Did anyone else see the 60 Minutes piece this evening on the Remington Model 700 triggers that "accidentally" fire upon releasing the safety.

I have owned one, in 338 Win Mag, for many years, without any issues, and just wondered if this is worth looking into.

I am very cautious of the network news these days.

donsm70

They rank right below cnn for me.. Don I have been shooting 700's almost since they came out.. I had one do that.. It was over 40 years ago.. The smith set it too light.. I had it set at 3 # or slightly less, and it has never given a problem.. I have shoot my .222 some 14000 rds, with two different barrels.. Never a hitch.. My .22-250 on its third barrel has had about 9000 rounds though the action, no problem.. My guess is 60 minutes is running more fake news, or dealing with rifles that have been fooled with by someone who doesn't know what they are doing..

I did not see this one this time.. If it's what I think it's an OLD hit piece that they did on Remington a few years ago.. Come to find out the guys in the tape rigged the guns to go off...

There is another thread going about this. I didn't watch this program, but did read the transcript. This is a different program from the one several years ago and profiles the new X-mark trigger.

The older Walker trigger used from 1946-2006 is a flawed design. I've seen guns discharge with no trigger pull and the proof is overwhelming. There have been literally thousands of reported incidents and more than 100 lawsuits dating back to the 1960's. I wouldn't own one of these guns without replacing the trigger.

The X-Mark was re-designed to replace the older Walker trigger. As far as I can determine it is mechanically safe. But somehow adhesive dripped into the trigger assembly during manufacturing on many of these guns. That is the reason for the recall on that gun.

If there is anything mechanically wrong with the new trigger It is news to me.



Calling BS on that.

Yes, if it is troubling your mind, it probably bothers your hunting buddies too knowing your trigger assembly is original equipment.

I have a close and trusted friend who is a big Remington fan , he also thought that the trigger stuff was BS. He has owned 700s for 35 years and never had a problem .This past deer season it happened to him!Fortunately the gun was pointed in a safe direction.My nephew has had his m700 fire when the safety was released also.I have three m700's from fairly old to fairly new and have never had a problem.I've also owned several other 700's and never had them discharge when the safe was flipped off.Obviously, it happens!

By the way, my nephew demonstrated it to me, several times with his gun unloaded!

Did he mess with the trigger?

I've replaced all of mine with JARD triggers. Never had it happen to me but a guy I was hunting with had it happen when we were hunting together.

how exactly do I try to force my M700 trigger to have this malfunction? I have an early 2000s production M700 CDL in 280, and i have never tweaked the factory trigger. I cock the rifle, put it on safe, pull on the trigger til the cows come home, then put it off safe, hold it vertical, and bounce the butt off the floor from two feet up, and nothing happens.

The Walker design was flawed only in that it utilised a superfluous part (the sear connector). This part was intended to produce a trigger with minimal over-travel and to allow the use of inexpensive material for the trigger lever. The "fire on safety release" issues stemmed, not from the sear connector, but from parts which were dimensionally flawed.
The connector is an unnecessary part and Walker realised this early on. It was not, however, the root cause of the problem.
By the way, I have had, in the shop, various makes of rifle which would fire when the safety was released. These included the, Winchester Model 70, the Ruger 77, Shultz & Larsen, Sako, Savage, and Weatherby.
Rifles which NEVER exhibited this flaw included unaltered Mauser 98's, Springfields, Enfields, and Lee Enfields. You will note that these all feature direct acting, two stage, triggers and safeties which act directly on the striker. GD

C-gar , nobody had ever dicked with the triggers on either gun that I mentioned!

I think they said cold temperature has something to do with it.

P.

This article i read explains the mechanics of the issue very well. all politics aside, just an in depth look into what is going on and how.
http://www.flinthillsdiesel.com/Remington-Walker.pdf

I've had many and seen plenty. 2 would fire when the safety was released.
Both had trigger jobs done by the "expert".

You got to watch Bubba the "Golden" screwdriver... I suspect this is 99.9% of of the problems with the triggers and a willing News Media to paint guns in a bad light..

