Remington 700 long range rifle

[ms6852]

I own a savage and tikka T3 in 30-06 and saw the Remington long range at cabelas the other day also in 30-06 and am considering buying it. My only concern I have is that Remington had issues with the 700 model firing without touching the trigger a few years ago.

I know they got sued a few times, and wondered if they ever fixed the issue? Are the Remington's rifles now sold safe and free , and have they changed their trigger?

 

[cw308]

Did you buy the Remington 700 new with the trigger problem ? Changing a trigger isn't hard to do. Remington did change the trigger old trigger is groved the new is smooth.

 

[MarkCO]

I own several R700s. I would not even consider buying a new one. A used one, sure. The T3, Ruger American, Savage and even the Mossberg Patriot are better shooters than the R700s being produced now. It is not a design, but a QC and implementation issue.

 

[AllenJ]

Remington did change their triggers to the X-Mark and I have read good and bad about them. I've shot only one Remington rifle with one I did not like it, it seemed to me to be all over the place with its pull weight. We changed it out for a Timney.

 

[jmr40]

Virtually all Remington bolt actions made 1946-2007 used the Mike Walker designed trigger. The 788 is I think the only exception. This trigger uses a device they called a trigger connector that was intended to provide a smoother trigger pull. But if it happens to line up in just the right spot inside the trigger assembly it will release the sear with no trigger pull. When this happens the safety is the only thing holding back the firing pin. When the safety is moved to the "fire" position, the firing pin falls with no trigger pull.

Mike Walker discovered the flaw and submitted plans for a re-designed trigger in 1946 and again in 1948 which Remington management declined to use. Statistically less than .1% of these guns will ever do this. But with 7-8 million produced there have been several thousand incidents, about 2 dozen deaths and roughly 100 injuries.

Remington settled a class action lawsuit on these guns about a year ago and is supposed to come up with a plan to repair them. I've not heard anything in about a year. In the meantime a replacement trigger isn't horribly expensive. My 1974 production rifle has dropped the firing pin more than once with no trigger pull. I replaced the trigger a few years ago and have retired the rifle.

The new 2007-present trigger is mechanically safe, but most don't like it and recommend replacement. Sorry, I've not actually shot one of the new ones. But some early production guns were discovered to have adhesive drip into the trigger during assembly. Those guns were recalled to inspect and clean out the trigger assembly if needed. Most any new rifle in a store should be just fine. I'd be wary of a used one. I think the recall only effected rifles made prior to 2011.

 

[ms6852]

in response to cw308's question, I have not purchased a Remington with the new trigger. Thanks for the replies, still undecided if I will purchase the long range rifle.

 

[Boogershooter]

There is a thread or two already on here about the rifle you are talking about. I have one in 30-06. The trigger isn't bad but it sure isn't great. I replaced it and liked the gun well enough I bought the 25-06 a couple months later. Replaced trigger on it but have not found a load it likes yet. 1 1/2 inch all day but nothing under a inch yet. Can't really complain bout the remington tho because I bought a 338 winmag in a winchester supergrade last year that gave me fits.

 

[Saltydog235]

The Remington trigger issue is easily solved, drop a Timney in it. Takes 5-10 minutes and an extra $140 from Timney direct and set at your desired pull.

As for accuracy, my 700 SPS varmint in 7mm08 is a tack driver. My .243 Varmint has taken some load development but it likes a 95grn Berger CHover a dose of RL22. The 700 is still a good barreled action but it's rough as a cob and takes some work to become good. By the time you get it "good" you can spend less to buy something that already is good.

 

[chuckscap]

My favorite rifle of all time is the Remington 700 BDL in 270 I bought in 1968. Gave it to my son five years ago. It shoots nickel sized groups. Killed a ton of game with it including a lot of bears. Bought a Remington XCR II in 375 H&H in the spring of 2011 for a brown bear hunt. It wouldn't chamber Remington factory ammo, the extractor was too large. My gunsmith, Kevin Weaver, installed a Sako extractor, welded the bolt handle on, and rechambered it to 375 Weatherby. Got my brown bear with it in the fall of 2011. It's great now, and a tack driver, but I wouldn't buy a new one. Quality control went down the toilet at Remington. Kind of sad.

 

[ms6852]

it is disappointing to hear that a drop in trigger is needed and still may or may not make it moa accurate. My savage is old about 35 years old and I think I've shot the barrel out. I would change it but now the action won't tighten , I probably have crushed the wood after all this years. Used to be a great rifle. Paid $120 brand new, don't know if I want to make it into a $1000 rifle by buying a Carlson or McMillan stock and barrel, aaahhhh, decisions, decisions.

 

[tangolima]

The Walker trigger doesn't release the firing pin without trigger pull, when certain parts line up in a certain way. The fix Walker proposed was to block both the sear and the trigger when the safety was on.

It is a patented design that basically makes the fame of Remington 700. Its trigger is crisp right out of the box. The connector doesn't make the trigger pull smooth, but crisp. The design is safe if the rifle is well cared of. But it certainly can be safer, and fool proof (we the owners are the fools). It was a business decision they made not to modify the design. That was back then when we whined way less.

