Is there really a problem with Remington 700's?

[Nimbus]

A friend of mine wants to sell his 700 BDL 7mm mag to me really cheap. He claims his wife read some info on the internet that numerous people have been accidently shot with these rifles because they mis-fire with the safety on. She doesn't want him hunting with this rifle which he has carried for over 20 years. If this is all factual, I guess she isn't too concerned for me! LOL!

I've always thought these were fine quality firearms. Is this old news or an urban legend?

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39762676/ns/business-cnbc_tv/t/critical-safety-questions-remington-arms/

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[G1GRANDEUR]

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[Otter]

It is pretty well documented there can be problems. All the cases I have heard about the discharge occurs when the safety is thumbed off while the action is cocked and rifle is loaded. I have a friend that has a 700 that has this problem.

This condition usually results from people trying to lighten the trigger that don't know what they are doing. It is best to leave them alone, and if you want a better trigger to get an after market trigger like a Timney or Jewell.

 

[Nimbus]

Very informational. I guess I missed this news a few years back.

 

[Spitpatch]

I will tell you that they are horribly dangerous, and any 3 year-old girl with curly blonde locks and blue eyes shining will have her throat blown out from beneath her head by merely walking NEAR a 700 Remington. I own eight of them and have shot probably twenty or thirty of them! Get rid of it immediately for the sake of humanity!

(Print this and show it to the owner. If this helps you buy that gun for a good price, you owe me).

 

[Nimbus]

I will tell you that they are horribly dangerous, and any 3 year-old girl with curly blonde locks and blue eyes shining will have her throat blown out from beneath her head by merely walking NEAR a 700 Remington. I own eight of them and have shot probably twenty or thirty of them! Get rid of it immediately for the sake of humanity!

(Print this and show it to the owner. If this helps you buy that gun for a good price, you owe me).

Good one Spitpatch! You have my kind of humor! I have the gun in my home because my buddy had to get it out of his! It's in great shape with a cheap Tasco variable 3-9 scope. He wants $500.00 for the gun & scope. I'm a 30.06 man but might buy it anyway.

 

[556]

after watching the documentary on the 700,the old boy who designed the trigger for the problem guns said the hammer was ground too far back and made them lighter but also made them slip into action.there were limited years of this design,not all remington 700's do this from what they said.
also all of the deaths were while pointed at a person which is rule #1 not to do so that says a lot about the shooters too.
if they are dumb enough to point a gun at a loved one who's to say they are not dumb enough to accidently have their finger on the bangswitch while removing the safety?
as someone else said,i would change the trigger to a timney and problem solved and a timney is the best trigger i have ever used.

 

[Velzey]

I can mess with most triggers and make them go off by closing the bolt, flipping the safety on and off, or bumping the rifle on a solid surface. It's not just Remingtons..

Always keep your guns pointed in a safe direction, is the best safety. And if you have doubts about your Remy just take it to a smith to get checked out..

 

[Spoonfullamikey]

It happens, seen it in a couple vidioes that i trust the validity of. I couldint tell you where to find them though. but mine has never misfired. i have one chambered in .30.06 and it had functioned flawlesly for many years for me and many more for my pa before me. it an older one though, serial number starts with an A so i dont know if that made a difference. and a close freind of mine who was SF carried a rifle that was real simmiler, same action better everything else, to still trust them. and whats the golden rule of firearms? always treat it as if it where loaded, and keep it pointed in a safe direction. and if your that concerned about it dont keep a round chamber until your ready to fire or keep it with the bolt open....... as the umpire says: SAFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DEADTIME]

I've used 700s since I was 10, fired everything in them from 243s to my current 338 Lapua and I've never had one problem with any of them. I'm not say there might not be an issue but I'd say the odds are better that your car will kill you on the way to the range than your 700 will misfire in 10 years.

 

[iamme]

Good one Spitpatch! You have my kind of humor! I have the gun in my home because my buddy had to get it out of his! It's in great shape with a cheap Tasco variable 3-9 scope. He wants $500.00 for the gun & scope. I'm a 30.06 man but might buy it anyway.

Seems high on the price, especially for a half to sale. But that's just me.

