Rem. 700 triggers

[dave]

I have one, no idea when it was made, has a custom barrel on it. Got it used. Saw the anocement in the AR about a fix or law suit. Called and was told if trigger was serrated/grooved it was one of the bad ones. They will send ship instruction and kit to mail. I will half to go thru an FFL, both ways. I hate to do this but do I have a choice? Have never had a problem with trigger but have not shot it a lot either. I cocked it, banged butt on rug/wood floor and flipped saftey on and off and nothing happened. I really like the trigger, lets off with no perceptive movement.
How important is it to get this done? If truly dangerous I want to do it but if 1 in a million, well-----

Looked at my records' purchased used in 9-1997 so way before recall of May 2006-Apr. 2014. and seller said it had a Timmany trigger How can I tell for sure or should I
forget it because of dates?
I sound stupid but have never run into this before!

[Allen]

I was wondering the same thing. 2 men of one mind or perhaps like was mentioned on one of the old Bob Newhart shows "2 men, one mind". I just bought a used 700 in SS, fluted barrel, Remington thumbhole stock (probably made for them by Boyd's), Jeweled bolt, and detachable magazine. Made in 2006 and the only year for this configuration according to the seller. Luckily my trigger is smooth so I guess mine is OK. Sorry I'm of no help---you helped me in this case. I don't see why your rifle needs to be sent FFL dealer to FFL dealer unless this is just something Remington is requiring. Did you tell Remington it had a Timney trigger? It may not be involved by the recall.

[Allen]

Oops, according to their website the grooved triggers are OK but smooth ones aren't. I was wondering what I was doing on the wrong end of the receiving line. Also looks like your rifle is not affected by the recall date wise either but of course mine is. The website date calculator doesn't work but here is the recall link.

http://xmprecall.remington.com/

[dave]

I see nothing about triggers in your link but I put serial number in and it came up as 'not' part of recall. All the girl I talked to seemed to know was triggers! I think the law is you can send to manufacturer but they must send to your dealer FFL. But link said they pay all expenses.

[Chris W.]

If you have a Timney trigger assembly, you are good to go. Remove the 3 lower stock screws and separate the action from the stock, look to be sure it's a Timney, if it is, reassemble, your done. You don't want to send your rifle in and have them trade that good trigger for a new Remington with a 7 lb. trigger pull. I installed Timney triggers on a 3 of my 700's just to be safe. If you do have a unmarked trigger, most likely a Remington, you will want to send it in to be replaced. The Remington triggers that are failing are failing from dirt and gunk, not a bad trigger assembly, just most folks don't ever clean them and, over time, they get gunked up and fail on some rifles. AD's aren't much fun and are to be avoided at all cost. Well worth following up on this and getting it right.
Chris

[dave]

Well my serial is way out of the recall range so they would not accept it anyway. The guy I bought it from did put a S.S. barrel on it and maybe did change the trigger. Why would he mention it if original to the gun? The barrel was made by a known maker in Indiana but I forgot the name. It is very accurate with Rem 223 with the green plastic tip bullets. I bought two boxes and still have a box & half left. One coyote and couple ground hogs so far. Don't get to use it much. I will check trigger. Thanks for all the info everyone!

[Tuna]

Over the years Remington shelled out a lot of money to settle claims out of court. There were more then a couple of people killed by the rifles and some people that were injured. The last video I saw was a Police sniper team using the 700. Close the bolt and put off the safety and the rifle could and did fire. Close the bolt and put on the safety and the rifle discharged and never once was the trigger touched. The man who designed the system had told Remington years ago when it was designed that the system was defective and should be redesigned. But Remington decided not to. They played the odds and have now lost.

[Allen]

Over the years Remington shelled out a lot of money to settle claims out of court. There were more then a couple of people killed by the rifles and some people that were injured. The last video I saw was a Police sniper team using the 700. Close the bolt and put off the safety and the rifle could and did fire. Close the bolt and put on the safety and the rifle discharged and never once was the trigger touched. The man who designed the system had told Remington years ago when it was designed that the system was defective and should be redesigned. But Remington decided not to. They played the odds and have now lost.

Thanks for the info. I guess the triggers may be worse than expected and apparently inconsistent. I will play around with mine (unloaded) and see if I can make it malfunction. If replaced, I for one will install a Timney at my expense rather than ship the rifle to Remington.

