one above the pull weight. They are not hard to adjust but it would be good to spray brake cleaner all in it to try and clean out the 24 years of gunk.

The horse. It was hit through the diagram. Back to front, top of lung and liver. Was not my animal, but they were in my care. Was a long night.


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One of my Gunsmith friends told me that Shilen makes a very good trigger for Remington rifles for what it's worth.

http://shilen.com/productsTriggers.html

Get yourself a new Trigger Tech. As mentioned, lots of info out there showing how to change one, or have your gunsmith do it for you. I’ve owned standard triggers, all the Timneys including the Calvin, and Jewell. They all have their place, and I find myself really gravitating towards the Trigger Tech for hunting guns. It’s really good. The one I have is the 1.5-3# model.

I got a used 700 last year and adjusted the trigger. While not hard, you do need to understand what you are doing and what each adjustment does. I think I did the whole process 2-3x to make sure it was safe and watched a bunch of YouTube videos.

Mine is set at 3.5#. 3# or less was not consistently safe in my gun. I probably have more sear engagement than necessary, which makes the trigger a little creepy, but it is safe that way. The trigger is much better than it was, but still is not what I'd call great. Before next deer season, I will likely replace it with a Timney. They are very simple to install and a much better crisper trigger.