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

[Snowbandit]

I really like my Remington rifles but there has been an issue with them for a long time. It happened to me once 25-30 years ago. I had stepped out of a pick up truck and chambered a round in my 700 BDL. Don't recall if the safety was on or off but, as soon as the bolt closed the rifle discharged. The round went safely into the ground under the door but surpried me all to heck. There's no way I (or anything else) was anywhere near the trigger when it happened. My hand was still on the bolt.

I took that gun straight to a gunsmith who told me he adjusted the sear and it shouldn't happen again. Well, I'm telling you, it should never have happened in the first place!

I still have that gun. It's probably the most accurate rifle I've ever owned. I just seemed to have lost interest in it after that incident so, now it just sits in the safe looking all beautiful and collects dust. It's never done another dirty deed and probably never will. Maybe I should sell it one of these days.

 

[s&wchad]

I'm glad no one was hurt. Sorry about your truck.

I've hunted primarily with Remington 700's since 1976. I have seven 700's and three 40X's, so you could say I like them. The actions are strong, they're generally pretty accurate and the trigger is usually very nice once it's properly adjusted. I've seen factory triggers set at 8 lbs plus and I'm sure corporate lawyers were involved.

I experienced a problem with a gummed up trigger group on one rifle, where the striker would occasionally follow the bolt home when I closed it (especially when it was cold). I never had an AD with it, but I did eject a live cartridge while shooting at an elk after I racked one in, pulled the trigger and nothing happened. I got the elk anyway! I later cleaned and degreased the trigger group with an aerosol cleaner and lightly lubed it with a CLP and the problem went away. In all fairness, the rifle was over ten years old and I had purchased it used. I do now make it a point to pull the action and clean and inspect the trigger groups on these rifles regularly.

It's been my experience that Remington's customer service stinks (they could take a lesson from S&W and Leupold). I've contacted them for a number of reasons over the years and they've always left me with the feeling that they only care about selling new guns. This manual from the 60's shows how to adjust the trigger. FWIW, I use jewelers epoxy to re-secure the screws after I adjust the pull to 3-½#.

 

[mtgianni]

Sorry about your rig but I hoped that you relearned gun safety. Point your gun downrange then chamber and load at the bench, not behind the rig. I am aware of Remington's safety problems and do not own one any more.

 

[dennis40x]

When a round discharges it belongs to you for better or worse.

Getting back to all mechanical devices are subject to failure.

An acquaintance had a Colt 1911 "Match Conditioned" by a not so competent "Gun Hacker". You simply can't afford cheap. After touching off doubles on several occasions the three rounds burst really got his attention.

I've been present on the firing line on more than one occasion when an M1 or M14 slammed fired. Had one occurrence myself no fault was found with the rifle or issued ammunition. The best was a shooter to my left with an AR15 rifle. The muzzle was pointed done resting on his shooting stool. Chambered a round and the rifle discharged lets just say the shooter suffered not but the contents of the stool was somewhat worse for wear.

Now I shoot competitively with a 40X and for short course a much modified M700 short action in .223. So far no problems that's not to say there can't be.

When a round discharges it belongs to you for better or worse.

 

[m75rlg]

I used my "defective" Model 700 this morning. (see below) I have been using it for 26 years and probably 40-60 head of big game.

I have had two incidents where the firearm dischrged unexpectedly. In one case there was a piece of trash that worked it way into the trigger group and kept the sear form holding. Fixed by a simple cleaning. The second was a discharge after pulling the trigger on a buck with the saftey on, and when I pushed the safty off she went. At first I said this was some type of problem, but could not get it to duplicate the incident in nearly an hour of trying, unless I left my finger on the trigger! (Buck fever can strike at any time!)

I do have the trigger set at approximately 3 lbs with no creep and very little backlash.

I did have a model 70 Winchester go off on me after pulling the same "forgot to take the saftey" off on a elk. The Model 70 would do it every time unless the sear was adjusted to a gritty apx 7 or 8 pounds. It now wears a Timney trigger.

 

[bobcat]

Remington had a recall on this issue several years ago. The ads ran in all the outdoor mags at the time, and I'm sure they'll still do the retrofit. I didn't send my "defective" Model 700 in, I've owned it since 1977 when I bought it new, and used it this year to kill a deer for the umteenth time. Keep the muzzle in a safe direction, and I've had no issues with any of my Remingtons, of which I own 5 of at this time.

I'm sorry if people have had issues, but mechanical things will fail. I had to send a Smith Model 28 in for work, it had a part fail, as Forrest Gump said, "s**t happens.

Take care...

 

[tom turner]

I've got a 700 BDL that was made in 1973, during the time when you could not open the bolt unless one wiped off the safety.

The identical problem happened to me once, in either 1997 or '98 when I had finished an unproductive day of deer hunting.

When I gently operated the safety forward to allow me to work the bolt to unload the chambered round the gun went off. One hand was on the forearm stock and the other operated the safety before getting ready to open the bolt.

Naturally, I had placed the muzzle in a safe direction. Naturally, I continue to do so with my '73 Model 700 that I used again yesterday.

READING THE LINK OF THE REMINGTON memo of the late '70s (within the original article linked), this is the identical problem that Remington talked about internally . . . especially on the earlier safety system like mine. In rare occasions the factory could "trick" the guns to fire if the trigger had been pulled while the gun was on safe, then later the owner flicked off the safety. I never put my finger on the trigger until ready to fire though.

I've never been able to repeat this one-time phenomenon.

T.