[dave]

Reminton claims it is 'too much bonding agent' whatever that means! Were they glued (bonded) in place or what? Never had mine apart.

[PhillipM]

I think the way to make it fail is to put the safety on, pull the trigger, then move the safety off and boom!

One of the fixes was to modify the rifle so the bolt would open with the safety on because many of the incidents occurred by simply unloading the rifle.

Search Walker fire control for more info.

[jjrothWA]

If you're in Durand, MI, give a call to Williams Gunsite in Davison as they are a Remington Service Center.

[BudT]

If you have a Timney trigger assembly, you are good to go. Remove the 3 lower stock screws and separate the action from the stock, look to be sure it's a Timney, if it is, reassemble, your done. You don't want to send your rifle in and have them trade that good trigger for a new Remington with a 7 lb. trigger pull. I installed Timney triggers on a 3 of my 700's just to be safe. If you do have a unmarked trigger, most likely a Remington, you will want to send it in to be replaced. The Remington triggers that are failing are failing from dirt and gunk, not a bad trigger assembly, just most folks don't ever clean them and, over time, they get gunked up and fail on some rifles. AD's aren't much fun and are to be avoided at all cost. Well worth following up on this and getting it right.
Chris

You right about the triggers that are trouble are almost always full of crap and the fact that 99.9% of gun owners do not clean or maintain a trigger is a disaster waiting to happen. A Remington X-Mark Pro is one of the offending triggers and you can tell if it has been back to Remington for repair, if it has it will have a punch mark on the bolt release. I have one of the reworked triggers on my Remington 700 SPS and it's as good a trigger as my Winchester Mod.70 Classic standard grade or my Winchester Mod.70 Super grade feather weight.

[Art]

Things to look for:

On the oldest version of Model 700 rifles the safety locks the bolt and the firing mechanism. The first fix Remington did was to modify the action so that the bolt could be opened with the safety "on." I would not buy a "Walker Fire Control Group" 700 that required the safety to be "off" to open the bolt.

My wife had a friend who was hunting with an older Model 700 a few years ago. She had a nice buck in perfect position, thumbed the safety off, and the rifle fired. Scared the bejeesus out of her and she wouldn't use the rifle again. I know these people well and they take very good care of their firearms so abuse was not the problem in this case.

I am not going to sell my 80s vintage Model 700 but I'm especially careful of where the muzzle is pointed when I take the safety off with the rifle loaded. I look on this as just something you have to be cognizant of if you own one of these rifles, especially rifles made in the last century. The ones that do not allow the rifle to be unloaded with the safety "on" are the exception, I wouldn't buy one of those.

[bruce]

Re: Rem. 700 triggers. Hum... what to do? What to do? Been owning and shooting Rem. 700 rifles since 1980. Have no idea how many 700's I've owned and shot. Every single one of them had a three way Rem. 700 trigger. Every one of the was adjusted by myself for best results at the range or in the woods and fields. Used them in all sorts of conditions and circumstances. Shot them with all sorts of domestic and imported ammunition as well as lots and lots of handloads. I discovered a fluke common to the Rem. 700 design. The trigger worked. If the rifle was loaded and cocked, if one pulled the trigger, if fired. If the safety was on, the rifle would not fire. I suppose if you had your finger in the trigger guard and pushed the safety off, the rifle might discharge. Makes sense... safety off, finger on trigger... gun goes...off. Never had that problem. Flip the safety off. Fire the rifle. As with any firearm, maintain muzzle discipline ... period! If there is a problem with this trigger, it's a problem common to all firearms. I.e., fail to handle a loaded firearm inappropriately and an negligent discharge is very possible... even likely. Just like folks who shot themselves holstering a Glock, etc. because they insist on keeping their finger in the trigger guard when holstering their pistol... or like people who cause negligent discharges when they load a traditional six shot single action revolver with... six shots, and then drop the revolver so that it lands on hammer and discharges. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

[jgaynor]

I think the way to make it fail is to put the safety on, pull the trigger, then move the safety off and boom!

One of the fixes was to modify the rifle so the bolt would open with the safety on because many of the incidents occurred by simply unloading the rifle.

Search Walker fire control for more info.

+1 This is exactly how i remember the problem from about 10-15 years ago.