Remington's (known) DEFECTIVE trigger system: Approx. 4 million rifles effected

double ott

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Someone else is going to be killed/murdered by this known trigger defect to Remington. Double Ott

APPROXIMATELY FOUR MILLION DEFECTIVELY DESIGNED REMINGTON TRIGGERS ARE STILL BEING TRUSTED AND USED BY THE UNSUSPECTING AMERICAN SPORTSMAN.

http://www.drinnonlaw.com/Texas-Defective-Remington700.php

Defective Remington 700 Bolt-Action Rifle

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Remington's Defective Trigger System
A Historical Summary

Extensive Claims and Litigation History

1.Remington has been aware that its bolt-action rifles will sometimes fire absent a trigger pull.

2.To date, Remington has received thousands of customer complaints of unintended discharge for the Model 700 and 710 alone. Over 100 injured individuals have sued Remington over the same defective design. Remington and its insurers have paid to settle most of the claims rather than admit the defect and pay the cost of a recall and refit thereby leaving millions of persons at risk of their lives and those of their family and friends. click on here to review Remington memo January 2, 1979 wherein Remington admits to its own defect and recognizes the danger to its customers)


3.Ignoring thousands of customer complaints, Remington refused to recall its rifles, install a new trigger, or warn its customers of the potential danger. (click on here to review Remington memo dated January 2, 1979 wherein Remington admits to its own defect and recognizes the danger to its customers)


4.Instead, Remington designed the new 710 (introduced in 2001) using the very same defective M700 fire control.


5.Not surprisingly, Remington has already received numerous complaints from its customers of unintended discharge, mirroring the complaint history of the 700.


The Defect

1.Remington's trigger mechanism uses an internal component called a "connector" – a design component not used by any other rifle manufacturer. The connector floats on top of the trigger body inside of the gun, but is not physically bound to the trigger in any way other than tension from a spring. When the trigger is pulled, the connecter is pushed forward by the trigger, allowing the sear to fall and fire the rifle.


2.The proper position of the connector under the sear is an overlap of only 25/1000ths of an inch, but because the connector is not bound to the trigger, the connector separates from the trigger body when the rifle is fired and creates a gap between the two parts.


3.Any dirt, debris or manufacturing scrap can then become lodged in the space created between the connector and the trigger, preventing the connector from returning to its original position.


4.Remington's defective fire control could have been redesigned to eliminate the harm or danger very inexpensively. There is no valid engineering reason why the successfully utilized connectorless designs could not have been used by Remington in its Model 700 and 710.


5.In fact, Remington has recently done just that for the Model 700 with a newly designed trigger, the X-Mark Pro. That design, which eliminates the connector, was completed in 2002. However, Remington chose to continue with its prior unsafe design for financial reasons, never warning the public. Even today, Remington installs the new fire control into some but not all of its bolt-action rifles, leaving many users at risk with the old and defective design.

Jury Verdicts and Appellate Court Opinions of Remington's Defective Fire Control

1.In Lewy v. Remington, 836 F.2d 1104, 1106-07 (8th Cir. 1988); the Eighth Circuit upheld a finding of punitive damages against Remington in 1985.


2.In Campbell v. Remington Arms Co., 1992 WL 54928 (9th Cir. 1992)(unpublished opinion); affirmed a jury verdict of $724,000 based on a fire on bolt closure, finding no error.


3.Later in 1992, the Texas Supreme Court, in Chapa v. Garcia, specifically describes Remington's fire control as "defective."


4.In 1994, a Texas jury rendered a verdict in Collins v. Remington after Glenn Collins lost this foot to a Model 700 accidental discharge. The jury found that the fire control was defective and awarded a $15 million in exemplary damages. The total verdict was in excess of $17 million. (click on here to review Business Week article entitled "Remington Faces A Misfiring Squad")


5.The verdicts stopped with the Collins verdict. After that, Remington settled all claims. Instead of recalling or replacing the defective fire control, Remington has quietly paid almost $20 million to settle claims out of court, finally replacing the fire control only in 2007.
Remington's Redesign Efforts After the $17 million Collins Verdict

1.After Collins, Remington again contemplated a recall and again recognized the need to redesign its fire control. Internal documents detail Remington's extensive knowledge of the problem. However, until it finally introduced a new fire control in 2007 (a design that eliminates the connector), Remington consistently chose to forego a safer design.
Timeline of Redesign Efforts

1.In 1995, Remington openly acknowledges the need to "fix" the fire control and "eliminate" 'Fire on Safety Release' malfunction."


2.In 1997, when Remington embarked on the design of the Model 710, documents reflect Remington's desire not to include the M700 "Walker" –based fire control in the M710.


3.Remington designers then developed several connectorless fire controls for the M710. Remington documents clearly show that the new designs were favored ("The new concept barrel and fire control analysis was complete with excellent results.")


4.However, the designs met their downfall during Remington's economic analysis. Project spending was put on hold in May 1998 "until economics and project is approved." That approval never came. In August 1998, the safer designs were abandoned due to an "estimated cost increase."


