Remington Model 700 cover-up

[bowhuntMN]

I just heard last weekend at deer camp that Remington has been covering up a problem with their 700's since the model first came out. Supposedly about 1% of their model 700's will at some point go off when flicking the safety to fire, and this will only occur about 1% of the time in these same rifles. What's also kind of ironic about this problem is that whatever it is that makes the 700's so renowned for their smooth and crisp triggers, is also causing the undesired firing of the rifle. Apparently, people have been sending their rifles in to Remington to have them fixed but Remington will only send them back. The company has also apparently been paying people to keep their mouths shut about it. A guy I talk to in class, an Army vet of Iraq and Afghanistan, said that he has seen a video of a SWAT team that has video of an officer having his Remington service rifle go off without his hand even touching the trigger. My cousin also said that there's video of Marine snipers showing their own service rifles go off when turning the safety to the firing position. That same guy from class said that he was unloading his Remington 700 after hunting one day by cycling the bolt until all the shells came out and he one time barely nudged the bolt and the gun went off through the open door of his truck. My uncle also had a similar experience when his 700 BDL went off without warning when he slung the rifle onto his back (I was standing about 10 feet behind him when it happened).

Now I, and everyone in my family that hunts, have been die-hard Remington fans our whole lives. I have always told people that I believe the 700's are the best rifles hands down in my own opinion, and I will probably never buy a rifle that is not a 700 in my lifetime. So to see a company that you have loved, trusted, and stood up for all your life pull off a cover up like this for the last 60 some years, is truly a heart-breaker. :angel2:

Has anyone else heard about this?

[Ethan Givan]

Yep my dad and my uncle both own 700s and they both had them fixed. From what I understand, part of the issue was that you could not work the bolt with out having the safety off. This created a safety issue when unloading live rounds from the gun. My cousin actually had my uncle's gun go off accidently once while hunting. She was getting ready to climb out of the stand and was unloading the rifle first and it went off without her touching the trigger. After they had the rifles fixed you can now work the bolt while keeping the safety on.

I dont hold it against Remington or the model 700. It is still one of the best rifles out there in my opinion. Im not sure if the newer 700s have this issue. My uncle and dad's are several years old.

[bowhuntMN]

I'm not sure about the newer rifles either. My uncle's BDL is several years old too, as is my dad's.

That's good that they can solve a lot of these problems simply by allowing the bolt to operate with the safety on. I hope Remington doesn't take a lot of heat for this.

[bowhuntMN]

Well I did a little bit of research and found the truth. Leave it to CNBC to try to smear a company as well known and loved as Remington. Turns out these problems happened in rifles that had been tampered with beyond their instructed parameters or hadn't been taken care of properly. Here's the link to the video from Remington's website:

http://www.remington700.tv/#/home

then view the video response to CNBC. It makes me sick to think about what the media can pass off as real and what people will believe as the truth.

[TBow]

I saw it on a news article on the TV a couple weeks ago. They made reference to the problem with the 700s and also about Remington shrugging off the issue to customers who'd called to report or complain about the gun firing when it was not supposed to. They interviewed an ex-Remington employee who was in "customer service". He indicated that Remington instructed him and the other reps to down-play all customer complaints and not to acknowledge anything.

Remington, finally after pressure, put out a notice sort of acknowledging the problem, but indicated that there was NO safety concern as long as everyone maintained proper safe gun handling practices by keeping the firearm ALWAYS pointed in a safe direction.....YA RIGHT!

I had two Remingtom 700 30-06s where I worked in the 90s. They were used for bear watch in remote locations in the north. I took them to a gunsmith around 1997 to have them checked out. He told me about a problem with them then, about prematurely firing when the safety was switched off so it was talked about way back then. I had them turned into the police for destruction and bought a couple marine grade pump shotguns with extended magazines to replace the 700s. I guess it was a good decision.

TBow

[wtnhunt]

Good field and stream article on this topic here http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/hunting/2010/10/petzal-different-look-remington-model-700-trigger.

Was a thread on this in the political room a short while back as well. Did not see the cnbc broadcast, but did see the nbc run clip. The clip on nbc, from what I could get out of it the mother had to have had the gun aimed towards her son when it went off, afraid with that in mind she assumes some blame there for not properly handling the gun in the first place.

[m gardner]

I've had several rifles go off when they shouldn't have in my lifetime and they were all pointed in a safe direction when it happened and one was a 700. When you play with dangerous toys you need to be cautious. If you aren't then bad things happen.

Mark

[wtnhunt]

A step further on this, owners of firearms do have a responsibility to know if our guns are or are not safe. If you have a model 700 that has an issue or you have questions raised as a result of this recent media attention on this then get it checked out, guessing most model 700's that have not had any type of trigger work done won't have any such problem.