-TL

 

[Bayou]

For anyone who is interested, here's a link to the Remington trigger class action settlement website:


http://remingtonfirearmsclassactionsettlement.com

Bayou

 

[reynolds357]

The rifle is a good rifle. I own a safe full of 700's. It has always just been a given for me that all my 700's will have a full trigger job done on them before I even shoot them. I was doing that long before all the A.D. hype hit the news media. To me, the 700 triggers, (all incarnations of them) just flat suck in their stock configuration. To be honest, I also think Ruger 77 Triggers and Winchester 70 triggers are terrible. Ruger being the worst. I do not have a non safe queen hunting rifle that does not have either a custom trigger or a full trigger job done on it. (by any manufacturer) I even do a trigger job on the Savage Accutrigger.
.30-06 would not be my first cartridge choice in that particular rifle. To each his own.

 

[reinert]

I just bought a new M700, ADL, in .223 a few weeks ago through gunbroker. The tag on the rifle when I took it out of the box looked like it had the new X-mark pro trigger, and I thought it must be the one with the new set screw adjustment on the trigger itself. With this trigger, the barreled action doesn't need to be taken out of the stock for adjustment (so it's said). My rifle's trigger doesn't have this feature, and I figured out my rifle has the older X-Mark trigger.

I did some net surfing and found out how to adjust this trigger, and it was very simple. There was one set screw to make the adjustment (there's actually three adjustment screws, but I only had to adjust one of them). I cleaned the locking compound from the set screw with a dental pick, and backed the allen screw out to near flush with the front of the trigger housing (faces the mag well). This adjustment gave me a trigger pull of between 3 to 3.5 lbs. I've shot this rifle (still working up a load) probably 50 times by now, and the trigger seems to be very consistent with this adjustment thus far. I'm quite happy with it, and haven't considered a Timney at all so far. Also, after making my trigger adjustment, I daubed the set screw with a good smear of blue lock-tite.

I like 700s. I have a nice, vintage 1968 ADL in '06 that shoots very well, and my gunsmith adjusted that trigger to about 2.5 lbs. and it's great. I also have a syn-stocked ADL in '06 that was built in the mid 90's that my gunsmith adjusted the trigger to around 3 lbs. and it's also a great shooter. My newest ADL, the .223, I got because I wanted an ADL during Remington's 200th anniversary. So far, I haven't had any problems with the Remington triggers, and will continue to use them on my ADLs. I'm sure a Timney would be a nice upgrade, but at this point in my game, I'll save that hundred+ bucks for something else in my shooting cabinet.

BTW, that new X-mark pro Rem trigger with the set screw on the trigger itself, and no need to dismantle the rifle to adjust, looks interesting. Hope it works out for Remington's customers.

 

[Reloadron]

I have several older Remington 700 rifles. Among the first things I do when I get a Remington 700 is put in a Timney Trigger.

Ron

 

[emcon5]

A properly adjusted Walker is an excellent safe trigger. An improperly adjusted one, not so much.

Even if they did somehow magically go off, it would be a non-event, because I don't point rifles at people.


On edit: Adding some more because I really don't want to get in to this argument yet again:

We will just say jmr40 and I disagree on pretty much everything on this subject. Not going to bring it up here, it was covered extensively in these 2 threads:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=516968

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=498729

I am not saying there isn't a problem, I am just saying that the evidence provided as "proof" is suspect at best, and downright misleading in some cases.

Yes, some people died at the hands of idiots using a Walker trigger equipped Remington 700, but EVERY one of them would be alive today had the owners practiced basic firearms safety, particularly rule #2.

 

[chuckscap]

Norm Thompson (may he be hunting in heaven) adjusted my 700 BDL in 270s Walker trigger to a crisp 2 1/4 lbs. It's a lovely trigger. No issues in 40 years of hard hunting. He was an artist with Remington 700s

 

[ms6852]

Ironically I just saw a documentary about the Remington triggers. Simply stated the business decision they made was sound, but ethical it was not in my opinion. As a capitalist society we all forget it's about profit, noting else.

Anyway I might still buy the Remington and drop a timney trigger in it. Ive hunted with a 30-06 six since I was 9 yrs old about 50 yrs now. I love the cartridge because it gets the job done and cheaper than most to shoot. Don't plan to hunt with it just plink since it has the long heavy barrel which will tame recoil on my dislocated shoulder a little. I still have my tikka for hunting .

Am having a difficult time finding a stock for the savage that will accommodate the action in a left handed model with the drop magazine and release button on the side. Still deciding but not in a hurry. Thanks for the input fellow shooters, be safe and good shooting.

 

[RC20]

My brother bought one.

Trigger was awful and replaced.

It has a very long throat (ELD bullets?)

He has talked about changing the barrel.

I thought about it but did not like having to replace a trigger and dealing with long seating bullets in a new gun.

Stock is decent, better than the Savage Varmint I got (Cabella also). I did my research and found a pillar set thumb hole which I like and matches my used project stock so same feel on trigger.

Stuck with my Savages, the 30-06 bull barrel I wanted is on the way and will get installed soon, more better in my thoughts.

 

[reynolds357]

Emcon, I have to disagree with you about the Walker trigger, but agree with you that people and not the trigger have caused the fatalities. If the engineer of the trigger said there was a problem with it,(which he did) the company had legal and moral obligations to correct the problem. Having said that, it has been my experience that the Win. mod 70 has the trigger that is prone to A.D., not Remington.