5.Remington instead decided to pull the unsafe Model 700 fire control off the shelf and use it in the new Model 710 to "eliminate development cost and time."


6.As Remington began its internal testing of the new Model 710 (with the old Model 700 fire control installed), Remington, knowing the history of the design, warned its internal testers of the possibility of inadvertent discharge;
For each of the four rounds in the magazine the tester will close the bolt "smartly" –(i.e. as quickly as practical" –and be prepared for the rifle to inadvertently follow down or fire.

No such warning is provided to customers that purchase the Model 700 or 710, nor was such a warning given to the Barber parents, whose son died as the result of the trigger defect. (click on here to review excerpts from – CBS News 2001)

1.In 2000, a Model 710 rifle fired on bolt closure during Remington's testing. Remington's own expert witness in litigation admits that Remington "could not nail down" the reason for the discharge without a trigger pull.


2.In preparation for the introduction of the M710 to market, Remington Consumer Team Meeting minutes from 2001 reveal that Remington planned for personal injuries of its customers as a result of inadvertent discharges from Model 710 rifles:
Safety/Injury Calls and the Model 710 – Ken – If a consumer calls with a safety concern, (i.e. FSR, fires when closed, personal injury or property damage, etc), these calls AND firearms go to Dennis or Fred

1.Predictably, Remington began receiving reports of injury and accidental discharge from the Model 710 almost identical to the thousands of complaints it had received from the Model 700 soon after its release.

APPROXIMATELY FOUR MILLION DEFECTIVELY DESIGNED REMINGTON TRIGGERS ARE STILL BEING TRUSTED AND USED BY THE UNSUSPECTING AMERICAN SPORTSMAN.
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First post, huh? I hope you will allay our suspicions and tell us you are not affiliated with this law firm your link refers to or don't stand to gain from any class action settlement.
 
This has been discussed at length on another board, perhaps the old accuratereloading.com. Not sure why it is being posted now, unless as a general safety alert. I have a very nice 40-XB single shot, and I don't intend to have it altered (more than I already have - it has been pillar bedded), but I have hung the following tag on the trigger guard. I believe that it is necessary.

WARNING: This Remington 40-XB rifle uses a trigger
assembly designed for TARGET USE ONLY. Under
certain circumstances, this rifle may discharge when being
loaded or unloaded. It may discharge upon opening or
closing the bolt, upon releasing the safety, or even upon
pulling the trigger. The rifle must always be oriented with
the possibility of unexpected discharge in mind. Constant
safe orientation is likely only at a formal target range. If
you don't understand the above, or even just disagree with
it, KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF THIS RIFLE.

These characteristics are (marginally) acceptable in a target rifle. They are probably not acceptable in a hunting rifle. I think that the main problem is that you can have the safety on, have something happen to the trigger, and when you take the safety off, the rifle discharges. This is bad enough, but the bolt can't be opened with the safety on.

I don't know why this is being posted today, but if some people see it who haven't seen it before, I reckon that's a good thing.

P.S. I don't know whether this is the OP's first post or not. I probably have close to 5000 posts, but it doesn't much look that way.
 
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Your probably right 520?
The last two or so years has made me more suspicious and distrustful.
I think of it as adaptation to a new environment.
 
Admittedly I don't know much about this supposed problem, but it isn't logical that Remington would continue to manufacture a defective trigger assembly that could result in serious injury or death for years after the problem became known. All I am saying is that there has to be another side to this, and we haven't heard it yet!

Remington did issue a factory recall on Remington 600/660 rifles some years back to replace a defective safety assembly. They ran ads for several years in gun magazines encouraging owners to return their carbines for replacement of the defective parts. If they replaced those safety assemblies why would they turn around and not replace the same assembly on Model 700's?

http://www.remington.com/safety/safety_center/safety_modification_program/models_600_&_660.asp
 
That's why they changed the safety to not lock the bolt closed. I love Remington 700 triggers, but they do need to be kept clean.

I'll be glad to take any dangerous 700's off your hands. ;)
 
Motivation of the OP aside, it was a timely post for me. Last weekend a guy at the club whose 700 was bought at Dick's less than a month ago, told me he had a "funny" thing happen. He didn't know whether or not he did something wrong but the rifle discharged when he closed the bolt ! I just sent him a link to this thread.

All my modern bolts are Savages ! ;)
 
Long time S&W lover, long time lurker

I took my Remington Model Seven. 7mm-08 out to the farm the other day to check the zero. We have a bench set up to sight in our rifles. I was by myself. I had set up the bench, rifle rest, spotting scope etc. I was standing behind my 2002 SUV with the tail gate open. I loaded a 140 gr. Nosler Balistic Tip round in the chamber, pushed the bolt closed (normal pressure) and turned the bolt handle down normal pressure). The rifle discharged at the moment the bolt handle closed. The round went through the back seat, hit and went through both sides of an older hard plastic cooler, fragmented into three parts and continued through the back of the front seat, then into the glove box ( 3 fragmented holes) through an owners manual and stopped in the back of the glove box. Other fragments riped through the leather in several places in the front seat and left three small stars in my windsheild. I was really rattled. Could have been worse, hit the streering column, airbag, radio or heater controls. Or my foot or someone else. I posted this on another site in the firearms forum site where I have 800+ posts and this was one of the replies I received.