The few rifles I have done trigger jobs on myself I do check periodically and make sure they won't fail. Was told once by someone who I consider to be pretty sharp with firearms that if you have a rifle with the bolt locked(unloaded of course) on bolt actions and drop it from approximately 2 ft straight drop on its butt end, the bolt should not drop, if it does then you have problems and that firearm in its current state is likely not safe. That is just the simple test, having said that I am far from being an expert on firearms and do not claim to be, better safe than sorry is my philosophy and if you have a firearm that is questionable and unsure about it probably best to let a competent gunsmith check it over if for nothing else to have peace of mind in knowing it is safe.

[hunter109]

well most companys do that ever once in a while idk why they should take all the guns that it happens to and fix them they send them back because they dont want to spend the money to fix them well i will never buy a rifle off that company

[GWSmith]

A step further on this, owners of firearms do have a responsibility to know if our guns are or are not safe. If you have a model 700 that has an issue or you have questions raised as a result of this recent media attention on this then get it checked out, guessing most model 700's that have not had any type of trigger work done won't have any such problem.

The few rifles I have done trigger jobs on myself I do check periodically and make sure they won't fail. Was told once by someone who I consider to be pretty sharp with firearms that if you have a rifle with the bolt locked(unloaded of course) on bolt actions and drop it from approximately 2 ft straight drop on its butt end, the bolt should not drop, if it does then you have problems and that firearm in its current state is likely not safe. That is just the simple test, having said that I am far from being an expert on firearms and do not claim to be, better safe than sorry is my philosophy and if you have a firearm that is questionable and unsure about it probably best to let a competent gunsmith check it over if for nothing else to have peace of mind in knowing it is safe.

Some of the best advice I've seen ever given...good job William!!!

[stevebeilgard]

i'd buy/shoot a 700 any day of the week. it's a great gun for sure.

what's really hard for me to believe here is that ANYONE still watches nbc, abc, cbs, msnbc, and the rest of the totally biased, liberal, lying news media. even harder that believing anyone actually watches is that some actually BELIEVE what these consistant liars spew out. but then again, 15% of americans still believe that obama is just a good christian doing wha is right for this country. santa clause will be here soon too.

[texastrophies]

i'd buy/shoot a 700 any day of the week. it's a great gun for sure.

what's really hard for me to believe here is that ANYONE still watches nbc, abc, cbs, msnbc, and the rest of the totally biased, liberal, lying news media. even harder that believing anyone actually watches is that some actually BELIEVE what these consistant liars spew out. but then again, 15% of americans still believe that obama is just a good christian doing wha is right for this country. santa clause will be here soon too.

If this was facebook, I would hit the "LIKE" button.

[arrow32]

i'd buy/shoot a 700 any day of the week. it's a great gun for sure.

what's really hard for me to believe here is that ANYONE still watches nbc, abc, cbs, msnbc, and the rest of the totally biased, liberal, lying news media. even harder that believing anyone actually watches is that some actually BELIEVE what these consistant liars spew out. but then again, 15% of americans still believe that obama is just a good christian doing wha is right for this country. santa clause will be here soon too.

If this was facebook I would also hit the like button.

I love the model 700's we got here at the house and wouldn't trade them for anything. I have let alot of animals meet the end of there day with them.

[coles]

I have experienced two Remington 700s go off when they werent supposed to. The first time was with an old 700 that my grandpa lent to me my first couple years of hunting. My dad had just put ammo in the magazine and closed the bolt on an empty chamber luckily because when he locked the bolt down, the firing pin snapped off. The second one was with my brand new 700 243 win. I bought it this last may and took it to the range twice. The first time I shot about 15 rounds through it without a problem. The second time I took it to the range, I shot one shot and then chambered another round. I pulled the trigger and just a faint click. I sat there for around 30 seconds thinking it was a hang fire and it never went off, so i grabbed the bolt, lifted it about a 1/4" and it went off with my finger no where near the trigger! I had it still pointed down range. I sent it to a Remington authorized repair place and they replaced the trigger and I know it was replaced for a fact. The original trigger was an xmark trigger but didnt have the screw on the trigger to lighten the pull and the new trigger does. Has worked like a charm since getting it back.

[hunterbobb]

well most companys do that ever once in a while idk why they should take all the guns that it happens to and fix them they send them back because they dont want to spend the money to fix them well i will never buy a rifle off that company

Don't believe everything you hear from the liberal media or on the internet. Remington has excellent customer service department and they stand behind every product they make. If you send in a gun that has a problem, they will fix it. If it is a problem you are responsible for they will charge you but they will fix it. Don't form an opinion of the Greatest gun company in America bases on hearsay evidence. Take the time to form your own opinions.

