REM 700 slam fire.

[Hugger-4641]

Had my first experience with this tonight.
Sighting in a friend's Rem 22-250 heavy barrel, ejected a spent round and it went bang as soon as I closed the bolt, fingers no where near the trigger. Tried it again with no ammo loaded and was able to duplicate it about eight bolt cycles later.
This prompted me to do some googling and turns out this is a trigger problem and not uncommon. I don't know why I've never known about it, but It could be because I don't own any short action or lower end 700's.

I've told my friend he's not getting the gun back until we fix or replace the trigger.
Has anyone here had this happen and what trigger did you install or did you fix the stock trigger and sear?

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Has your friend come across this recall notice?

https://www.remarms.com/support/safety-center/remington-model-700-and-model-seven-notice

 

[Seedy Character]

Remington recalled those triggers

 

[BreechFace]

Timney trigger here we come!

 

[DM~]

The Rem. 700 triggers are adjustable, the problem starts when folks improperly adjust the sear engagement, to get a lighter trigger pull...

DM

 

[someguy2800]

Yours sounds like a worn or badly adjusted sear which is not catching. The recall was for an issue that causes the rifle to fire when the safety is taken off. My wife had that happen to her with a 700 in 243 when she was about 14 years old and hasn't shot a gun since.

 

[adcoch1]

Happened to my brother's 7mm mag, we put in a riflebasix aftermarket trigger in it and no more slam fires.
https://riflebasix.com/rifle/remington-model-700/

 

[rbernie]

I am guessing, without knowing, that the recall went by the wayside during the Remington bankruptcy. I don’t think that there will be any help from the new owners of the Remington brand, and it’s simply time to replace the trigger with something better.

 

[someguy2800]

I am guessing, without knowing, that the recall went by the wayside during the Remington bankruptcy. I don’t think that there will be any help from the new owners of the Remington brand, and it’s simply time to replace the trigger with something better.

good point

 

[LoonWulf]

A cruddy, or poorly adjusted, is probably the most common and insidious issue with any user serviceable device.....Remingtons trigger packs are pretty tight, and the springs are fairly heavy with short travel, its not hard at all to get one to mostly hold, but on a good jostle drop the striker.
Im one of the oddballs, that actually LIKES the Xmark pro-triggers, but if I was swapping out a unit id probably go with a TriggerTech.

 

[Hugger-4641]

Has your friend come across this recall

https://www.remarms.com/support/safety-center/remington-model-700-and-model-seven-notice

Thanks for this link Dave Delaurant!
Definitely did not know about this recall. I can say with great certainty my friend did not try to adjust the trigger. He has probably has never disassembled it beyond removing the bolt. He likes to hunt and shoot, but not really a gun guy or really mechanically inclined.
I'll be checking with Remington today and see if factory repair is still an option. If not, we'll be installing a new trigger, so thanks to everyone for the recommendations.

 

[Varminterror]

Remington 700 trigger safety, slam fires, safety release fires, and their corresponding MULTIPLE recalls are one of the most commonly discussed forum topics of the last 20 years. It’s almost as if someone would have to have tried to avoid hearing or reading about it. Someone will be along shortly to link video of the Walker trigger Dateline or 60minutes special report from 20-30 years ago, and someone else will link any of the reports of the class action lawsuit rulings which forced the recall, and yet someone else will link the recall page (if it is still online after the bankruptcy? Since there is nobody left to be obligated to honor it) for the newer XMark triggers… someone else will mention that the designer of the original trigger spoke out for years about the lacking safety in the design, and someone else will talk about cost cutting and sealant, someone else will talk about unsafe adjustment or dirty sear interface… and a handful of folks will mention they’ve been shooting their 700 for however many decades and never have had an issue, and still others will point out that Timney’s are cheap, so there’s no sense in not replacing the trigger… Did I get it all? Seems like I’m forgetting something to complete the meme…

It sucks you had to experience it, but frankly, this is old news, bottom line. Firsthand anecdotes are almost interesting - other than being internet retellings rather than video evidence, but honestly, I don’t perceive value in yet another of THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of Remington 700 trigger safety threads.

