I recently upgraded one of my rifles with the Timney Calvin Elite Custom Trigger for Remington 700 pattern rifles. Timney leads the market in replacement triggers, and the Timney Remington triggers are available in several flavors spanning a broad price range. At the top is their Calvin Elite Custom. It’s not just a high-performance trigger, but also incredibly ergonomic, with a huge range of adjustments available. In the somewhat crowded aftermarket for triggers, it stands out for its unique features. That’s no surprise, coming from a company making some of the finest triggers available for nearly 80 years.
The Remington Model 700 has been around for over six decades. While Remington produced in excess of five million, there are also countless “clones” out there that all share the same footprint. My personal favorite right now is the Bergara B-14 series which is available in a variety of centerfire calibers, along with a rimfire “trainers”. When it was time to upgrade my rifle, I reached out to the folks who know, and went with their Calvin Elite Custom Trigger. It’s as adjustable as the chassis my rifle sits in, which is exactly what I was looking for.
Calvin Elite Custom Remington Model 700
Timney packs a lot of features into this drop-in trigger. When ordering, users can select from seven different pull weights between 8 ounces and 2 pounds. Before shipping, each trigger is factory calibrated to the selected weight, as well as sear engagement and over travel. Users still have the option to fine-tune these settings even further, but I left mine at the factory set 8 ounces, and didn’t touch any other adjustments. Timney also designed their own, very reliable trigger-blocking safety, much improved over the factory trigger safety.
The Calvin Elite Custom trigger is also shipped with different curved and flat shoes. Thanks to a unique design, the shoes can adjusted for height as well as length of pull and even cast. Inside the package is the necessary wrench for accomplishing this, which was a nice touch. With today’s extremely ergonomic chassis designs that are adjustable in every imaginable way, this trigger fits right in. If you’re not a fan of the red shoes, yellow, black, blue, green, and silver are available options.
Installation and adjustment
Timney provides a great installation guide. I saw the warnings about the bolt stop and spring, and I had watched a few videos showing the process as well. For my Bergara, I was able to ignore most of that. The pins only go in from one side, and there was no bolt stop. So it was a matter of verifying the rifle is empty, and removing it from the chassis. Then I pushed out the pins, releasing the factory trigger group.
After replacing the factory trigger with the Timney, I just pushed the pins back in. It was much easier than expected. Depending on your rifle, you may or may not have a similar experience. Either way, it is truly a drop-in installation. In addition to the installation guide, Timney offers a comprehensive guide to adjusting the trigger as well. Pull weight, sear engagement, and over-travel are all easily adjustable. Since I was happy with the factory settings, which included the 8-ounce pull weight, I was able to skip that step. I still made sure to test it for safety though.
Choosing a trigger shoe
Each Timney Calvin Elite Custom trigger comes with flat, heeled, and curved trigger shoes. One thing I noticed right away is that they are smaller than a regular trigger shoe, but also a little wider. With the adjustment range available, the shoe only needs the surface area where the finger contacts it. Normally, I prefer a flat trigger, and I was a bit surprised to find that this time, the curved shoe was my favorite. Part of this may be due to that adjustment range. There’s no need for a long trigger extending down from the trigger group, and the placement can be very precise.
From the photo below, you’ll notice there is a horizontal piece, with a vertical post clamped to it. Using the included wrench, it’s possible to fine-tune the length of pull along the horizontal axis. And then the shoe can be clamped at varying heights on the vertical post. My chassis has a grip that moves fore and aft, and combined with this trigger, it allows me to adjust length of pull down to the last millimeter. Because the shoe can rotate around the post, it’s possible to accommodate left-handed shooters as easily as those who are not wrong-handed.
Range time with the Timney Calvin Elite Custom Trigger
With my newly installed Timney trigger, I hit the range. From the factory, my Bergara’s trigger was set at just over 3.5 pounds, and the lowest it would go was a bit under 3 pounds. Not surprisingly, my new 8 ounce trigger was dramatically different. No creep at all, just a very crisp break, and no noticeable over-travel. At 8 ounces, I’m basically just touching the trigger when I’m ready to fire. Yet it failed to go off even with some drop tests on the carpet. And this is a 15+ pound rifle.
This was already a sub-MOA rifle at 50 yards. Upgrading the trigger allowed me to be a bit more consistent with my tiny groups. And for longer shots out to 100 or 150 yards, I only had the wind to blame for misses, not a heavy trigger. It breaks the same every time, while requiring so little effort that I don’t worry about any movement at all. That, and my trigger finger falls into the most natural position. The trigger shoe is positioned where my finger goes, not the other way around.
So who is this trigger for?
At $304.99 MSRP, this trigger is probably not for the casual Remington Model 700 owner. For competition shooters looking for an edge, it’s definitely a viable option. That would include PRS as well as benchrest shooters. If you’re into long range hunting (or just ringing steel at extended distances, it’s got you covered. And for enthusiasts interested in squeezing the most out of their rifle, it’s a good choice too. I’m mostly part of that last group. Though I don’t currently compete in any sanctioned events, I’m a big fan of honing skills and pushing my own limits. Throw a $1,000 rifle into a chassis that costs nearly as much, then top it with some decent glass, add a bipod, and suddenly $300 or so for a trigger doesn’t seem unreasonable.
Wrapping it up
With the Timney Calvin Elite Custom trigger for Remington 700 pattern rifles, Timney has hit all the key points most shooters could ask for in an upgraded trigger. It’s light, crisp, adjustable, ergonomic, and definitely safer than the factory trigger. If you think your trigger is holding you back, it’s worth checking out. After ammo testing for both rimfire and centerfire, an upgraded trigger is an easy way to squeeze even more accuracy out of your rifle.
As always, I’d like to thank Timney for providing their Calvin Elite Custom trigger for my testing and evaluation. If you want more info, or want to order your own, head over to Timneytriggers.com.
About my rifle: This Bergara B-14R rimfire trainer is sitting in a Magpul Pro 700 folding chassis, and usually wears a Blackhound Evolve 5-25×56 rifle scope, although it’s got a Vortex Venom 5-25×56 in the photos above.