The Remington Model 700...will it be the end of Remington?
- Thread starter jd1965
- Start date
Remington
I actually have had a bad experience with a Remington 700 .243 Varminter rifle. I bought it in Lethbridge . I wanted it to compete at the "riflemans rodeo" in Morningside, just south of Ponoka. This would have been in the early 70's. Most of the top competitors were using these rifles. It did give some edge with the extra weight but was not necessary. When I fired at my first target , the gun seemed to go off as I barely touched the trigger. I thought , OK , I haven't shot it in a long time and I'm not used to the two lb. trigger so be careful. I reloaded for the next target and as I closed the bolt the rifle fired. I stopped right there and told the range master I was finished. When I got home , I checked the gun over and found the adjustment screws had worked loose on the trigger. I re-set them and sealed the screw heads with fingernail polish. I do this with all triggers I work on now. Scared the crap out of me at the time but I used the rifle for a few more years without incident. I always remember the Remington 600 incident that happened in Texas. It was a father and son. One got in the front seat of a car and the other in the back. The one in the back moved the safety off to unload the gun , it went off and the one in front became a paraplegic. They sued Remington and won millions even though it was their fault in having a loaded firearm in a vehicle and pointed at a person. This lawsuit set a precedent for other firearm lawsuits. This caused Ruger to stamp all their firearms barrels with a message that you must read and understand the instructions for use of the firearm. You can google 'firearms recalls' and find manufacturers that have recalls. They may have found one or two instances where something breaks and causes a problem and will replace the part with something else in the hope that no further incidents occur. Some of these recalls are similar to Toyotas electronics throttle. There were a few instances but the media paid to advertise getting the vehicles in for a recall and change the $14 part. Meanwhile Toyota can check for other services required since the owners rarely return with their vehicles for checkups and they may spot worn out brakes or tie rod ends. Toyota made money on this. Anyway enough for now. Have a good day.
I actually have had a bad experience with a Remington 700 .243 Varminter rifle. I bought it in Lethbridge . I wanted it to compete at the "riflemans rodeo" in Morningside, just south of Ponoka. This would have been in the early 70's. Most of the top competitors were using these rifles. It did give some edge with the extra weight but was not necessary. When I fired at my first target , the gun seemed to go off as I barely touched the trigger. I thought , OK , I haven't shot it in a long time and I'm not used to the two lb. trigger so be careful. I reloaded for the next target and as I closed the bolt the rifle fired. I stopped right there and told the range master I was finished. When I got home , I checked the gun over and found the adjustment screws had worked loose on the trigger. I re-set them and sealed the screw heads with fingernail polish. I do this with all triggers I work on now. Scared the crap out of me at the time but I used the rifle for a few more years without incident. I always remember the Remington 600 incident that happened in Texas. It was a father and son. One got in the front seat of a car and the other in the back. The one in the back moved the safety off to unload the gun , it went off and the one in front became a paraplegic. They sued Remington and won millions even though it was their fault in having a loaded firearm in a vehicle and pointed at a person. This lawsuit set a precedent for other firearm lawsuits. This caused Ruger to stamp all their firearms barrels with a message that you must read and understand the instructions for use of the firearm. You can google 'firearms recalls' and find manufacturers that have recalls. They may have found one or two instances where something breaks and causes a problem and will replace the part with something else in the hope that no further incidents occur. Some of these recalls are similar to Toyotas electronics throttle. There were a few instances but the media paid to advertise getting the vehicles in for a recall and change the $14 part. Meanwhile Toyota can check for other services required since the owners rarely return with their vehicles for checkups and they may spot worn out brakes or tie rod ends. Toyota made money on this. Anyway enough for now. Have a good day.
sir_springer
Regular
- Location
- East Kootenays
Lot more to this story than merely a firearms industry giant being targeted by lawyers and/or people with ideological issues...
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/pre...s-pose-dangerous-risk-to-consumers-157772.php
Conversely (and take note if you own one of the following rifles)...