:gun2:

[ruttinbuc]

These rifles have been around for a long time and if there was a need for a mass recall the government would have forced the issue. I consider the source when it comes to these reports and anything associated with the NBC news network is suspect from the very start. Anyone who falls in line with the commentary and views of that network or it's cable affiliates needs to make a serious search for truth.

[Swamphunter]

i'd buy/shoot a 700 any day of the week. it's a great gun for sure.

what's really hard for me to believe here is that ANYONE still watches nbc, abc, cbs, msnbc, and the rest of the totally biased, liberal, lying news media. even harder that believing anyone actually watches is that some actually BELIEVE what these consistant liars spew out. but then again, 15% of americans still believe that obama is just a good christian doing wha is right for this country. santa clause will be here soon too.

Well said Steve!

[Swamphunter]

As for you guys having had guns go off "accidentally" several times in your life??? You must do a **** of a lot more shooting than I do, and I even shot competition matches for years. I HAVE NEVER had a gun go off accidentally... never heard it happening, never seen it happen, not once not EVER.

Im not saying on the rare occasion with conditions just right, or gun in such poor shape it is not possible... but several times in your life?? Wow........

[Swamphunter]

On another note, all that liberal biased BS from those scumbags at CNBC is nothing but a smear campaign.... to damage the reputation of a manufacturer to hurt gun sales. Its a back door attack on the 2nd amendment by putting another reputable firearms manufacturer out of business. If they discontinue making firearms, theres no reason to try and take on the NRA. To even start this thread without first simply checking Remingtons website to see if there was any recalls or facts to back this claim is beyond me.

[Newarcher]

I just heard last weekend at deer camp that Remington has been covering up a problem with their 700's since the model first came out. Supposedly about 1% of their model 700's will at some point go off when flicking the safety to fire, and this will only occur about 1% of the time in these same rifles. What's also kind of ironic about this problem is that whatever it is that makes the 700's so renowned for their smooth and crisp triggers, is also causing the undesired firing of the rifle. Apparently, people have been sending their rifles in to Remington to have them fixed but Remington will only send them back. The company has also apparently been paying people to keep their mouths shut about it. A guy I talk to in class, an Army vet of Iraq and Afghanistan, said that he has seen a video of a SWAT team that has video of an officer having his Remington service rifle go off without his hand even touching the trigger. My cousin also said that there's video of Marine snipers showing their own service rifles go off when turning the safety to the firing position. That same guy from class said that he was unloading his Remington 700 after hunting one day by cycling the bolt until all the shells came out and he one time barely nudged the bolt and the gun went off through the open door of his truck. My uncle also had a similar experience when his 700 BDL went off without warning when he slung the rifle onto his back (I was standing about 10 feet behind him when it happened).

Now I, and everyone in my family that hunts, have been die-hard Remington fans our whole lives. I have always told people that I believe the 700's are the best rifles hands down in my own opinion, and I will probably never buy a rifle that is not a 700 in my lifetime. So to see a company that you have loved, trusted, and stood up for all your life pull off a cover up like this for the last 60 some years, is truly a heart-breaker. :angel2:

Has anyone else heard about this?

I've owned a 700 Mountain rifle for some 26 years and never once has it gone off when I didn't pull the trigger.

First, I don't throw a slinged, loaded rifle on my shoulder with a round in the chamber. If I am walking in, the gun is unloaded until I am ready to shoot. Once done hunting the gun's chamber is emptied while I walk out. I also don't go around with loaded guns in my vehicle across the back seat or other (too many things to grab that trigger).

When unloading my gun, I drop the magazine (or in my case unhinge the floor plate and let the bullets drop free). Then I work the bolt to expel any live rounds from the chamber. Then I let the hammer down by holding the trigger and working the bolt.

I've never had a problem but I would venture a guess that many of these so-called problems are from yodels throwing what they thought were unloaded or uncocked guns down onto a seat of a truck or otherwise pulling the trigger.

That's my opinion anyhow. With the number of 700's sold, if there was a serious problem the gov't would have stepped in by now. That's not to say that a gun can't have a trigger problem but I don't believe that it's here today and gone tomorrow (unless cleaning or some other change happened).

Edited to add that this is not meant to call into question the veracity of those here who have experienced such an issue.

New

Edited November 10, 2010 by Newarcher

[bowhuntMN]

I've owned a 700 Mountain rifle for some 26 years and never once has it gone off when I didn't pull the trigger.

First, I don't throw a slinged, loaded rifle on my shoulder with a round in the chamber. If I am walking in, the gun is unloaded until I am ready to shoot. Once done hunting the gun's chamber is emptied while I walk out. I also don't go around with loaded guns in my vehicle across the back seat or other (too many things to grab that trigger).

