Tikka trigger spring fail

longrangelead

FNG
Shoot2HuntU
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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.
 
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?
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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?
 
That doesn’t sound very safe.

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