Remington 700 Slammed by NBC

[Model70Man]

I know this is typical liberal media, but, I was watching the Today Show on NBC and they had a segment on hunting and the Remington 700. They stated it is the #1 selling rifle worldwide. But then slammed it for it's trigger/safety not being safe and then had video of a sniper barely lifting the bolt and BOOM. They also stated Remington has known about the flaws of their safety since the late 40's or 50's, and has not done anything about it. They said that the misfires occur when unloading the rifle and not touching the trigger. Then had stories of a couple of people who lost family members that claim the trigger/safety mechanism is at fault.

Not good news for Remington.

Always remember rule #1: Never point a firearm in the direction of something you do not intend to kill.

 

[TiminTN]

There should be many shadtree trigger adjusters go directly to jail, for manslaughter. The 700 trigger and those beautiful little screws becon all tinkerers on a titanic scale. If the factory epoxy were still on the rifles that misfire I would be absolutley stone shocked.

 

[pcrc]

I love my 700, but did have one go off when I was shutting the bolt. I was holding the gun with my left hand and was wearing a heavy glove. I did not realize it at the time due to wearing the glove but somehow my pinky was in the triggerguard. When the bolt was closed the gun went off. Let me tell you I was not right for a week and it still bothers me to this day. Fortunately I was by myself and bullet hit tree about 10 yards in front of me. Being the safety must be off to work the bolt I think is a bad design. I would not be surprised at all if this is the flaw they will be talking about. In the piece on the Today Show they showed a gun going off when the bolt was being activated. Wish they would go to a 3 position safety or figure out a way to work the bolt with the safety on. Anyway I have the entire CNBC show Tivo'd for tonight and am anxious to see it. Again it was entirely my fault gun went off due to finger on the trigger, but 3 position safety could have very easily eliminated the issue. I feel that if a manufacturer has the know how to design a firearm to be safer it is their responsibility to do it.

 

[rdl65]

When you're the #1 selling rifle in the world everyone is gonna take a jab at you. You don't get to be #1 by making junk. I'll take a Remington 700 over any bolt action rifle.

 

[Kimberman]

The main reason I dont like the 700 for a HUNTING rifle is because of the safety. For a bench or varmint gun, I have no problem with the safety system.

 

[cdw338]

With proper handling of the rifle and proper maintenance of the trigger this should not happen.

I think the 700 that Remington is producing not has a newly designed trigger that takes care of the old problem.

If firearms are not maintained and kept in good condition
funny things can happen to any brand of firearms.

 

[vabuckbuster]

How old are the 700's that are doing this?

 

[vonb]

Tim,
I understand what you are saying but how many factory triggers do you have from Remington that you use that are still set at the factory pull weight? Knowing that you enjoy benchrest, I bet not many.

There should be many shadtree trigger adjusters go directly to jail, for manslaughter. The 700 trigger and those beautiful little screws becon all tinkerers on a titanic scale. If the factory epoxy were still on the rifles that misfire I would be absolutley stone shocked.

 

[moondawg]

My 700 has a light trigger pull. It is an older model, don't remember what year. I make it a point to keep my finger off the trigger and the safety on unless I am ready to fire.

 

[megalomaniac]

700's are junk for sure :)

that being said, anyone out there want to sell me your defective 80's or 90's model 700 for $300? Even though they're junk, I'll be happy to take 'em out of your hands :)

 

[TiminTN]

Remington triggers are not of the benchrest design or quality of a Jewell. My 700`s used to get adjusted down as low as the individual trigger would allow. This usually varied trigger by trigger. I now am older and wiser and do not adjust the trigger to the raw edge, not from a safety stanpoint, but I missed killing a very nice buck once because of a light trigger. All my triggers are clean as a whistle and break like glass, but the poundage is a shade over 2#. This is a full pound lighter than you can safely go with a model 70. The military approved the 700 for use in the battlefield, so who am I to call it unsafe. If anything I like owning rifles good enough for our Brothers in Arm to protect this great country with. I wonder how many enemy of our country wish they had not met the wrong end of a Remington 700.

 

[pcrc]

I really dont think it is a trigger issue as much as not being able to work the bolt without moving the safety to off. Like I said in earlier post, a 3 position safety allowing you to work the bolt with safety on should eliminate the problem.

 

[Bertman]

My 700 has never had any kind of problem.I have owned it for many years.

 

[Tater]

I thought you could work the bolt on a 700 with the safety on. It has been many years since I owned one.

 

[pcrc]

I thought you could work the bolt on a 700 with the safety on. It has been many years since I owned one.

