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Warning: Read about Remington 700 problem

28K views 82 replies 50 participants last post by  rabbitslayer 
#1 ·
CNBC just aired Remington Under Fire on television. There has been a problem with their trigger assembly from day 1 starting in 1948 and still a problem now. Here is the article: http://www.cnbc.com/id/39743024. The gun can fire when switching from safe to fire.

Please be aware that this affects the Remington 700 series. Unfortunately, I have one. Be safe fellow HPA'ers.
 
#5 ·
Actually had this happen 2years ago on the bench with my son's model 700. I moved the saftey to fire and the rifle went off!!! Scared the heck out of us and I initially felt like I must had done something wrong like having my finger in the trigger. Further investigation on my part found that I could replicate the problem (empty chamber)by lightly touching the trigger and then removing your finger prior to moving the safety to fire and the hammer would fall, so to speak! I contacted Big Green and they sent me a free shipping box to send it out to them, which I did. I got the rifle back in a few weeks with a findings report which summed it up saying that the trigger mech had a "rusty" spring??? Was it? I know we clean our rifles well, but rarely go into the trigger assembly.
 
#6 ·
I just caught the end of the program and it's a little bit of a catch 22. We would like some government regulation on firearms like in this instance where they could of forced Remington to make the recall. but on the other side we definitely wouldn't want the gov sticking they're political heads into the gun manufacturers and telling them what to do. I feel bad for the families who this has affected adversely. and i feel something does need to be done because alot of anti-gun people who seen this report are gonna be on this like a hobo on a bologna sandwich.
 
#9 ·
If it clears up today, I am going to be shooting 7 of my Remington guns to see if they will go off. I'm not going to let the nephew use that .243 this year for sure. Replacing all of these firing mechanisms is going to get quite expensive for me, I hope there is a recall.

How about Cabelas? Boy are they going to get a hail storm of calls today.
 
#11 ·
A few years ago I read that Remington recalled most of the model 700 for a problem with the safety. I sent mine to them and they corrected it. I cant remember what the specific problem was however - maybe this is just a continuation of that situation.

Timber
 
#12 ·
LMAO! I just clicked on that website. Their response was to call them a liar and offer no counter-argument? Are you freakin kidding me?

I am going to list 7 Remington 700 series guns for sale today. .223, .243, .270, (2) .30-06, and a 7mm
 
#14 ·
I've seen some 700 actions that had to be in the "fire" position to unload the gun. My 700s are not that way. Is this only a problem with the actions that have to be on "fire" to unload.
My step-dad has one in .22-250 and I always felt uncomfortable around that gun because it goes against everything you learned about handling a loaded gun.
 
#18 ·
I have two M700 rifles that lock the bolt when safe. The 'recall' was over the possibility of an AD when pushing the safety to the fire position in order to open the bolt. I seem to recall that alot of the guns that did go off had adjusted triggers.

I've been using my 30-06 over 30 years and my fathers .270 which I now use is a few years older. Both are still in factory adjustment as far as the trigger is concerned and neither has ever had a problem.

Basic safe gun handling includes muzzle control while unloading. There are alot of people who never had them converted because they never had any problem.

Rem did convert the ones sent to them to safety that allows the bolt to open when in the safe position...

Does anyone remember the question from Hunter Ed about always 'trusting' any gun safety?
 
#19 ·
with the help of the above posts I now remember why Remington recalled my Rem 700 BDL 30-06. You had to put the safety in the Fire position inorder to cycle the bolt. For years I thought that it was odd that I had to do that. I sent the gun back to them free of charge and they repaired it and sent it back.

timber
 
#20 ·
I haven't seen the CNBC program, but I remember other highly publicized anti-gun programming to know that these are often hit-pieces. Without seeing the program, I can't say, but it makes me suspicious.

By the way, here's the text of Remington's response, copied and pasted from the above link to their website:

Remington Arms
Official Statement for CNBC Program Regarding the Model 700

Submitted September 7, 2010

"For nearly fifty years, the Remington Model 700 rifle has been the preferred choice for millions of hunters, shooting sports enthusiasts and military and law enforcement personnel.

Despite emotional reporting of baseless and unproven allegations and plaintiff lawyer assertions, several undisputed facts remain:

• The Model 700 is the most popular, reliable, accurate and trusted bolt-action rifle in the world, with over five million rifles produced and billions of rounds fired over nearly five decades.

• The Model 700 is the firearm of choice for elite shooters from America's military and law enforcement communities, and has been the platform for the United States Marine Corps and the U.S. Army precision sniper weapon systems for over two decades, both of which specifically require the "Walker" trigger mechanism.

• The Model 700, including its trigger mechanism, has been free of any defect since it was first produced and, despite any careless reporting to the contrary, the gun's use by millions of Americans has proven it to be a safe, trusted and reliable rifle.

• Both Remington and experts hired by plaintiff attorneys have conducted testing on guns returned from the field which were alleged to have fired without a trigger pull, and neither has ever been able to duplicate such an event on guns which had been properly maintained and which had not been altered after sale.

• Remington takes safety very seriously. We support hunter safety and other educational programs nationwide, and include with every Remington firearm, the "Ten Commandments of Firearm Safety," which urgently remind every gun owner that if proper firearms safety rules are followed, no accidental injuries would ever occur.

The men and women who build, own and shoot the Remington Model 700 take great pride in a product that, over the last half century, has set the bar for safety, reliability and performance."
I don't suppose that will settle everything, but it's a pretty strong statement that "Both Remington and experts hired by plaintiff attorneys have conducted testing on guns returned from the field which were alleged to have fired without a trigger pull, and neither has ever been able to duplicate such an event on guns which had been properly maintained and which had not been altered after sale." The truth is that any firearm can be made to misfire, either through deliberate act or through careless maintenance. If this succeeds in damaging Remington, you can just about bet that other gunmakers will become targets of similar attacks.

If "experts hired by plaintiff attorneys" haven't been able to duplicate the alleged misfires, should we take the reporting of CNBC at face value? Or could they have an ulterior motive? Firearms owners should never relax their safety precautions, but they should also be asking this question.

Steve
 
#21 ·
spur said:
Both .30-06s I checked so far, the gun has to be in "fire" to disengage the bolt.
Its a easy fix.

This is a 721/722 trigger, but the same as the 700 safety lever.

In the safe position the extension (arrow) engages a slot in the bolt handle locking the bolt in the closed position. Simply shorten it an 1/8" then the bolt can be opened in the safe position. Remington's "fix" was installing a safety lever without the extension and in some instances just removed it. The newer safeties and bolt handles do not have the extension or the notch.

Bill
 
#22 ·
I taped the show and have not watched it yet. But I have 2 700's and plan on having many more in the future. My 30-06 you have to put on fire to open the bolt. My other 700 in 22-250 I do recall one time will sighting in the gun at the range I was on target when I puched off the saftey and the gun went off. Gun has not done it since then, but after hearing this I am going to head to the range to see if it happens agian or not.
 
#23 ·
remingtons response to this is total BS! I know first hand
that back in the early 2000's they DID have a recall on 700's
from serial #abc to serial#lmn.

it was during the 3 day antlerless season in Pa when a fella
I used to work with was hunting with me and his 700 went off
when he slid the safety off to unload the gun. thankfully he
is VERY safe and had the gun pointed in a safe direction!
I didn't believe him and took the gun from him and tried to
make it do it again and it fired the first time I took off
the safety!
I told him the gun goes back to camp and gets put away and
does not ever come back to camp until I see a repair receipt
for it!

not 2 weeks after season I was reading an outdoor magazine
and saw the RECALL! we called Remington and their response
was it doesn't fall into the serial number range!!! I could
not believe what they were saying! I said well OBVIOUSLY
your problem is MORE widespread than you thought! They STILL
would not hear of it and denied it! told me to take the gun
to a gunsmith to have it sent to them for a charge!

I said well thats up to the owner, but I can tell you one
thing, with this being a LIFE THREATENING safety issue and
you obviously not having the backbone or common sense to
try and fix this I will NEVER OWN OR RECOMMEND a remington
product! guns, shells, if it says remington I wont own it!!
 
#24 ·
reeltime said:
remingtons response to this is total BS! I know first hand
that back in the early 2000's they DID have a recall on 700's....
Nothing you said disputes anything in Remington's press release. Remington has not claimed that they have never manufactured a gun that subsequently had a problem. What they said was that no experts, neither their own nor those hired by plaintiff attorneys, have been able to duplicate any alleged problems in an unaltered firearm. The fact that there had been a recall is irrelevant -- except to disprove anyone who has said Remington never cared enough to issue any recall.

What I would take from your buddy's experience is two things: (1.) that any rifle from any manufacturer can malfunction due to monkeying around with it, lack of proper care and cleaning, or careless handling; and (2.) that the problem your buddy's rifle had may not have been the same problem being alleged.

I am not saying that your buddy's rifle didn't have any problem, but based on your post no one (except perhaps your buddy, and maybe not even him if he bought it used) knows whether the rifle's trigger had been adjusted in a D-I-Y kind of way. If it had been, we could be talking about any brand of rifle, Remington, Winchester, Marlin, Weatherby, Ruger, Kimber... you name it.

On the other hand, if your buddy's rifle was brand new (or relatively new) and he was the original owner, I think he has reason to be upset.

Steve
 
#25 ·
Any and Every gun should be pointed in a safe direction at ALL times and treated as if it were loaded. Especially if you know it's loaded or in the process of loading/unloading. That is the first thing you learn about guns. I am not condoning Remington because indirectly it seems they admitted to a flaw at least on pre 1982 models that the safety had to be off in order to unload. But how sad that people have died over stupidity....
 
#26 ·
Steve,

I should have allowed more time to elaborate on the whole
issue with the gun but was in a hurry as we had to take the
grandson home.

a little info on this particular issue.

1. this gun had been bought brand new.
2. this gun has had less than 3 boxes of shells fired
through it.
3. The recall was for this EXACT problem.
4. this gun had been used in the field a grand total of 10 days.
5. the gun had never been more than wiped down with a gun cloth as it was never rained on, dropped, or abused.
6. MY whole issue was Remington NOT seeming to care, even
if they would have said please send it in and we will look
at it for you and if its a problem we will stand behind it
that would have been OK, but their response was its not in
the serial number range so basically its not our problem.

I whole heartedly agree with you alot of the problems with
guns is people "thinking" they are a gunsmith and doctoring
things they shouldn't be touching. I cringe when reading
notes on how to file this or that to reduce trigger pull
or whatnot. To me if you want a firearm modified take it
to a professional and have it done and done right, the
risks are just too great to have a reclining chair gunsmith
doing the work.

When I taught hunter/firearm safety my closing of the class
was always this;

IF you take nothing else from this whole class just remember
this, IF you follow the 10 commandments of firearm safety the
chances of ever being the shooter in a firearm incident are
very slim. Just remember once the shot happens its too late,
this isn't Hollywood, there are no retakes, no stunts, and
dead is dead, they wont be dead today and come back tomorrow
like on TV.
 
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