When unloading my gun, I drop the magazine (or in my case unhinge the floor plate and let the bullets drop free). Then I work the bolt to expel any live rounds from the chamber. Then I let the hammer down by holding the trigger and working the bolt.

I've never had a problem but I would venture a guess that many of these so-called problems are from yodels throwing what they thought were unloaded or uncocked guns down onto a seat of a truck or otherwise pulling the trigger.

That's my opinion anyhow. With the number of 700's sold, if there was a serious problem the gov't would have stepped in by now. That's not to say that a gun can't have a trigger problem but I don't believe that it's here today and gone tomorrow (unless cleaning or some other change happened).

Edited to add that this is not meant to call into question the veracity of those here who have experienced such an issue.

New

We were just getting done with a drive of our north woods on the last day of rifle season. My uncle would never do anything unsafe with a gun, and I doubt anyone in the world preaches safety as much as my uncle. Don't worry, there were no unsafe practices going on here.

As for the guy from class that I talked to, I also thought he was stupid for unloading a bolt action one shell at a time by running the bolt. You're just asking for something to go wrong there. But his gun was not loaded in the seat of his truck, he only had the truck door open so he could put his gun inside after he was done unloading it.

Hopefully this clears it up a little more. I don't want anyone to think we weren't being safe with our guns.

[bowhuntMN]

On another note, all that liberal biased BS from those scumbags at CNBC is nothing but a smear campaign.... to damage the reputation of a manufacturer to hurt gun sales. Its a back door attack on the 2nd amendment by putting another reputable firearms manufacturer out of business. If they discontinue making firearms, theres no reason to try and take on the NRA. To even start this thread without first simply checking Remingtons website to see if there was any recalls or facts to back this claim is beyond me.

Sorry man. Now that I re-read my original post, it does sound like was trying to bash Remington. I should've read it over a third time before I posted it and changed the title as well. Sorry again. I was just so fired up after hearing this story that I didn't think about what I was doing. And as I can see, it fires you up too. Not only what you said above but for anyone to try and crap on a manufacturer like Remington pisses me off more than anything. I've loved and trusted Remington rifles ever since I can remember, and everyone I know will tell you just how passionate I am about the Remington company and their line of firearms. I started this thread because I wanted to see if anyone else had heard about this or had any information on it.

We're all in the same boat here.

Edited November 15, 2010 by bowhuntMN

[bowhuntMN]

I've owned a 700 Mountain rifle for some 26 years and never once has it gone off when I didn't pull the trigger.

First, I don't throw a slinged, loaded rifle on my shoulder with a round in the chamber. If I am walking in, the gun is unloaded until I am ready to shoot. Once done hunting the gun's chamber is emptied while I walk out. I also don't go around with loaded guns in my vehicle across the back seat or other (too many things to grab that trigger).

When unloading my gun, I drop the magazine (or in my case unhinge the floor plate and let the bullets drop free). Then I work the bolt to expel any live rounds from the chamber. Then I let the hammer down by holding the trigger and working the bolt.

I've never had a problem but I would venture a guess that many of these so-called problems are from yodels throwing what they thought were unloaded or uncocked guns down onto a seat of a truck or otherwise pulling the trigger.

That's my opinion anyhow. With the number of 700's sold, if there was a serious problem the gov't would have stepped in by now. That's not to say that a gun can't have a trigger problem but I don't believe that it's here today and gone tomorrow (unless cleaning or some other change happened).

Edited to add that this is not meant to call into question the veracity of those here who have experienced such an issue.

New

I think they also said on Remington's response that they've been supplying the U.S. military with 700's for a long time (since Vietnam if I remember right) and the military would have come to Remington right away if there was ever a problem. But the military has never encountered any problems with the 700 action and trigger in its history with the rifles and has never had a single complaint sent to Remington.

[bowhuntMN]

Well I did a little bit of research and found the truth. Leave it to CNBC to try to smear a company as well known and loved as Remington. Turns out these problems happened in rifles that had been tampered with beyond their instructed parameters or hadn't been taken care of properly. Here's the link to the video from Remington's website:

http://www.remington700.tv/#/home

then view the video response to CNBC. It makes me sick to think about what the media can pass off as real and what people will believe as the truth.

I'm just as guilty as the rest of them. Can't believe I fell for it.

[JimT]

I've never had a problem with mine in the 14 years I have owned it. I adjusted the trigger to my liking myself. If you do not know what your doing bring it to a smith. There are far more "dangerous" rifles out there. Older lever guns come to mind. I have seen thumbs slip off the hammer and the gun go off while attempting to put the gun in safety mode. An ugly thing for sure. Gotta love the anti gunners... :wacko: