Many people have a lot of faith in their grandpa’s old Remington 700 rifle, however, for a lot of people that faith has diminished greatly over recent years with lawsuits over their firearms discharging unintentionally even with the firearm on safe. Anyone involved with the firearms industry knows that safety comes before anything else.
Choosing the right aftermarket trigger can make your firearm much safer, as well as getting rid of the factory trigger slop and lowering the triggers pull-weight. This will almost certainly make your groups tighter as some factory triggers come with a pull-weight that is higher than the weight of the barreled action. This can make it very difficult to pull the trigger without moving the rifle. These are a few of our favorite trigger systems for the Remington 700 platform.
While some of these options may fit another shooter better, or they may just prefer a certain brand after 30 years, any of the triggers we mention in this article are a sure upgrade from the factory Remington 700 trigger.
Timney has been making high quality triggers since 1946. They offer a large range of products that will cover the needs of almost any shooting discipline. If you want a 2-stage trigger for your Law Enforcement rifle, or a single stage with an 8oz pull weight for shooting competition, Timney has an aftermarket trigger option that will fit your rifle.
These are a basic adjustable trigger designed for a hunter to pick the trigger weight when ordering and then be able to forget about it. while you can adjust the sear engagement, over-travel and pull-weight. This trigger is a high quality, drop in replacement that will feel crisper and cleaner than any factory Remington 700 trigger could.
With a pull weight between 1.5 and 4 lbs, even at the highest setting this trigger is incredibly crisp. The higher weight allows you to get a good trigger feel even on a cold autumn morning during deer season.
These triggers are a great single-stage option for benchrest shooters or anyone shooting a precision rifle competition. They made the weight adjustable from 8oz up to 2 lbs. At the highest weight setting this can be very light for a hunting trigger, even with good sear engagement. Adjustable over-travel means a clean break with a crisp reset every time.
This trigger was designed by Calvin Motley and John Vehr to be the best long range and competition trigger on the market. While we didn’t quite agree after shooting, this is certainly an amazing trigger that will not disappoint.
These triggers are meant to be the pinnacle of custom triggers for the Remington 700 platform. Not only are creep, pull weight and over-travel adjustable, but they also made the trigger shoe adjustable in length of pull, cast, and height. This allows a truly custom user experience with a trigger tailored to their hand as well as their rifle.
While they haven’t been around as long as some of the other companies, TriggerTech has made a huge name for themselves over the past few years. They have several patents on their frictionless roller and clicking adjustment technology. What sets them apart is that their triggers are built to work with zero pressure, and resistance is then added in to the desired level. Paired with their captured roller, this means a smooth, crisp, repeatable break with nearly zero over-travel.
This is the trigger we put in our long range build to get rid of the insanely heavy factory trigger. Having shot several competing triggers we went with the brand we had never heard of before. Even with the most basic model they offer, the difference was noticeable instantly. The slop from the spring in the factory trigger disappeared. In it’s place was a trigger with zero noticeable uptake, and just enough pressure for using gloves with your hunting rifle.
The trigger pull weight is easily adjustable from 1.5lbs to 4lbs with a nice audible click. While we found the adjustments were not exactly 1oz increments advertised, they were a great reference point and returned properly. Going 10 clicks up and 10 clicks down gave nearly the same reading on our trigger gauge. This can be a great feature if you use the same rifle for hunting and competition. They do however have a few better options for serious competitive shooters.
They took the primary up a notch for competitive shooters, bringing the weight down to just 1lb to 3.5lbs of pull. This may not seem like much, but when most shooters say the trigger feels 1/2 lb lighter than the scale says, this trigger feels amazingly light. With .015″ of over-travel, engagement is almost undetectable other than the loud bang of discharging a firearm. This is great for someone looking for a cheap trigger that will cover all of their bases.
Even cranked to the highest setting this is easily the best feeling trigger we tested for the average hunter. With no trigger creep (0.010″) and their Frictionless Roller Technology, this trigger is our first answer to anyone looking to to break into the world of upgrading their rifle.
TriggerTech kept their zero-creep technology and added a bunch of new safety features for their most advanced trigger system to date. This trigger was designed for people who prefer a bit of creep before hitting the wall. This can be considered a safety feature for law enforcement or military where pulling a shot because of adrenaline doesn’t just mean missing the deer or coyote.
