Remington Model 700 has mass misfire problems?!?!?

[brandbll]

So i was bored as hell on Sunday night and somehow stumbled on some hour long program on CNBC about the Remington Model 700 and how it has been mass produced with a faulty trigger safety.  The arguments and evidence produced were extremely convincing and they even had the creator of the gun, who is 98 years old, and he admitted it is faulty.  The program tried for months to get a hold of Remington with no response.  Some guy has been working hard on this case ever since his son was killed by his Model 700 misfiring.  Incase some don't know, the older Model 700s require you to take the safety off in order to unload the weapon and in some cases when you push the safety to 'fire' it misfires(this includes both our rifles).  Apparently this guy and the program have discovered thousands of complaints about this issue and dozens of lawsuits have been filed.

Has anyone else heard about this problem?  Myself and my brother both use our Grandpa's old Model 700s(probably pre-1980).  Does anyone know a good gunsmith in the Twin Cities?  I normally brought my guns to Joe's Sporting Goods gunsmith, but last time they did sort of a lousy job on fixing(well, not fixing) my Browning A5.  I'd like to look into getting my Model 700 trigger safeties replaced, which i've read is possible.

This kind of crap really just pisses me off.  Apparently it is federal law that the federal government can't require an arms manufacturer to make a safety recall.  And according to this report, Remington doesn't have the money it would take to make one anyways considering how mayn Model 700s there are.  If those greedy bastards would have just listened to the gun's creator decades ago they could have fixed the problem for a measily 5.5 cents a gun.  Thanks Remington!

I was going to buy a new Remington 870 when i got my tax return.  As a matter of fact, i've been looking forward to it.  Now they can forget it.  At this point after i get the trigger safety replaced i might even sell my rifle.

I always take a grain of salt with news reports like this, but the evidence they presented is extensive.  And when the creator of the trigger and gun is a 98 year old man who has more to lose and nothing to gain by telling you it's messed up, you can pretty much guarantee something is bogus.  

Here's a link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/39554936/

[UplandObsession]

WOW!!!! That is very interesting, especially since it is one of the US governments top sniper weapons. now i bet there has been a change in the way the manufacturing of the firing pin springs are made that now weakens them over time.  I look at remington in complete disapointment now... I am wondering if there 770's have the same issueconsidering its practically the same weapon with slight cosmetic and barrel changes...

[The General]

I watched that same show and the problem has been fixed and it was only the 700's I believe. 

[HUNTER2]

When you put the safty to fire, it misfires? Does that mean the shell doesn't go off when you pull the trigger? Maybe that's why we preach to point your gun in a safe dirrection when you unload it. It says she shot her 9 year old when she was unloading her gun. Why was it pointed in his direction to start with. I think my brother had one go off one time when he put the bolt forward. I think that is because he had the trigger set as low as he could get it. It went off into the ground.

[JohnWester]

ya, this is old news... I wouldn't be too worried about it. You can get your serial number and contact Remington to see if your gun has the old style, and then get it fixed. Take it to Ahlmens guns if you want it done right... best gunsmiths around IMHO.  You really have to jack with it to make it misfire like in the video.  In a normal hunting situation, you shouldn't have any problems. Just follow common sense gun safety... always keep it pointed in a safe direction, and don't climb into your stand with a round chambered.  Remington makes and continues to make some of the best guns.  The only model that is affected by this trigger assembly is the early 700's.  Buying a 870 for a pump gun is a very smart decision. I am looking at the new Remington automatic shotgun...

[deadeye]

This issue was big news about 10 years ago.  Remmington had a recall at that time.  I had two Remington Bolt 700's that had the problem.  I got one of the guns from my father in law (bench rest shooter whe made guns).  About 18 year ago I gave him back the 6mm that had the problem in exchange for a 22/250.  About 10 years ago my son had his .243 fire when the safe was set to "off".   I did some playing around and this is what I found.
In order for the problem to occure, the gun must first be preconditioned by pulling the trigger with the safety "on".  If you just loaded the gun and put the safety "off", it would not fire.
If, however, you loaded it, left the safety "on" and pulled the trigger, (it doesn't fire at this time) then when you put the safety to "off", it would fire the chambered round.  You could also uncondition the rifle by pushing the trigger forward (it didn't physically move) and then the gun would not fire when the safety was set to "off". 
The recall did not pay for the repairs, but did give you $35.00 towards Remington products.
I took my two 700 and one from my brother in law to Ahlmens to be repaired.   The fix was two fold.  First the trigger was fixed to prevent the gun from going off when the safety is set to "off" and secondly (I like this part) a change is made so you can unload the gun with out putting the safety to the "off" position.  If you can leave the safe in the "off" position and open the bolt, your gun most likely does not need to be repaired or has been throught the process.
I hope this clears up some things regarding this issue.  I anyone wants to discuss futher, pm me and I will be glad to give more details.
   

[MN RACK ATTACK]

Remington does have a response to this on there web site, it may shed a little more real info on the situation.

[proangler16]

Yea, if you watch Remington's Video Response Clip on Remington's website, they come back pretty strong against CNBC.  The rifles in "queston" were not properly maintained, got rusty etc..., trigger adjustments were made, non-authorized gunsmiths worked on these rifles and made modifications on them-- didn't remain Remington Factory rifles, CNBC edited out and cut out some of the court appearances and only showed things that would side with CNBC's claims.  Remington also tried to get all the rifles in question to fire or miss-fire as the claims stated a ton of times and couldn't get any of them to miss-fire or fire like the claims suggested.  Just goes to show you can't believe everything you see on TV.  