 

[jmr40]

Remington recalled the rifles made 2007-2014. SOME rifles had adhesive drip into the trigger while they were being assembled. MOST of them were fine, but Remington asked that they all be returned for inspection and trigger replacement if needed.

The rifles made after 2014 were not recalled.

All Remington bolt actions made 1946-2007 (except the 788) used a flawed trigger design. They incorporated what Remington called a "trigger connector". If the connector aligns in just the right way, it prevents the sear from fully engaging.

Most of the time the sear partially engages when the connector fails. But as the rifle is carried and handled it disengages. The safety on Remington 700's will hold the firing pin in place. The most common issue is that as soon as the safety is moved to the "FIRE" position the firing pin drops and if a round is chambered it will fire.

Having the gun discharge as soon as the bolt is closed is less common but does happen. I've seen video of them firing when the shooter started to lift the bolt to eject an unfired round.

If any trigger is dirty, or improperly adjusted it will do the same thing. That is ANY trigger, not just Remington. But the Remington trigger has been doing this out of the box since 1946. The engineer who designed the rifle for Remington discovered the flaw in 1946 shortly after the rifle went into production. He drew up plans for a replacement trigger (the design finally incorporated in 2007) and urged management to make the change. He again urged a new trigger in 1948. Both times Remington management declined to make the change because it would cost 5 cents more per rifle.

If you own a 1946 Remington using the 700, 721, 722, 725, or 7 action with the factory trigger it is not a matter of IF, but WHEN it does this. If the trigger connector ever lines up in just the right way you're going to have the firing pin drop when you don't want it to.

Granted, it is extremely rare for this to happen, but don't lull yourself into a false sense of security just because it hasn't happened to you yet. Or because you think you're OK because you keep your rifle clean and properly adjusted.

I 1st heard about this issue during the 1980's when the TV show "60 Minutes" aired a story about it. I thought it was BS at the time. But about 10 years later my 1974 made 700 did it. Fortunately for me the rifle was unloaded. I simply pulled the rifle out of my safe to inspect it. As soon as I moved the safety to the "FIRE" position the firing pin fell on an empty chamber. I was able to repeat it 3-4 times then it stopped.

I continued to use the rifle for another 25 years without incident. Then about 5 years ago it did exactly the same thing. Once again unloaded. I replaced the factory trigger with a Timney.

Remington has been sued well over 100 times due to the trigger going back to the 1960's. There have been about a dozen deaths. All of those suits were settled out of court with signed non-disclosure statements, so we don't know how much it cost them. But it is safe to say this is a primary reason this is a big part of Remington's decline.

Part of the settlement of one suit led to the redesign of the safety in the 1980's. Older rifles like mine lock the bolt down and the safety has to be moved to the "Fire" position to open the bolt. Being able to open the bolt to eject unfired rounds with the safety still on did reduce the number of incidents but didn't address the real problem. Another suit led to the trigger being replaced in 2007.

Remington has never admitted fault for the1946-2007 rifles. But due to the most recent lawsuit are now required to replace those triggers if you return your rifle to Remington. They don't advertise this but will do it. IMO it is just easier to buy an aftermarket trigger and do it yourself. It is a 10-15 minute DIY job.

 

[bihj]

Timney is your friend. It will fix your problem and you'll be able to easily adjust it!

 

[Walkalong]

it’s simply time to replace the trigger with something better.

Yep

 

[IdaD]

I've never had an issue with the original triggers, but I have two 700 action rifles and both have had replacements done. One was done by Remington and I stuck a Timney in the other. The factory swap wasn't too big of a hassle but I did have to remove the scope and pack it up and ship it. The Timney was $150 or $180 or something like that, so on the second rifle I just bought the replacement and did it at home - very easy DIY.