I can make it so the barrel falls off when you pick it up..

If you read the article referenced by JimHnSTL you will note that the walker trigger failure has nothing to do with somebody messing with the trigger after it left the factory and nothing to do with the fact that it has never done it before. It has everything to do with contamination allowing the connector to get out of place. If you want to continue to use one just realize it may fail and you had better keep it clean, INSIDE!
When my buddy's gun went off as he put it off safe to unload it I just about had a cow and resolved to fix my M700's. The Jard replacement work good and at about 70 bucks is well worth it INMHO.

I watched a portion of the 60 Minute piece and there was no mention of one pulling a trigger and then having the rifle fire when the safety was disengaged. Most of the inference I saw was that one could be standing around and the units would just go off. Likely the press types are not too interested in the actual mechanics and the easy out is to attack the manufacturer.

I've reworked a few Mausers, and the safety/trigger timing can be an issue when one is installing sporter triggers. Some intelligent stoning or filing of the firing pin, safety, or trigger sear may be needed to rectify things, followed by some vigorous manipulations testing all combinations of potential events.

The lead in story in the 60 Minute piece was of a kid threatening to air out his brother during an argument. Said he finally calmed down and as they were standing around, the rifle just fired. He then placed another rifle with his brother in an attempt to make it look like a suicide. That ruse was a failure, and he's doing some time.

Obviously extremely poor muzzle control on his part.

I'm convinced that about any trigger/safety mechanism can malfunction regardless of the firearms make and model. Dirt/grime/ice/wear/mechanical failure, or user error are all potentials. That given, one does not point an arm at anything he does not intend to shoot. Anyone shooting another person should for sure do some time due to his/her reckless handling.

Oregon's only fatal hunting related event last year was a person swinging on a companion with a drawn bow. Don't know if a release was involved or it was strictly fingers. Regardless, that person should do time.

This. The floating sear disconnector is the potential problem, and always remains a potential problem unless you epoxy it to the trigger.

FYI, the M70's safety also 'directly acts on the striker'...

That - and a failure to keep that trigger CLEAN and untouched by stuff like WD-40..

They ain't gonna accidentally discharge when you flip the safety if you never use the safety.

good point.

How should these triggers be cleaned and how often? Any lubrication? I have used Remington 700s for years with no problems but I'm a little nervous about it.

Jewell triggers recommend Ronsonol lighter fluid to clean and lubricate their triggers.

Yep flush them out with lighter fluid and always use a bore guide. Keep solvents and oil away from the trigger assembly.
I've seen triggers with factory sealed adjustment screws and they were quite a bit out of tune.

As others have stated, lighter fluid works well and then a good blast with high pressure air. It's even better if you're comfy with removal, then clean the individual pieces.. A set of slave pins really helps with reassembly.

NONE.

I clean mine every time I clean the rifle - which is EVERY time I'm done shooting it; whether it was a shot or three or if it was at the end of a long P-dog day..

If you don't have a bore guide, just clean the rifle with the action out of the stock and placed trigger-up. Then carefully swab out/blow out any residual cleaning fluid that might be left over in/around the chamber area before putting it back in the stock..

While it's in that position, make certain you note full and easy trigger movement in both directions.. If there's ANY (repeat ANY) hesitation in its full return to the set position it's time to start over.. Or - replace it..

FWIW.

I appreciate all the answers and info. I'll look for lighter fluid next chance I get and do some cleaning. I always use a bore guide when cleaning the barrel. Didn't know lighter fluid was even still around since I quit smoking many years ago!

I know this. you will notice that I said "direct acting, two stage, triggers AND a safety which acts directly on the striker". The point is, the problems with the Remington trigger were incorrectly blamed on the design and the use of the sear connector. The real problem was and is quality control. The issues which have been blamed strictly on Remington also occurred with virtually every make of rifle which utilised an over-riding sear type of trigger. The whole business mostly highlights that the average lawyer is incapable of understanding trigger design and that some experts will hop on any bandwagon if the money is right. GD