Good morning all.  I need your opinions on the Remington 700.  Today in the Detroit News, there is an article discussing a serious flaw that existed until 1982.  
www.detnews.com

Anyway, the article leaves me feeling like there still is a problem.
Anythoughts??
Thanks in advance

Remington 700. Safe.

Lloyd Woods. Unsafe.

Firearm handling safety rule numero uno:
ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED!!! (...Lloyd!!!)

Yes, I'm sure that's the case.

Also, the gentleman pictured obviously wasn't following Rule Two:

[b]Never point a firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy.[/b]

I think if most of these problems were further examined, one would find that most, if not all, of these triggers had been modified and adjusted from the factory settings. I have been able to get a trigger to release by just closing the bolt hard or pushing the safety off. It is not hard to do, *IF* you adjust the sear engagement *too* light. There are three adjustments on the 700 trigger, sear engagement, weight of pull and overtravel. All are easy to adjust and you can adjust the triggeer TOO lightly thus making it unsafe. Also, after making trigger adjustments, if the threaded screws are not properly sealed with fingernail polish or loctite they can loosen over time and then become unsafe. This just goes to show that in order to make a SAFE trigger adjustment you need to know what you are doing and test it afterwards to make sure it is safe. Shadetree gunsmiths and guys who do not know what in the hell they are doing can make this trigger unsafe.

I've owned a number of Remington 700's and none of them have ever had a problem. As stated elsewhere in this thread, don't point a gun at something you don't want to shoot. I would venture to say that the 700 action and trigger is probably one of the best in the world.  A simple way to set your mind at ease would be to take the rifle to a competent gunsmith for examination.

This story seems to pop up about every 6 months or so.

It embraces the new antigun tactic about claiming some guns are unsfae because you have o take the safety off to unload them.  (can you say 1911?)


"On May 7, 2003, a jury awarded $50.9 million....Brandon Maxfield was unintentionally shot in the jaw on April 6, 1994, by a family friend who was trying to unload the handgun. The gun was designed in such a way that it could only be unloaded when the safety was turned off. The gun’s magazine was also designed to be hidden inside the gun, making it hard to tell if it was loaded....The manufacturer and designer of the gun, Bryco Arms and Bruce Jennings, as well as the guns’ distributors, the pawnshop where Brandon’s parents bought the gun, and Brandon’s parents and the shooter were also held liable.."


I'm going to say this, if the 700 is supposed to be so dangerous why haven't more people been killed and maimed when using them?  The article wants to make the point that these basic guns have been in production since 1947 and that the "dangerous flaws" in it's design have resulted in over 100 (how many over 101?  Gotta love when the screw with statistics) injuries.


My my figuring there should be tens of thousands of injured and dead people around if the 700 series is just so darn dangerous.  Lacking that many injured and dead people I can only conclude that the 700 series is not dangerous or defective.

This reminds me of the "runaway acceleration" claims that almost ruined AUDI in the 80s.  People were just mashing the accelorator to the floor but not wanting to take responsibility for their actions.

Thanks for the above comments.  Being a relatively new sportsman, I can tell that I was easily influenced by the article.  

Once again, thanks.

BT.

i.e. failing to remove finger from trigger prior to reholstering?




Don't forget the Chevy trucks with exploding gas tanks (thanks to the media provided pyrotechnic devices).

Eddie

Yep, I want to get a 700 in 30-06.   I figure, if the SHTF, parts and people who know how to repair a 700 will be everywhere.  I also, as a youth, had an 870 that was(is) great.  I still own it 20 years later, and it shoots like a dream...my dad taught me to properly care and store it.
By the by, in my training three years ago, I took care of a guy who said he was cleaning/handling his glock and it "suddenly went off", blowing apart his hand.  When I informed him the only way they "go off" is if you pull the trigger he got very upset with me.

BT.