Both stages are adjustable and pull weight is changed by the model you choose. The diamond will go as low as 4oz of pressure for each stage and the special will go to 8oz for each stage. The first stage lockout means an instant verification that your safety is still on.
This is TriggerTech’s top tier trigger system for the Remington 700 platform. Designed for cloned actions only, these are for serious competition shooters where nothing but the lightest, crispest trigger will do the job. With a pull weight of under 4oz up to 32oz (2lbs), this is the lightest trigger we have ever felt. Their Frictionless Roller Technology means even at the lightest setting, the trigger is crisp, repeatable, reliable and most importantly safe. This is because their pull weight and creep is not reliant on sear engagement like a Timney or Jewell trigger would be.
Considered to be the pinnacle of triggers by many shooters, Jewell triggers come in even ligher pull weights than their TriggerTech competitors.
This is their varmint and hunting rifle trigger system. Coming in as low as 1.5oz, and going up to 3lbs, these triggers have an incredible range of adjustment. The downside to their design is the fact that you have to swap out springs to change the adjustment range on your trigger.
This isn’t an issue for most shooters as they have a rifle dedicated to shooting from a bench or walking around in the woods. However, it gets old fast when you have to rebuild your trigger before and after every hunting season.
This is Jewell’s Benchrest model and is designed specifically for benchrest and competitive shooters. This model is only adjustable from 1.5oz up to 3oz and does not come with springs to increase the pressure like their HVRTS model. This is an incredibly sensitive trigger that will bring your shooting game to an entirely new level, but is not usually a good choice for a hunting rifle.
Geissele has been making parts for our special forces as well as competition shooters for decades. Years of abusive use and testing has made their products some of the best on the market. Their entry into Remington 700 triggers is no different and has been rightfully named “the smile maker.”
This trigger was designed after the MK13 trigger developed for the U.S. Military Sniper System, bringing adjustability and safety to the platform. The Super 700 has the ability to be set as a single or dual stage trigger with both being adjustable as well as the sear engagement and over-travel.
Their triple-redundant safety mechanism locks the trigger, internal mechanism, and transfer bar, making it far safer than the factory trigger system. This triggers pull weight can be adjusted from 1.5lbs to 3.5lbs and comes at a very nice 2.5 from the factory for optimal accuracy, safety and performance. This is a great drop in trigger for hunters or law enforcement officers.
The ability to set the Super 700 as a single stage or two stage gives the user even more versatility. The triple-redundant safety locks the trigger, the internal mechanism and the transfer bar. The Geissele Super 700 trigger can be configured for a total pull weight ranging from 1.5 lbs. to 3.5 lbs, it’s conveniently set at our factory at 2.5lbs for optimal accuracy, safety and performance. With its quick installation and versatile adjustments, the Geissele Super 700 trigger will soon show you why it’s earned the nickname of the “Smile-Maker”.
Everyone has different needs and expectations from their rifle. This is how we ranked our favorite triggers from all of our testing.
With the wide range of pull weight, this allows a good trigger feel with a crisp, clean trigger pull even with gloves and cold fingers. We keep ours at the highest setting because of how much lighter that is than the factory trigger, which could lift the barreled action. The rifle is still easily capable of cold-bore hits at 400 yards which is well within average hunting distances in the Northeast.
While the Jewell Triggers are a lighter pull, we prefer the install and feel of the TriggerTech Diamond. While we would feel the difference in 4oz and 16oz, we could not tell the difference between the 1.5oz Jewell and the TriggerTech at 4oz, either by group size or by trigger feel. We liked the finish better as well as the feel of the trigger shoe itself.
While someone with more long range experience may prefer the Jewell BR’s lower weight, we enjoyed the feel and adjustment range far more with the TriggerTech Diamond.
When lives are on the line, nothing counts more than safety and reliability. Their redundant safety design and years of development make this one of the best triggers we ran through our testing process. However, while we could not get any slam fires with the triggers when adjusted properly, the TriggerTech Diamond had the best feel and the Geissele Super 700 felt like it would take the most abuse.
Got a trigger we didn’t mention you would like to see added? Feel free to send us an email at articles@wilcox-outdoors.com.
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