Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Could Remington be going in this direction?

A couple of recent threads in the Hunting Rifles forum got me to thinking about this, thought I would post my thoughts here where there might be a broader range of participant in the discussion.

Remington has gone to putting Timney triggers in all the 700's now. I think that makes sense for several reasons and benefits both companies.

The issue of push feed vs CRF has pretty much died out and, for the most part, everyone is happy with push feed rifles. What everyone is not happy with, re: the 700's is the fact that the safety doesn't lock the bolt handle down. There are aftermarket safeties for the 700, probably most notably the David Gentry three position, that solve this problem.

As far as I know, or can recall, going to (and identifying/promoting) an aftermarket component in their rifle is a first for any of the big US gunmakers. I'm wondering if the next thing we might see is an aftermarket 3 position safety. It wouldn't be a big trick to insert the necessary cuts in the bolt's CNC machining program to accommodate the part. Going a little further, might we see something like we see now with cars and trucks: custom builders collaborating with manufacturers fore premium versions of their products (think Rousch, Saleen, Shelby).

What do you think?

I think a custom rifle would be a great idea. It would be a niche market for sure. Being able to pick and choose which stocks, triggers, bedding, barrels etc might improve their standing in the gun community.

It would be an improvement on their old custom shop and in theory at least, should be a little cheaper than going to a small shop for a similar build.

The new Ruger American Gen II is coming with a 3 position safety. I could see Remington moving in that direction. OR going back to the original 2 position safety that locks the bolt down. Since they are no longer using the Walker trigger that would be a good option. Tikka uses that system and I've not heard of any complaints.

Steve, I wasn't thinking so much about a menu of custom options, although that would be a great idea, to be able to order one like that. I was thinking more along the lines of a whole package, ie a Rousch F-150 or a Saleen Mustang.


Yes, my Sako 85 is like that, the same location and style as the 700 safety, but locks the bolt down and has a little lever/button in front of it to unlock the bolt but leave the firing pin blocked. Works great and solves the problem.

A man could just buy a Model 70 Winchester and get a good trigger, three position safety, and controlled round feed.

But But muh 3 rings of steel!

Most don't consider the MOA trigger to be a good one. Of the 8 newer model 70's with the MOA trigger I've had in the recent past and still own a few, only two came close to living up to their advertising hype. I've found them to be very inconsistent in creep and range of poundage adjustment.

I stand corrected. I only have older model 70s and they have excellent, yet simple triggers. I am not familiar with the newer triggers.

I shot an 80s model 700 today then shot a Weatherby Vanguard with a Timney in it. The Rifle with the Timney was easier to shoot well. The 700 trigger hasn't been fooled with. It isn't near as good as the Rifles I have hunted lately with Timney triggers.

I have a bunch of Rem 700's with original Walker triggers and only one had a trigger that was around 4.5 lbs, rest were all around 2.5 to 3 lbs.

If I'm not mistaken the Colt Light Rifle came with a Timney three position safety. Could that not be adapted to the Rem 700?

> this is what i did Winchester model 70`s and i also went with Ruger #1`s too. no more Remingtons for me.

The colt light I had the safety wouldn’t stay on. I am right handed but carry on my left.

I think it makes sense too. Smartest thing Remington has done in years in my opinion.
I wouldn’t mind paying a few extra dollars for a 700 with a Timney trigger in it because if I bought a new 700 the first thing I would do would be to put a Timney or Triggertech in it anyway.
All of my 700’s have Timney’s except for one and I ordered a Triggertech for it from Red Hawk Rifles on Black Friday but haven’t gotten a chance to put it in yet. Anxious to see how I like it.
I know they are not a “big gunmaker” as such but when Knight Muzzleloading first introduced their In-line muzzleloader’s, I believe they had Timney triggers in them.
I may be wrong but I believe that was the case.

The MOA trigger feels like cheap pot metal and is inconsistent.

.[/quote]
The MOA trigger feels like cheap pot metal and is inconsistent.[/quote]

Lee (Redneck), did an amazing trigger job on my Win 70 MOA trigger.

The MOA trigger feels like cheap pot metal and is inconsistent.[/quote]

Lee (Redneck), did an amazing trigger job on my Win 70 MOA trigger.[/quote]

Shouldn't have to do anything if they performed in accordance to their advertising hype. Pretty similar design and internal function to X-bolt triggers which are just as inconsistent in my experience.

That sounds like a great idea even if they didn’t net much. As you said it would improve their standing in the gun community. That would be a good thing after years of Remington being in a race to the bottom and lowest price point budget guns.

It'd be really nice if that CRF, trigger, and safety also came with another 1/2" worth of mag-box latitude in order to keep up with where projectile evolution is going.

I wasn't aware of this. I always admired the old model 70 triggers. They felt good yet were very simple, easy to adjust, and shouldn't have been expensive to manufacture. I wonder why they quit using them.