Here's a safety recall from Sturm Ruger regarding Model 77 triggers...
http://www.ruger.com/pdf/m77.pdf
Here's one from Weatherby regarding Vanguards, which also happened to apply to my own .300 WM...
http://www.weatherby.com/vanguardsafety
The shroud/bolt sleeve on mine, that they replaced, had become so loose it literally rattled when hiking. Weatherby handled the problem swiftly and efficiently, so much so that I actually phoned to thank them. Living up here, and having to ship the bolt to them (in packaging they immediately mailed to me), figured I'd be lucky to ever see it again. Had it back inside of two weeks!
Point being, there was a problem that could lead to serious injury, and both Ruger and Weatherby dealt with it. Handled.
Clearly, according to everything I've read today, Remington knew they had a problem, and basically decided to do nothing.
I admit, having a rifle go off unexpectedly in my own hands has somewhat sharpened my attention to the matter. That this was the fault of the guy I let tune it is, to be honest, an assumption. He, in fact, may have had nothing to do with the failure...but then this was some 20 years ago, relatively early on in the history of the 700 series rifles, and during a time when such topics were not readily available and discussed via the Internet.
Frankly, I have little sympathy for manufacturers who, for the sake of the bottom line, deliberately neglect their responsibility to consumers who buy their products in good faith and thus have a hand in building that bottom line for them.
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/pre...s-pose-dangerous-risk-to-consumers-157772.php
Conversely (and take note if you own one of the following rifles)...
Here's a safety recall from Sturm Ruger regarding Model 77 triggers...
http://www.ruger.com/pdf/m77.pdf
Here's one from Weatherby regarding Vanguards, which also happened to apply to my own .300 WM...
http://www.weatherby.com/vanguardsafety
The shroud/bolt sleeve on mine, that they replaced, had become so loose it literally rattled when hiking. Weatherby handled the problem swiftly and efficiently, so much so that I actually phoned to thank them. Living up here, and having to ship the bolt to them (in packaging they immediately mailed to me), figured I'd be lucky to ever see it again. Had it back inside of two weeks!
Point being, there was a problem that could lead to serious injury, and both Ruger and Weatherby dealt with it. Handled.
Clearly, according to everything I've read today, Remington knew they had a problem, and basically decided to do nothing.
I admit, having a rifle go off unexpectedly in my own hands has somewhat sharpened my attention to the matter. That this was the fault of the guy I let tune it is, to be honest, an assumption. He, in fact, may have had nothing to do with the failure...but then this was some 20 years ago, relatively early on in the history of the 700 series rifles, and during a time when such topics were not readily available and discussed via the Internet.
Frankly, I have little sympathy for manufacturers who, for the sake of the bottom line, deliberately neglect their responsibility to consumers who buy their products in good faith and thus have a hand in building that bottom line for them.
I had a 700 that fired was soon as the bolt was closed and locked. The first time it did this, I was standing between 2 of my hunting buddies, loading up a round to knock over a deer across the coulee. Was a little startling, but I followed the rule, "Always point in a safe direction." Did not get a shot at the deer after that.
Had another that would not feed or extract. Safety would not engage if a round was in the chamber. Never did figure that out. Sent it back.
Had another that would not feed or extract. Safety would not engage if a round was in the chamber. Never did figure that out. Sent it back.
mike shickele
Regular
This is a problem that has been known for many years, and it's a problem that I had with my 30-06. I was driving out of the bush one day, when I saw a grouse at the side of the road. I though that it would be good to have a little grouse for dinner, so I got out of the truck, put a shell in the chamber, and automatically put the safety on. As I got closer to the grouse, I carefully slid the safety off, aimed the gun, and pressed the trigger............nothing happened. I brought the rifle down to my side, and pushed harder against the safety.........the gun went off.
Back home that night, I found that I was able to duplkicate that about 50% of the time, when I moved the safety the same as I did in the bush. Soon after that I had the safety replaced with a gentry 3 position safety; problem solved $400.00 later, but I like the gun enough to spend the money.
Mike
Back home that night, I found that I was able to duplkicate that about 50% of the time, when I moved the safety the same as I did in the bush. Soon after that I had the safety replaced with a gentry 3 position safety; problem solved $400.00 later, but I like the gun enough to spend the money.
Mike