 

[lightman]

This has been a pretty widely known problem. There are basically 2 causes for this. Either its very dirty or someone performed a DIY trigger adjustment on it. I had it happen to me once. I spent a week hunting in Wyoming, came home and immediately headed to Deer Camp. Unknown to me the trigger, and everything else, was full of red dust. A good cleaning solved the problem but since then all of my 700's have aftermarket triggers on them. There are several good ones but I went with Jewell. Just remember, even good aftermarket triggers will need cleaning occasionally.

 

[Hugger-4641]

but honestly, I don’t perceive value in

but honestly, I don’t perceive value in yet another of THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of Remington 700 trigger safety threads.

I understand your point and appreciate the reply, but I disagree.
With as much exposure and experience as I've had with rifles, if I didn't know about this, I'm sure there are countless new shooters who also don't know. I'm sure there are many of those defective models in circulation that didn't get fixed.. So in my opinion, no harm in a new thresd when it happens to someone who doesn't have knowledge about it.
I'm VERY glad this happened to me and not my friend. Thanks to you all, now we are educated about it. He has several older Rem 700s in different calibers, so now we are going to check them also.

 

[BreechFace]

Yours sounds like a worn or badly adjusted sear which is not catching. The recall was for an issue that causes the rifle to fire when the safety is taken off. My wife had that happen to her with a 700 in 243 when she was about 14 years old and hasn't shot a gun since.

Nothing like shaking the confidence of a young girl doing everything right. What a shame, I'm sure you've tried to get her shooting again, but understand how that could turn a person less interested in guns off forever.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Remington recalled the rifles made 2007-2014. SOME rifles had adhesive drip into the trigger while they were being assembled. MOST of them were fine, but Remington asked that they all be returned for inspection and trigger replacement if needed.

The rifles made after 2014 were not recalled.

All Remington bolt actions made 1946-2007 (except the 788) used a flawed trigger design. They incorporated what Remington called a "trigger connector". If the connector aligns in just the right way, it prevents the sear from fully engaging.

Most of the time the sear partially engages when the connector fails. But as the rifle is carried and handled it disengages. The safety on Remington 700's will hold the firing pin in place. The most common issue is that as soon as the safety is moved to the "FIRE" position the firing pin drops and if a round is chambered it will fire.

Having the gun discharge as soon as the bolt is closed is less common but does happen. I've seen video of them firing when the shooter started to lift the bolt to eject an unfired round.

If any trigger is dirty, or improperly adjusted it will do the same thing. That is ANY trigger, not just Remington. But the Remington trigger has been doing this out of the box since 1946. The engineer who designed the rifle for Remington discovered the flaw in 1946 shortly after the rifle went into production. He drew up plans for a replacement trigger (the design finally incorporated in 2007) and urged management to make the change. He again urged a new trigger in 1948. Both times Remington management declined to make the change because it would cost 5 cents more per rifle.

If you own a 1946 Remington using the 700, 721, 722, 725, or 7 action with the factory trigger it is not a matter of IF, but WHEN it does this. If the trigger connector ever lines up in just the right way you're going to have the firing pin drop when you don't want it to.

Granted, it is extremely rare for this to happen, but don't lull yourself into a false sense of security just because it hasn't happened to you yet. Or because you think you're OK because you keep your rifle clean and properly adjusted.

I 1st heard about this issue during the 1980's when the TV show "60 Minutes" aired a story about it. I thought it was BS at the time. But about 10 years later my 1974 made 700 did it. Fortunately for me the rifle was unloaded. I simply pulled the rifle out of my safe to inspect it. As soon as I moved the safety to the "FIRE" position the firing pin fell on an empty chamber. I was able to repeat it 3-4 times then it stopped.

I continued to use the rifle for another 25 years without incident. Then about 5 years ago it did exactly the same thing. Once again unloaded. I replaced the factory trigger with a Timney.

Remington has been sued well over 100 times due to the trigger going back to the 1960's. There have been about a dozen deaths. All of those suits were settled out of court with signed non-disclosure statements, so we don't know how much it cost them. But it is safe to say this is a primary reason this is a big part of Remington's decline.

