Tikka trigger spring fail

[longrangelead]

Posting this so more people might see it and consider leaving the factory spring alone.

I just got back from the S2H Winter course where I shot a Tikka RSS 223. I like a light trigger so I chose to try replacing the factory trigger spring with a lighter trigger spring.

On day 6 I had a accidental discharge when I closed the bolt. Fortunately it was rnd 3 on target during an exercise. Running the bolt hard and fast I believe exaggerates the failure earlier than if it is run less aggressively.

Form confirmed failure by running the bolt 15-20 times and had another failure, rifle unloaded of course.

After experiencing this, I think it is simply spring fatigue. The lighter spring is a noticeably smaller guage wire.
After replacing my spring, everything was assembled with paint pen, no the trigger body wasnt loose.
Then I shot probably 400 rnds trying different bullets, zeroing the scope and testing a couple other things before the Winter course. During the course I shot around 900 rnds and plenty of dry fires.
Up to point of failure, probably 2000+ cycles. after failure, maybe 150 more.
Upon install, I set it at 2lb. After failure I tightened the screw one full turn to finish the last day, as of now, it is again at 2lb!

All springs have a duty life or number of cycles they are good for. If these springs are only "safe" for 1000 cycles (if at all) I'm out. I don't want to have to wonder if the next time I close the bolt it will go off or tear the rifle apart every x number of rounds and replace the spring again.

FWIW, I definitely agree with Form that replacing the factory spring is unnecessary and very likely dangerous. He has seen several others do the same thing.

 

[HuntHarder]

Good to know. Extreme hard use under extreme conditions will often bring weaknesses to light. I have a couple Tikkas with a lighter spring in them that have a few thousand rounds on them with no incidents yet. Not sure, if it was spring fatigue, or a combination of weather and spring fatigue on yours. Has anyone else had this happen while not shooting in cold, snowy weather?

 

[mddat]

Thanks for the heads up, I was actually thinking about trying one as I’ve done it to a couple Xbolts without issue. I’ve heard of this a couple times now so will probably hold off

 

[longrangelead]

Good to know. Extreme hard use under extreme conditions will often bring weaknesses to light. I have a couple Tikkas with a lighter spring in them that have a few thousand rounds on them with no incidents yet. Not sure, if it was spring fatigue, or a combination of weather and spring fatigue on yours. Has anyone else had this happen while not shooting in cold, snowy weather?

Form has seen several others do it. I think he said at the summer course in June.

 

[5811]

Form has seen several others do it. I think he said at the summer course in June.

I think those were loose trigger assemblies? Not positive on that and I wasn't there, but that's how I recall reading about them.

 

[General RE LEE]

Just a heads up but installing the little post backwards will cause just that.

On the post the spring rides on, there is a long end and a short end. If the spring is put on the long end, it will fire prematurely on occasion. The spring goes on the short end of the post. It’s an easy mix up when installing the trigger spring.

 

[JGRaider]

I've been shooting Tikkas since 1998, and have owned 7-8 of them. I've never found the need to replace the spring, ever. If you're bound and determined to do so, just clip a few coils off of the factory spring and forget replacing it with one of the thinner ones.

You can easily get the trigger down to 2lbs with a simple adjustment of factory stuff without trimming anything though.

 

[wind gypsy]

Upon install, I set it at 2lb. After failure I tightened the screw one full turn to finish the last day, as of now, it is again at 2lb!

To make sure I understand - are you saying you set the trigger to 2# with the aftermarket spring before the failure?

 

[TaperPin]

That doesn’t sound very safe.

Maybe those dangerous Tikkas should be sold off and replaced with Remingtons?!? *chuckle*

 

[longrangelead]

To make sure I understand - are you saying you set the trigger to 2# with the aftermarket spring before the failure?

yes, I set it at 2# after installing the new spring.
After the 2000-ish cycles, I turned the set screw in 1 full rev to increase pressure and it is again at 2#, meaning it relaxed which is a sign of fatigue/failure.

 

[longrangelead]

I think those were loose trigger assemblies? Not positive on that and I wasn't there, but that's how I recall reading about them.

both occurred.

 

[5811]

both occurred.