Remington's Link
http://www.remington700.tv/#/home    Look for the Response Piece.

[Go Big Red!]

Thanks to the media for allowing the gun control crazies to gather more negative info.  Regardless of what is said about Remington, they have made and will continue to make great products.  I'll still purchase their products.

[FireRanger]

I have a 45 yr old Remington Model 742 that I inheritted and I WOULD buy another Remington product in a heart beat!

[beeker]

i have a 700 7mm.. it's about 15 so it doesn't have this type of safety.. I would love to buy another in say 270.. and maybe one in 243... and 3006 and 300... you get the picture

[brandbll]

Yea, if you watch Remington's Video Response Clip on Remington's website, they come back pretty strong against CNBC.  The rifles in "queston" were not properly maintained, got rusty etc..., trigger adjustments were made, non-authorized gunsmiths worked on these rifles and made modifications on them-- didn't remain Remington Factory rifles, CNBC edited out and cut out some of the court appearances and only showed things that would side with CNBC's claims.  Remington also tried to get all the rifles in question to fire or miss-fire as the claims stated a ton of times and couldn't get any of them to miss-fire or fire like the claims suggested.  Just goes to show you can't believe everything you see on TV.  

Remington's Link
http://www.remington700.tv/#/home    Look for the Response Piece.

You can't believe everything you see on TV?  The response piece is made by Remington and posted on Remington's website.  How much objectivity can i get from that? 

The best part about the Remington response is when the narrator lady says, "Sometimes though, reporters don't get the whole story."  No *bleep* Sherlock?  How can they get the whole story when Remington refuses their interviews?  That lady echoes that same thing she said several times throughout the video, it gets sort of sickening.  The one thing that makes me really question Remington's integrity on this whole thing is why they didn't agree to an interview.  If you made a product some people were slandering and calling unsafe and you knew it wasn't, wouldn't you sit down and give CNBC that interview?  Instead of just stepping up to the interview they spent what was probably thousands of dollars making their own response.  They've been dealing with this problem for a while now apparently, and they should be well versed in their evidence.  The fact that they didn't take a prime oppurtunity to close the book on this thing is an indication to me there is/was a very legitimate problem they are still trying to hide.

There is plenty wrong with the CNBC report, i could figure that out while i watched it; but to be fair to them they did give you the information to figure that out.  Remington tried to call out CNBC out for some of their bad "experts", but CNBC clearly labels them all as "paid expert witnesses" for the plantiffs.  The fact that they're paid should tell anyone that they cannot be trusted as objective.  Those paid experts had no effect on the way i felt about the situation.  Nor did the examples of the fatal incidents.  All of those examples were obviously about people who used horrible gun safety.  But i have seen numerous other accoutns on the internet.  Look, a respectable member of the forums has even had the problem, twice.  This isn't just some made up fairy tale, this is a real issue.

Bottom line is that Remington really let me down on this one.  They danced around it instead of taking the issue head on.  If they were so confident on this issue they would have welcomed the CNBC interview so that they not only would have given what they 'knew' was the truth; but in turn make this story so obsolete CNBC would have never even aired it.  Not to mention i will now have to pay to get two rifles fixed.  I'm not afraid of accidently shooting someone with my rifle because i practice good gun safety, but I NEVER want a rifle that can shoot without me pulling the trigger.

[UplandObsession]

Before I saw remingtons video, I really couldnt understand how they would let issues like the "alleged" issue out of there production line. The fact they didn't stand up against CNBC in the first place makes me wonder but all in all I personally have never had a problem with any of my Remingtons. 75% are practically heirlooms considering some were originally my great gradfather and my grandfather. Damn those slanted, hippie communist reporters and the BS they try to get away with...

[kenhuntin]

To be honest Remington made quality guns in the old days but fell into the mass production cycle and quality played second fiddle.Jam jam jam jam. I have hunted with alot of die hard Remington guys that only got off one or two shots.

[jkcmj]

I think any company would be foolish to offer themselves up to any liberal media outlet period.  Remington's 870 is my favorite gun, although I've had other models, and been happy with them.  I have taken over 50 deer, 6 bear, and a few unlucky coyotes over the years with my Remington 870 and am thankful we are blessed with a good solid gun maker we can depend on.  They have been helping feed my family for 20 years and counting...

[brandbll]

Before I saw remingtons video, I really couldnt understand how they would let issues like the "alleged" issue out of there production line. The fact they didn't stand up against CNBC in the first place makes me wonder but all in all I personally have never had a problem with any of my Remingtons. 75% are practically heirlooms considering some were originally my great gradfather and my grandfather. Damn those slanted, hippie communist reporters and the BS they try to get away with...

Neither my brother or I have had a problem with our 700s misfiring, but i don't want to find out whether mine is a problem rifle randomly sometime when i'm unloading it.  And regardless of CNBC being a liberal media outlet, i still don't understand why you wouldn't give them their interview and then go to all this work making a video with Remington experts and what not.  It would be so much easier to grant them the interview and then if they tried to edit out what you said and spin the story you could come back with your video and PROVE that CNBC was lying.  If Remington has nothing to hide, doing that would have made their rebutal video a cake walk.  The way it is, they just left it at CNBC's word against their's.