Part of the settlement of one suit led to the redesign of the safety in the 1980's. Older rifles like mine lock the bolt down and the safety has to be moved to the "Fire" position to open the bolt. Being able to open the bolt to eject unfired rounds with the safety still on did reduce the number of incidents but didn't address the real problem. Another suit led to the trigger being replaced in 2007.

Remington has never admitted fault for the1946-2007 rifles. But due to the most recent lawsuit are now required to replace those triggers if you return your rifle to Remington. They don't advertise this but will do it. IMO it is just easier to buy an aftermarket trigger and do it yourself. It is a 10-15 minute DIY job.

I had no idea that the safety held the firing pin in place. I just thought it prevented the trigger from moving.

 

[WisBorn]

Never had the problem, but sent a 700 varmint in 223 had back to Remington for the recall. The rifle was stupid accurate!!!!

 

[Skylerbone]

I replaced mine with a Rifle Basix about a decade ago, but only because the original Walker wasn’t meant to be a lightweight. Worked without issue but it used to get plenty dirty, nothing a bit of Zippo fluid wouldn’t flush away. I agree there’s no sound reason for keeping one installed when better, safer replacements abound.

 

[rust collector]

For a variety of reasons, including new shooters coming on board and many model 700s whose previous owners didn't care or didn't think they were affected, this is a valid concern. We could make it a sticky note, but when did you last go through those? I agree that it isn't something to wring out at great length, but info on connecting with Remington, how to tell if your rifle has been updated or tampered with, and options available can be useful. Just please, keep it brief. Discussing culpability of Remington serves no useful purpose, but safety is a always worth a few moments of your time.

 

[someguy2800]

Remington 700 trigger safety, slam fires, safety release fires, and their corresponding MULTIPLE recalls are one of the most commonly discussed forum topics of the last 20 years. It’s almost as if someone would have to have tried to avoid hearing or reading about it. Someone will be along shortly to link video of the Walker trigger Dateline or 60minutes special report from 20-30 years ago, and someone else will link any of the reports of the class action lawsuit rulings which forced the recall, and yet someone else will link the recall page (if it is still online after the bankruptcy? Since there is nobody left to be obligated to honor it) for the newer XMark triggers… someone else will mention that the designer of the original trigger spoke out for years about the lacking safety in the design, and someone else will talk about cost cutting and sealant, someone else will talk about unsafe adjustment or dirty sear interface… and a handful of folks will mention they’ve been shooting their 700 for however many decades and never have had an issue, and still others will point out that Timney’s are cheap, so there’s no sense in not replacing the trigger… Did I get it all? Seems like I’m forgetting something to complete the meme…

It sucks you had to experience it, but frankly, this is old news, bottom line. Firsthand anecdotes are almost interesting - other than being internet retellings rather than video evidence, but honestly, I don’t perceive value in yet another of THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of Remington 700 trigger safety threads.

Until every affected 700 has been fixed, there will always be value.

 

[someguy2800]

but honestly, I don’t perceive value in


I understand your point and appreciate the reply, but I disagree.
With as much exposure and experience as I've had with rifles, if I didn't know about this, I'm sure there are countless new shooters who also don't know. I'm sure there are many of those defective models in circulation that didn't get fixed.. So in my opinion, no harm in a new thresd when it happens to someone who doesn't have knowledge about it.
I'm VERY glad this happened to me and not my friend. Thanks to you all, now we are educated about it. He has several older Rem 700s in different calibers, so now we are going to check them also.

New shooters being born every day and they don’t teach this stuff in school.

Nothing like shaking the confidence of a young girl doing everything right. What a shame, I'm sure you've tried to get her shooting again, but understand how that could turn a person less interested in guns off forever.

I’ve tried a couple times but I don’t think she will. She won’t even pick one up. Her dad was totally unaware of this problem and he said he chastised her over it because he thought she must have pulled the trigger. This was about 20 years ago.