Hey guys,

I was at my gunsmith yesterday talking about my R700 when we got on the subject of R700's accidentally discharging due to the trigger/safety assembly. Does anyone know what years this was common in? He mentioned that if it has not happened yet I should not worry about it but I can't help but worry.

I am seriously considering changing the trigger to something safer because I would rather not have this accident happen ever.

Any thoughts?

If you do a google search, you can read about it on CNN and some other news chanells. It was a big issue a year or two ago.

I have been reading about it but I can not find which years this issue is prone to. Mine is built in 92 if I remember correctly.

I think that the media speculation over this spans quite a few years, possibly over decades. I also think Remington has yet to acknowledge the problem; and personally I'm not sold on it either.

Alot of people claim that there is no longer a problem once the new triggers were put out, I'm not sure of the year.

I think you will definitely benefit from an aftermarket trigger, but I think your factory trigger, if checked out by a smith, is completely fine.

Is it an issue of being turned down too far on trigger weight or something else all together

From my research people are saying it happens because the trigger was adjusted incorrectly but some people are saying their trigger has never been adjusted and it happened anyways.

There is no real solid proof of whether the factory trigger (never been adjusted or tampered with) can cause this.

There were a few cases from what I understand. But most of the cases were due to improperly adjusted triggers and were too light. But the main problem was a finger on the trigger with a round in the chamber!

Also, I don't use the safety on any of my firearms. It is either fully unloaded and safe. Or when a round is in the chamber the gun is on target. If I'm in the deer stand, I may engage the safety, but often times I'll leave the bolt back to ensure it be safe.

+1

I witnessed this at the range a year or two ago. As I was setting up the guy next to me fires and then mutters to himself "damn, went off on its own." I look over and ask if there is an issue and he said that it "just went off." He checks it out, pulls the bolt, looks around at the action, works the trigger and the safety, then decides to give it another go. I am doing my own thing, but keep an eye out for him. He fires a string and things look OK, then a cease fire is called. When we come back and are getting setup again I noticed he had his finger on the trigger as he took it off safe. It did not go off that time, but I politely pointed it out to him and he swore up and down that he would never have done that. Rest of the time his finger was outside the trigger guard.

-ww

Remington now puts a special paint on the adjustment screws, if it's ever messed with they can tell. I've never had one go off, I've never seen one go off nor do I know anybody who has. Some people looking for that perfect trigger just go a little too far in my opinion.

Most the issues where improper trigger adjustments or finger position when taking it of saftey.

If you still want another trigger I suggest jewell. Texas company and its a drop in trigger that is easly adjustable, from heavy to extremely light weight.

Infact on any mass produced rifle I ssuggest changing triggers if you want it 3lbs org under...factory triggers including remmy just aren't designed to be that light

Even if it is ok you will be very happy with an aftermarket like a Jewell or Timney so why not just do it if you're worried at all.

Improperly adjusted triggers!!! So no witch hunt needed. If you don't know WTF you're doing don't touch it right?

I own several rem 700's as do many on here from 30 years old to just a couple. I have never had one go off un intended. My dad did, took it to gun smith they took it apart and it had a build up of grease and gunk in the firing pin spring that caused it to not release when you pulled the trigger, but after the trigger had been pulled it would go off whenever the gunk finaly released the pin.

Only other instance I know of was on a similar vintage gun and it had trigger work done, if the temp was in the teens and you took it off safety the gun would go off.

Other than that, which neither is due to design or gun maker, have I ever had first hand experience with the issue.

matt

I know of one gun that was bought back by Remington for this problem, wish the guy that owned it was still around so I could hear exactly [censored] they said.

There is a documentary on Netflix that was done a few years ago on this very issue. I think it was done by CNN or NBC or another news station. I was watching it last night but fell asleep. If you have Netflix you can find it on there.

The ranch hand where I hunt bought a brand new 700 in 300win and had that problem right out of the box.

He took it back to the shop he bought if from and the Dumb A$$ behind the counter through a live round in it and flipped the safety off...BOOM a new vent hole in the roof!

That was 2 years ago.

If you watch that video make sure and watch Remington response.

http://www.remington700.tv/

Yes, I have seen a rifle that would discharge when the safety was switched to fire.

This. The only ones I have ever seen were from someone jacking with the trigger. I even did it myself with my AI build. I knew I was replacing the trigger so I didn't care if I messed up the factory one. We got it lite as we could and it would fall on its own in our shop (only when I racked the bolt hard). Never shot or put a live round in it though.

Mine only did it while cocking it, didn't do it when I flipped safety off though.

Man! If y'all (present y'alls excepted) can't take the inititive to test your gun after working the trigger, please don't work on your gun. I do all my triggers and then I drop test, bounce test, slam fire test, safety switch test, and any other way I can think of to torture the gun into firing on its own. After I fail to make the gun fail, I give it to my grumpy shooting buddy who loves to find stuff wrong with my stuff and challenge him to break it. I have a couple of 700's too, both have good triggers and will not fire without me pulling the trigger.

You have the Walker trigger, then.

If you've never had a problem you're not likely to, but FWIW I would be inclined to replace the trigger.

In 1982 I drew into a hunt on the Whittington Center owned by the NRA outside of Raton, N.Mex. If you have never been there it is an area with many old mine shafts, some of which were not sealed and some they had no idea about. We met the morning before the season opened, and safety was the main topic of discussion, then we went to one of the ranges and everyone shot their rifles to make certain the scopes were still centered. Met a nice group of fellows. Seems about 26 of us drew into the hunt. I rode up to the top of a ridge with a fellow in his 4 wheel drive, we were going to glass the area. I got out and was walking ahead about six feet when his Remington 700 7mm Mag discharged. Luckily for me he was holding the barrel up but I could still feel the muzzle blast along the back of my neck plus it actually scared the hoot out of me. He had the same habit Chad spoke of, leaving the bolt handle up. When he closed the bolt handle the firing pin dropped. He tried to duplicate this about 50 times while we sat there waiting until our adrenaline left, but never got another discharge. This was not a rough hard bouncy ride to the top, I driven on rougher highways in Okla. His gun was very nice, definitely not a 'truck' gun and appeared in excellent condition. His fingers were no where near the trigger, his left hand was holding the rifle while the right hand closed the bolt.

The cnbc special can also be found on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpXivkcyJ1o&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Urban legend or not its something that goes through my mind every time I handle an older 700 without the new trigger, including my own BDL.