You cant on mine. Bolt is locked tight until you turn safety off.

 

[Model70Man]

They said just working the bolt would cause the rifle to fire and not even touching the trigger.

I know this is just one more way for the libs to think they will have a one up on the firearm owners. My initial post was not to slam the 700 or Remington, but to inform everyone what I saw on NBC. At 9 PM on CNBC there is a 1 hour documentary on this whole issue stating the rifle will fire without pulling the trigger.

 

[pcrc]

700's are junk for sure :)

that being said, anyone out there want to sell me your defective 80's or 90's model 700 for $300? Even though they're junk, I'll be happy to take 'em out of your hands :)

Just got done watching the CNBC show. I did not see any anti-gun spin to it at all. I am a loyal Remington customer but do not think they are beyond reproach or not capable of putting profits ahead of safety. Like I have said in other post's I have a 700 that has gone off unexpectably. I will never take it back to the woods to hunt with. Might use it off a bench rest where the muzzle is always downrange but way to many situations in the field where you just cant always know where other people are or keep the muzzle in an absolute safe direction.
If you are still interested in buying all the 700's I wont take $300 for it, but will sell it for what I have in it, $475.00. PM me if interested

 

[mr.big]

I thought you could work the bolt on a 700 with the safety on. It has been many years since I owned one.

You cant on mine. Bolt is locked tight until you turn safety off.

they changed this in the late 80`s,,from then till now the safety on a Rem 700 or M7 does not lock the bolt,,for 700`s made before then Rem offers the part to change it over for free ,or they did at one time,,but all you have to do is take a file and cut the lever on the safety that sticks up in the bolt and cut about .325 inch off it and it will not lock the bolt and you can work the bolt with the safety ON..

or get you a Jewel

 

[Model70Man]

Mr. Walker, the inventor of the 700 knew of the flaw of the trigger and went back to Remington and wanted them to change the trigger that would cost 5.5 CENTS per rifle. Remington didn't want to make the change. The X Mark Pro is Mr. Walkers redesign for the old trigger and takes care of the design flaw in the original trigger. This trigger should have been in the 700 since the beginning. I'm sure Mr. Walker is now the most hated person by the Remington corporation.

 

[Model70Man]

I would hate to be a customer service rep. for Remington tomorrow morning.

 

[vonb]

Now the bigger question...Does Shilen, Timney and Rifle Basix triggers have this same flaw as the Walker design or have they been "fixed"?

 

[pcrc]

I thought you could work the bolt on a 700 with the safety on. It has been many years since I owned one.

You cant on mine. Bolt is locked tight until you turn safety off.

they changed this in the late 80`s,,from then till now the safety on a Rem 700 or M7 does not lock the bolt,,for 700`s made before then Rem offers the part to change it over for free ,or they did at one time,,but all you have to do is take a file and cut the lever on the safety that sticks up in the bolt and cut about .325 inch off it and it will not lock the bolt and you can work the bolt with the safety ON..

or get you a Jewel

Dont think I will be messing with the safety. That will just relieve them of responsibility and give them more ammunition to say it is not their fault, just a bunch of amatuer gunsmiths or improper maintenence. If it is that easy lets see if Remington will step up to the plate and offer to fix it. I am a very loyal Remington customer but may end up not being so any more.

 

[mr.big]

all the aftermarket triggers for the 700 ,you have to use the safety and bolt stop release from the factory trigger on the aftermarket trigger,,except for the Jewel,,it comes with its own,

 

[Model70Man]

I thought you could work the bolt on a 700 with the safety on. It has been many years since I owned one.

You cant on mine. Bolt is locked tight until you turn safety off.

they changed this in the late 80`s,,from then till now the safety on a Rem 700 or M7 does not lock the bolt,,for 700`s made before then Rem offers the part to change it over for free ,or they did at one time,,but all you have to do is take a file and cut the lever on the safety that sticks up in the bolt and cut about .325 inch off it and it will not lock the bolt and you can work the bolt with the safety ON..

or get you a Jewel

Dont think I will be messing with the safety. That will just relieve them of responsibility and give them more ammunition to say it is not their fault, just a bunch of amatuer gunsmiths or improper maintenence. If it is that easy lets see if Remington will step up to the plate and offer to fix it. I am a very loyal Remington customer but may end up not being so any more.

It would cost more than $300 million for them to do that. More than the company is worth.

 

[pcrc]

I would guess they are worth a helluva lot more than 300 million. In todays world that aint much. They already paid out a 17 million dollar claim according to story. Wont take too many of those to equal more than 300 million

 

[mr.big]

I thought you could work the bolt on a 700 with the safety on. It has been many years since I owned one.