Any trigger can be made unsafe by tinkering- one of the beauty's of this world is there are enough stupid people to accomplish anything you thought would never happen! Treat all guns as you would a Glock- the safety is between your ears. Exercise good judgment and handling skills.

 

[Gunner3456]

The first thing I'd have to ask myself is "do I really want a 7mm mag? Have I been drooling over one for years? Do I already have my go-to hunting rifle? Do I really want to stock up on another caliber? Do I really want to invest in another good scope?"

I think the 700 BDL is one of the nicest and most beautiful guns ever made. Just offer me one in .308 where I already have a lot of ammo.

FWIW the infamous Ruger Tang Safety is really easy to bump from safe to fire due to being so exposed. How many people who practice actual gun safety have caused a death or injury? It's all I've had for actual hunting for decades.

??

 

[deadshot2]

I hope this hysteria keeps up. I'm going to start buying Remington 700's from all those that are panic'd by the TV coverage. Should be able to get them for great prices. I just pull the Remington Trigger's out (except the 40x's) and replace them with Timney Triggers. Like their trigger better than the original Rem's anyway.

As for safeties on Rifles, I prefer the old Springfield or Mauser safeties where the firing pin is locked. I also use the other safeties I bring to the game, my Brain, and my Trigger Finger. When they're used properly that little lever on the side isn't going to be that big a problem, regardless.

 

[jbett98]

I found a beautiful condition 722 Remington in .257 Roberts on Craigslist last year. The 721/722 safeties were a closed bolt only operation.
If you wanted to remove any loaded shells, you had to switch off the safety to work the bolt.
I replaced the trigger with a 700 series trigger, and have had no problems.
The 700 trigger was designed because of the inherent problems and law suits with the earlier model 721 / 722 actions.

 

[Gunner3456]

I hope this hysteria keeps up. I'm going to start buying Remington 700's from all those that are panic'd by the TV coverage. Should be able to get them for great prices. I just pull the Remington Trigger's out (except the 40x's) and replace them with Timney Triggers. Like their trigger better than the original Rem's anyway.

As for safeties on Rifles, I prefer the old Springfield or Mauser safeties where the firing pin is locked. I also use the other safeties I bring to the game, my Brain, and my Trigger Finger. When they're used properly that little lever on the side isn't going to be that big a problem, regardless.

+1. Just line up some nice 700 BDL's in front of me and price them at about $200 because they are junk. Watch me start grabbing handsful of cash.

 

[lonegunman]

The real problem is that people who do not have basic skills with simple hand tools do not read the instructions for adjusting the trigger, then ruin the trigger by messing with it.

Even if you are a simplton and want to fiddle with the trigger, the problem would not exist if you followed Basic Safety 101. Do not point a loaded gun at anything you do not want to destroy,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,period.

Nearly every accident involves an idiot pointing a loaded gun at a car, home, trailer, camper, tent, child, person while he fiddles with the gun. Applying the safety and then doing something UNSAFE is inviting an accident.

 

[ArBrnSnpr]

Interesting it survied as long as it did and is still in service as the platform for the US Army, and Marine Corp's go to Sniper rifle!

I've put thousands of rounds through an M-24, carried one on a deployment, and own one myself for coming up on 10 years now and NEVER experienced any problem, nor heard of anyone else having issues.

 

[jonn5335]

I know of two remington 700's personally that had this problem actually one still does the first one was a 25-06 that would fire if you did'nt close the bolt very very gently and it would fire if you switched the safety off sent to remington three times before they fixed the problem the second rifle was a 7mm rem mag that had similar issues was sent to remington twice and still currently has issues

 

[.40cal EMT]

I've tried to get my M700 in .300win man to do this I can't, I've tried smacking the bolt down flicking the safety off and on, pulling the trigger back kinda of hard while the bolt wasn't completly down then dropping the bolt hard, I guess I got a good one

 

[deen_ad]

I've tried to get my M700 in .300win man to do this I can't, I've tried smacking the bolt down flicking the safety off and on, pulling the trigger back kinda of hard while the bolt wasn't completly down then dropping the bolt hard, I guess I got a good one

Well, if it starts acting up let me know, I've never owned a bolt action rifle of any kind.