After I had a few days to think about it, I was mad as hell...Thus the post here and many other forums. I really hope that it may strongly incourage others to practice safe gun handling and if the same happens to them...They'll contact Remington. Not a lawyer!

Regards, Double Ott
 
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The first good gun I bought was a Remington 700 .30-06, in October, 1974. I didn't shoot it before opening morning of the deer hunt. That morning, when I closed the bolt on the first cartridge I chambered in it, it discharged. I was pointing it straight up so no damage to anything but it startled the dickens out of me. I assumed I had done something wrong even though I had my fingers nowhere near the trigger.

It never did it a second time but taught me a good lesson about muzzle control. I have fired it hundreds of times since.

When I first read about the problem with the M-700 triggers, I wondered if that is what occurred.
 
I took my Remington Model Seven. 7mm-08 out to the farm the other day to check the zero. We have a bench set up to sight in our rifles. I was by myself. I had set up the bench, rifle rest, spotting scope etc. I was standing behind my 2002 SUV with the tail gate open. I loaded a 140 gr. Nosler Balistic Tip round in the chamber, pushed the bolt closed (normal pressure) and turned the bolt handle down normal pressure). The rifle discharged at the moment the bolt handle closed. The round went through the back seat, hit and went through both sides of an older hard plastic cooler, fragmented into three parts and continued through the back of the front seat, then into the glove box ( 3 fragmented holes) through an owners manual and stopped in the back of the glove box. Other fragments riped through the leather in several places in the front seat and left three small stars in my windsheild. I was really rattled. Could have been worse, hit the streering column, airbag, radio or heater controls. Or my foot or someone else. I posted this on another site in the firearms forum site where I have 800+ posts and this was one of the replies I received.

After I had a few days to think about it, I was mad as hell...Thus the post here and many other forums. I really hope that it may strongly incourage others to practice safe gun handling and if the same happens to them...They'll contact Remington. Not a lawyer!

Regards, Double Ott

Double Ott, thank you for the thoughtful post on this issue. I had no previous knowledge of this problem, and am thankful to now be aware of it. I've only got one Model 700, and as much as safe gun handling should eliminate tragic results, it's very good to know that an unintended discharge can happen with these guns.

Again, thanks for being proactive about sharing this information, that's one of the reasons we have this forum!
 
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Double Ott, thank you for the post. I have a 760 and was unaware of this problem. Never had any ADs with it and hopefully never will, but I'll be even more careful now.
 
Apology offered...

I was unaware of these particular issues surrounding their triggers having never experienced the issue personally?
I regret having had a reflexive reaction to the O/P's originally posted material. Members whose judgement I trust posting since, have convinced me the O/P was posting about legitimate area's of concern.
 
double ott;
It looks as though a friend of mine, who purchased a 710 due to
low price, got lucky by giving it to me. Due to infimity, I haven't
used it since then. If I understand your post, this has one of the
defective assemblies and should be refitted with a different assembly.
Thanks for bringing it to my attention. TACC1
 
Couple of minor items here. The safety locking the bolt was a feature that numerous rifles had for decades. The theory being that it prevented the bolt from inadvertently moving to a position where the rifle wouldn't fire, that being dangerous in certain circumstances (dangerous game/use in war). JMB did the same thing with the 1911 safety that locks the slide. Over years, it's been recognized that being able to unload the firearm with the safety still applied is preferrable for safety devices that don't provide a 3rd choice ala Mauser/Winchester 70. I don't know if Remingtons decision to eliminate the bolt locking feature was related to a lawsuit or not, but it certainly didn't/doesn't have anything to do with a "defective trigger"-at least in the mechanical action sense. Change in perception of desirable design features, yes.

I don't doubt anyones descriptions of events they personally experienced, but in a case in Texas, Remingtons attorneys allegedly were able to get the plaintiff to admit that he had pulled the trigger one or more times (safety on) prior to the release of the safety that resulted in the discharge. I personally don't know if all the OP's claims with respect to the mechanics of Remingtons trigger are true, but I've seen quite a few other brands of firearms that had poorly fitted and/or abused safeties with the trigger being pulled with the safety on, allowed either the hammer/striker to fall or severly reduced the pull to the point that vigorous operation of the action could cause release.

Ignoring for a moment the possible disregard of a known defect and possible contributory negligence by the users, if we hypothetically accept 100 discharges of 4,000,000 possible objects, that's a 0.0025% rate of incidence.
 
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All mechanical devices are subject to failure. Repeat all mechanical devices are subject to failure. To a certain degree all of us become over dependent on safety design features to over come improper handling. It's called complacency.
 
+1 as to anything mechanical can fail. That said, I adjust the triggers on my Rem 700's to a pull of under 3lbs. I prove my setting by both closing the bolt with authority and slamming the rifle butt on the ground........on an EMPTY CHAMBER. I have never had an AD while in the field or at the range. I also never cover anything with my muzzle that I am not willing to destroy when chambering a round.........Safe gun handling 101!
 
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