You cant on mine. Bolt is locked tight until you turn safety off.

they changed this in the late 80`s,,from then till now the safety on a Rem 700 or M7 does not lock the bolt,,for 700`s made before then Rem offers the part to change it over for free ,or they did at one time,,but all you have to do is take a file and cut the lever on the safety that sticks up in the bolt and cut about .325 inch off it and it will not lock the bolt and you can work the bolt with the safety ON..

or get you a Jewel

Dont think I will be messing with the safety. That will just relieve them of responsibility and give them more ammunition to say it is not their fault, just a bunch of amatuer gunsmiths or improper maintenence. If it is that easy lets see if Remington will step up to the plate and offer to fix it. I am a very loyal Remington customer but may end up not being so any more.

REMINGTON
MODEL 700,CENTER FIRE RIFLES MFG BEFORE 1982
MODEL 600, 660, 721, 722 40-X RIFLES MFG BEFORE MARCH 1982
MODEL XP-100 TARGET PISTOL MFG BEFORE FEBRUARY 1975

RECALL: Remington Arms Company, Inc. is offering a safety modification program for certain bolt-action centerfire firearms manufactured prior to 1982, including the Model 700, Model 600, 660, 721, 722, 40-X bolt-action rifles (made before March 1982) and Model XP-100 target pistols made before February 1975.

These firearms have a feature known as a bolt-lock that requires the safety to be placed in the �off� position in order to unload the gun. If you participated in this program, your firearm will be modified to eliminate the bolt-lock feature. The operation of your gun will not be otherwise affected.


If you want assistance, call Remington�s toll-free consumer hotline at (877) 387-6691. To learn more about the 1979 safety recall, check our website at www.remington.com.

Offer valid through December 31, 2002
Remington
870 Remington Drive
Madison, North Carolina 27025-0700
Source:
North American Hunter, August 2002; page 103

 

[pcrc]

I thought you could work the bolt on a 700 with the safety on. It has been many years since I owned one.

You cant on mine. Bolt is locked tight until you turn safety off.

they changed this in the late 80`s,,from then till now the safety on a Rem 700 or M7 does not lock the bolt,,for 700`s made before then Rem offers the part to change it over for free ,or they did at one time,,but all you have to do is take a file and cut the lever on the safety that sticks up in the bolt and cut about .325 inch off it and it will not lock the bolt and you can work the bolt with the safety ON..

or get you a Jewel

Dont think I will be messing with the safety. That will just relieve them of responsibility and give them more ammunition to say it is not their fault, just a bunch of amatuer gunsmiths or improper maintenence. If it is that easy lets see if Remington will step up to the plate and offer to fix it. I am a very loyal Remington customer but may end up not being so any more.

REMINGTON
MODEL 700,CENTER FIRE RIFLES MFG BEFORE 1982
MODEL 600, 660, 721, 722 40-X RIFLES MFG BEFORE MARCH 1982
MODEL XP-100 TARGET PISTOL MFG BEFORE FEBRUARY 1975

RECALL: Remington Arms Company, Inc. is offering a safety modification program for certain bolt-action centerfire firearms manufactured prior to 1982, including the Model 700, Model 600, 660, 721, 722, 40-X bolt-action rifles (made before March 1982) and Model XP-100 target pistols made before February 1975.

These firearms have a feature known as a bolt-lock that requires the safety to be placed in the �off� position in order to unload the gun. If you participated in this program, your firearm will be modified to eliminate the bolt-lock feature. The operation of your gun will not be otherwise affected.


If you want assistance, call Remington�s toll-free consumer hotline at (877) 387-6691. To learn more about the 1979 safety recall, check our website at www.remington.com.

Offer valid through December 31, 2002
Remington
870 Remington Drive
Madison, North Carolina 27025-0700
Source:
North American Hunter, August 2002; page 103

I'll try calling them tommorow but doubt I will be able to get through.

 

[Efhutton]

Caught the last half of the show. Son, that James is what I'd call a chain smoker.

 

[Henry Lehman]

I have 3 model 700's, never had one problem,ever, been shooting my 308 since I was 18. Now im 45.

 

[vonb]

all the aftermarket triggers for the 700 ,you have to use the safety and bolt stop release from the factory trigger on the aftermarket trigger,,except for the Jewel,,it comes with its own,

Other brands come with a bolt stop and safety:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?p ... ber=526927
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?p ... ber=220642
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?p ... ber=465479