Remington 700 deadly design.

[kingfish]

Watched a show last night that show's Remington put cost over human lives after they designed and sold the 700 model rifle. The original designer of the trigger that worked for Remington tried to get the company to accept his redesign of the safety to keep the gun from discharging without touching the trigger and they wouldn't do it because it cost to much?? 5.5 cents per gun back in the late 40's.

I have a Remington model 721 and love it but I will never buy another Remington rifle until they come out and prove to the public that they have fixed this problem. It's still a design flaw that they continue to use today. I'm sure you can go to youtube and find the video of the rifle going off without touching the trigger.

 

[justr_86]

I have a 700 bdl and love it. How many actually have the problem? I know mine doesn't. I also caught the story on ksl. They sell 4 out of every 10 guns sold. With that volume and 2 different problem weapons I'd say they are fine but be carefull.

 

[Roy]

Little confused here Kingfish - are you saying that all the Remington 700's that have been sold since the 1940's have been unsafe?

WOW - that's a lot of rifles over a long long long period of time that would have that problem, never really heard of that being a problem with Remingtons. I am going to have to research it a little I guess.

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

 

[tedcrf450]

I have also owned a 721 (30-06). My dad got it used in the mid '60's and refinished it with a new stock. He gave it to me when I was 17 (1988). He stressed to me to always check the safety as it seemed to come off easy. I just gave it to my middle son. I watched my dad kill a lot of deer with that gun. I have taken several with it myself. My son took his buck 2 years ago with it. "Ole meat in the pot"

Sorry for the rant I have never seen anyone else talk about the 721.

 

[mulecreek]

I saw the show as well. It did say that all model 700's sold since the 40's potentially have the problem. Estimates are it could be 1% of them may have the problem. The problem lies within the safety mechanism and the gun firing when the bolt is closed or the safety is swithced of, without touching the trigger. Remington is holding the line that there is not a problem if the gun is used correctly. The report referenced a Consumer Reports study done in the 60's on rifles. This was back when Consumer Reports tested guns as well. The model 700 they tested had the gun fire without pulling the trigger several times, 3 or 4 if I remember correctly. The show also had video of a shooter that shows the gun firing without the trigger being touched. Very interesting show and definetly worth watching if you own a 700. I have 3. It was on CNBC. They tend to re-run shows often on this channel.

 

[cowhorn]

My brother in law called me and I saw it,was kinda surprised because I have never heard of this.I have several 700's but thankfully never a problem.Bad about that kid that was killed on the other side of the vehicle by his mom.I don't think you can ever be too safe with any gun.

 

[1911]

Here is another thread on the same subject with some good information.
http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID22/2717.html

 

[justr_86]

I have a 700 BDL in 270 win with lots of shots through it. I have not had 1 problem with the gun. I thinks its a 1 in a million type deal and people need to pay close attention to any firearm, loaded or not. At the hint of any problem get it looked at, any brand any model!

 

[RELH]

I am afraid you are very wrong about the figure of one in a million. Far more serious then that paltry sum.

RELH

 

[lve2143]

I'm a Total Remington Lover.

Period

Paragraph

But I have a model 725 in .222 Rem Mag
that I would NEVER let a kid handle.

I'll leave it at that.

Larry

 

[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

My Remington 700 BDL is a late 70's model!
Used & abused it for many years without a problem!
Heard about the problem about 10 years ago!
Took it to Barlows on redwood road after contacting Remington & they made some kind of fix on it for free at Remingtons cost!

Just call Remington,I'll bet they still offer a free upgrade?

God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!

I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!

 

[projp]

When I was young and dumb, (as opposed to old and dumb), I got into seeing how hot I could load shells for my 243.
I suceeded in getting a case stuck and broke the bolt handle off trying to get it to open.
I sent the gun back to Remington to be fixed expecting to pay for what was obvious owner abuse. When my rifle, (788), arrived back it looked different. Upon closer exmination they had sent me a whole new barreled action on my old stock.
They are alright in my book

 

[AZStickman]

Had it happen to me when I was a kid....Had a friend walking in front of me and we were into Elk. I slipped the safety off and it fired my finger was nowhere near the trigger. Gun flew back out of my hands. I thank God to this day I had the muzzle pointed in a safe direction....... Terry

 

[dleonard3]

The only time I've ever had a problem with any of my 700's was after I had been monkeying with the trigger adjustments on a BDL 7mm mag I had many years ago. I made the adjustments right, but what I did wrong was I did everything at room temperature - mid 70s. I guess metal shrinks as it gets cold. When I went to sight it in, it was below freezing outside. When I shut the bolt on a live round, it fired. Scared the crap out of me. I checked it with an empty chamber and it wouldn't stay cocked - dropped the firing pin every time. I even tried opening the bolt, turning the safety on, then closing the bolt. It held until I flipped the safety off, then it would drop the firing pin again. I took it home, put it in the deep freezer for a couple hours, then made my adjustments again with all the metal parts nice and cold. I haven't had a problem since, and I learned a very valuable lesson.

 

[4000fps]

POS Remmy 700 cost me a bear in AK in 2008. It was a brand new gun and fired when I flipped the safety off. The trigger weight was adjusted down to 4.5 lbs, but that was it. Called Remmy and all they said was "send it in to one of our service centers."

Meanwhile you have guns like Ruger that cannot fire by flipping the safety. Or better yet, guns like Tikka that you can adjust at home, and the owner's manual even tells you how!

 

[hardhorn]

I saw parts of the show as well. I figured it was a rarity as well. Next day I mentioned it to ONE friend. He laughed and stated he had a gun that did that occasionally, he hadn't heard any warnings before that. The show said that if there was a problem, Remington would settle with a nondisclosure agreement between them and the victims. If I owned one I would certainly look into this a lot closer.

 

[opbuckslayer]

I believe it has to do with the trigger being adjusted. My brother in laws gun did that and he had the trigger pull set down to 3 1/2 lbs. You would hope that they would fix the design flaw if there is one because i think the 700 is the best shooting rifle for the money ever made.

 

[4000fps]

I have two M700's, and they both have aftermarket trigger. The funny thing is, Remmy introduced the X trigger, claiming it was new and improved, and that is the trigger that went bananas on me. Probably shot it 200 times before it malfunctioned. Of course it was when i was about to smoke a bear.

 

[longshooter338]

Get a grip folks, If your not a gunsmith dont mess with them thats why they come factory with a 10 pound trigger LIABILITY REM 700 ITS ALL I OWN AND ALL I WILL SHOOT PERIOD !!!!!!!! money hungry puke lawyers/ attorneys they aught to sell tags for them !!!

 

[mtdream]

in principle I agree with the lawyer thing

however in this instance, I get the 700 issue...my father almost shot me...He has not touched a gun since, and as such has cost me the joy of taking him out for elk...he wont even go...makes him "hurt to bad, that I coulda hurt you"

So, for me, it is simple, get the fix, I will pay for it, dont care to get money from anyone...just sad to not have my dad hunt with me...

I too saw the show, recorded it for him, and his only response was, that could have been you on the other side of the trailer...sucks but it is what it is...

Other side of it, all people carried teh rifle with a bullet in the chamber, which should not be done IMHO, especially with horses as lots of stuff can flick the safety off etc. So, all took a measured risk, and the gun did something it was not supposed to...it is way more than 1 in a million, but it is not epidemic either...very small forum, and look how many of us have first hand experience...

 

[desertdeer]

my dad has a 700 made in the early seventies. every now and then when he takes the safety off it fires. he has probably had it happen ten times in 30 plus yrs. i didnt know the problem hadnt been fixed but im glad for my winchesters and weatherby.

 

[WapitiBob]

The failure rate was estimated at 1%. 5 million guns sold, 50k guns going off unintentionally.

The problem is, the 700 has no true safety. Nothing is blocking the pin. The new "x-mark" trigger is actually the original trigger designers fix from back around the 60's if I remember correctly.

 

[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

HERE'S MY ???

Got a Question?
I had Barlows in SLC/Redwood Road do the mod on my 700!

Before the mod I had to kick the Safety off to Pull the Bolt back to eject the shell!

After the mod,I can eject the Shell with the Safety on!

Did they do anything during the Mod to fix the gun from firing when you kick the Safety off with a Live round in it?

Or just fix it so you can eject/pull the bolt back with the Safety on?



God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!

I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!

 

[WapitiBob]

RE: HERE'S MY ???

Your fix was to only address the "eject shell with safety on" issue. The mod did not fix the root problem with the trigger connector.

Again, the "safety" does not block the pin even with the modification they did to your gun.

Remington sets the factory trigger pull around 10# now to help with the problem from what I have read.

One of the guys on TV was showing the gun going off by touching the bolt, not the safety.

 

[standman]

RE: HERE'S MY ???

Have a friend that bought a new 700 this fall. Twice the gun fired when the safety was pushed off. He no longer has the gun.

Brian

 

[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

RE: HERE'S MY ???

OK WapitiBob!

Never really thought about till this thread was brought up?

Did they fix the problem?

Or just make the mod on my gun where I could eject/open the bolt with the safety on?

The later you claim!

Thanks!

I've never had the problem with my gun,not even one time!

But the way I look at it:

There's a first time for everythang!


God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!

I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!