U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- A couple of years ago I shot a target 1000 yards out with a Remington 700 chambered in .308. I was immediately hooked on long range shooting. Since that day I have made shots out to a little over 1700 yards which is right at a mile in distance. In short, I love long range precision shooting.
I have built my Remington 700 specifically for long range shooting. Remington chambered my long-range shooting rifle in .300 Win Mag which is my favorite caliber of all time. I installed an awesome MDT Tactical ESS chassis for precision shooting. The glass is excellent, but I haven’t done one of the most critical upgrades you can do to a long-range precision rifle. That is until now.
I wanted to get rid of the factory trigger for something with a little lighter in pull weight with a smoother trigger break. The trigger on the Remington 700 is not that bad, but I still felt I needed an upgrade to take my long-range shooting to the next level.
There is a lot of triggers on the market for long range shooting, but one I kept coming back to is the Timney Calvin Elite Custom trigger. It is a little pricey at $259.95, but I needed to find out if the cost of the trigger was justified. Was this trigger just all hype, or was the hype real?
Timney Calvin Elite Custom Adjustable Trigger
The Timney Calvin Elite Custom trigger is like no other trigger currently on the market today. What separates the Calvin Elite trigger from other aftermarket triggers is the ability for the shooter to customize almost everything on the trigger itself. Timney designed this trigger to be able to be tailored to each individual shooter’s needs and wants.
Timney included four different trigger shoes with the Calvin Elite Custom trigger. These red trigger shoes include curved, flat, and heeled. The final black trigger shoe is the knurled design. For me, the curved trigger shoe worked the best. The trigger shoe has a high-quality feel. You can tell that Timney didn’t skimp on the materials used to make these trigger shoes. Timney included all the tools needed to change out the trigger shoe on the trigger. It changes out with ease.
The pull weight of the Calvin Elite Custom trigger is also customizable by the shooter. The default pull weight of the trigger is 3lbs. Since I am shooting at 1000+ yards, I had Timney set the pull weight at 1.5lbs. I feel anything lighter is too light, but anything heavier might affect my shot. Timney will place the pull weight from the factory from 8oz. to 2.5lbs if the shooter doesn’t want the standard 3lb trigger pull.
Timney really cares about the Calvin Elite Custom’s performance. They hand test each trigger at their Phoenix, Arizona plant and set the pull weight according to the customer’s request. I checked the weight of the trigger pull to see how close Timney got to my requested pull weight, and they nailed it. The trigger was set correctly to 1.5lbs.
The user can always adjust the pull weight themselves if they choose to change it for different purposes such as hunting. For hunting in cold weather, Timney recommends that the shooter set the trigger to 4lbs. This weight is to compensate for the wearing of gloves.
The trigger break of the Calvin Elite Custom is crisp and smooth. This trigger’s break is probably cleanest break of any trigger I have ever used in any of my rifles. Timney did a great job on making the break of the trigger the best on the market.
The user can adjust the shoe of the Calvin Elite Custom for different pull length. I love this about the Calvin Elite Custom trigger. It is just another example of how you can make this trigger genuinely unique to you.
Timney also made the over travel of the Calvin Elite Custom trigger adjustable. I use a minimal amount of over travel on my rifles. Once again, this adjustability is excellent because of the user’s intended use of their rifle can change over time. Different applications of the gun can change what the optimal over travel of the trigger is for the user.
The shooter can even adjust the height of the trigger shoe of the Calvin Elite Custom. The amount of customization of this trigger amazes me. This adjustability of the trigger shoe makes the trigger more comfortable for the shooter than any other trigger I have tried.
I love this trigger on my Remington 700. I only thing I would like to see is Timney offer black shoes Calvin Elite Custom. Other than that, this trigger is as close to perfect as a trigger can get.
The amount of engineering Timney put into this trigger is mind-blowing. Timney thought out every little detail of the Calvin Elite Custom. I am going to stick with this trigger for my Remington 700 for the foreseeable future.
Don’t get me wrong. The stock Remington 700 trigger isn’t that bad at all, but the Calvin Elite Custom is a game changer for long range precision shooting. I don’t say that lightly. The customizability, the crispness of the pull, and the feel of the trigger is second to none. I would implore anyone into long-range shooting to take a look at this trigger.
I put around 200 rounds down range with this trigger the first day I had it installed in my rifle. The trigger felt more comfortable to use the more I shot my rifle throughout the day. By the end of the day, I was in love with my gun. The trigger is worth every penny.
Timney also offers the Calvin Elite Custom trigger for AR-15s as a drop-in solution. The adjustability of the trigger makes the trigger perfect for 3-gun competitor. The AR-15 version on the Calvin Elite Custom is a little more expensive. Timney sells this version for $299.
Timney also provides shooters the Calvin Elite Custom trigger for the venerable Ruger 10/22. The trigger for the 10/22 cost $269.95. This price is a little more than I am willing to pay since the trigger’s price is more than what I paid for my 10/22.
Shooters can find more information about the Calvin Elite Custom trigger on the Timney website located at https://timneytriggers.com/.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.