The snips below are from Formidilosus posted summaries of the first 3 0-600 classes. If there was another mention of spring fatigue or failure not from a loose trigger, I did not see it.




I am not advocating for replacing the spring nor am I discounting your experience. It's just more noteworthy because a lot of people saw these last summer and went back in and tightened or loctited their trigger bolt but may not have reverted back to stock springs.

 

[Formidilosus]

That doesn’t sound very safe.

Maybe those dangerous Tikkas should be sold off and replaced with Remingtons?!? *chuckle*

Troll somewhere else. That dumb fallacy doesn’t help anyone. Removing a required part for safety in a trigger and then it causing issues, is completely different than the whole trigger design being unsafe.

 

[Formidilosus]

The snips below are from Formidilosus posted summaries of the first 3 0-600 classes. If there was another mention of spring fatigue or failure not from a loose trigger, I did not see it.

View attachment 845738
View attachment 845739

I am not advocating for replacing the spring nor am I discounting your experience. It's just more noteworthy because a lot of people saw these last summer and went back in and tightened or loctited their trigger bolt but may not have reverted back to stock springs.

It 100% is an issue with lightened springs. The trigger issue in this last class makes it 100% of the replaced springs having issues that I know of and have seen with heavy use.

Do not screw with the trigger. Sako/Tikka isn’t American- they demand good triggers that work. They design them to work a certain way. A 2.25 to 2.5lb trigger is already on the too light side for all-around field use.

 

[5811]

It 100% is an issue with lightened springs. The trigger issue in this last class makes it 100% of the replaced springs having issues that I know of and have seen with heavy use.

Do not screw with the trigger. Sako/Tikka isn’t American- they demand good triggers that work. They design them to work a certain way. A 2.25 to 2.5lb trigger is already on the too light side for all-around field use.

I appreciate the response. I was previously under the impression that it was loose triggers causing issues, and now I understand that not only must the trigger bolt be tight and locked, but I must put the factory spring back in.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[Formidilosus]

I appreciate the response. I was previously under the impression that it was loose triggers causing issues, and now I understand that not only must the trigger bolt be tight and locked, but I must put the factory spring back in.

Thank you for the clarification.

Yes sir. I have stated to not swap the spring at least back to 2019 or 2020. I was hesitant to make a sweeping definitive statement about it, however now we have seen so many with issues, that it’s almost to the point of checking student rifles and swapping factory trigger springs back in them for the S2H classes.

 

[Tod osier]

Yes sir. I have stated to not swap the spring at least back to 2019 or 2020. I was hesitant to make a sweeping definitive statement about it, however now we have seen so many with issues, that it’s almost to the point of checking student rifles and swapping factory trigger springs back in them for the S2H classes.

Additionally, I've seen way over a dozen posts from people talking about aftermarket springs and then they go on to cite insanely light (to me) trigger pulls well/way under 2#.

 

[General RE LEE]

My Tikkas get down to 1.75-2.00 lbs on the factory spring.

 

[TaperPin]

Troll somewhere else. That dumb fallacy doesn’t help anyone. Removing a required part for safety in a trigger and then it causing issues, is completely different than the whole trigger design being unsafe.

Well if you need to borrow a reliable rifle let me know. Glad to help. I just worry about you guys - at first it seemed scary if that one screw holding the trigger on loosened up, the rifle might go bang when you didn’t want it to. Now I have to worry about light springs letting it go off whilly nilly.

When replacing light springs with factory springs, are you jar testing the rifle to get even a little reassurance it’s safe. I’m just full of anxiety you’re gonna get injured.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Good to know. Extreme hard use under extreme conditions will often bring weaknesses to light. I have a couple Tikkas with a lighter spring in them that have a few thousand rounds on them with no incidents yet. Not sure, if it was spring fatigue, or a combination of weather and spring fatigue on yours. Has anyone else had this happen while not shooting in cold, snowy weather?

Yes. All of my tikkas used to have lighter springs. I’ve had them fire on bolt close in both Northern California and Arizona after working for thousands of rounds with no issues before.

Once @Formidilosus found the correlation with aftermarket springs and this issue occurring, I’ve since swapped all of mine back to factory. The issue has never repeated since.