Rem 700 accidental discharge.....Yikes!

[Viper]

This is rather long, but I thought I'd post for those that have limited experience with trigger assemblies and adjustments, and may have/had a similar experience.

So, I had a scary experience with my Rem 700 (XCR model in .270) this past weekend.

History: I purchased this rifle a couple years ago from a craigslist add. The guy was thinning out his collection. This rifle was his Father-in-law's, who bought it new from Cabelas in 2006. "He died and didn't have a chance to shoot it". The rifle looked very clean and no evidence that a scope had been mounted. Still had the box with a 2006 ship date.

Last year, on a couple separate occasions, while shooting, the gun discharged when I clicked off the safety. I had to question if I hit the trigger somehow. This year...same thing on a couple different occasions. Now I'm certain I didn't hit the trigger.

 

Last weekend I am shooting, and I figure I will not work the safety...just get on target, jack a round, shoot. Well, I jack a round and BOOM...gun goes off. WTF!! Then, It happens again. My huntin' partner is freaking out a bit, so I pack it away.

I am well aware of the bad press these rifles have gotten over the years. I've read a ton of forums/posts. Monday I took it to Mesa Gun Shop to have it looked at. I'm thinking the chance of getting it back before my Oct 21st hunt is slim. The Gunsmith called me yesterday saying it is ready for pick up. I have limited knowledge of trigger assemblies, but apparently, the trigger had been adjusted and the set-screw was not lock-tighted, so it eventually backed out and was about to fall out. The Smith adjusted it and lock-tighted the set-screw, also cleaned the assembly. He says I shouldn't have anymore trouble with it. I will shoot this weekend to be sure.

One day turn around for $65...not bad.

So...his input on the Rem 700 trigger issue is that nearly all malfunctions are due to inexperienced adjustments and poor maintenance of the trigger assembly.

I guess the message here is, if you're not an expert, don't mess with it. Take it to someone who knows what they're doing.

 

Any thoughts?....experiences?

 

 

Brad

[25-06]

My brothers 700 did the same thing and it blew a hole in the door of his truck. he too took it to a gunsmith that re set the screw and put locktight on it.

He has not had any problems since then.

[Viper]

My brothers 700 did the same thing and it blew a hole in the door of his truck. he too took it to a gunsmith that re set the screw and put locktight on it.

He has not had any problems since then.

 

Thanks for the reply. That's reassuring. I like the trigger, just can't have a safety issue.

[JLW]

My brothers 700 did the same thing and it blew a hole in the door of his truck. he too took it to a gunsmith that re set the screw and put locktight on it.

He has not had any problems since then.

My brother inlaw put a hole in my Expedition, just missing the gas tank.... same thing click - BOOM! His was an older model 7 I think he bought it from Bear Mountain. The wierd thing was he had to take the safety off to open the bolt!? Another friend had purchased a savage new in the box. His did the same thing.

That is scary stuff!

 

James

[120carp]

mine has never done this yet. but when i watched the "remington under fire" on cnbc i ordered another trigger for it even sooner than i wanted. i dont like guns as it is and if the mis fire would of happened to me, i wouldn't pickup a gun ever again. glad you got yours fixed and nobody got hurt.

[madx250]

You don't like guns? That is like saying you don't like girls! Jk. Model 70 for life!

[deercrazy]

That very problem was the subject of a recall of some 710 models. Of course my serial number was not one of the block that was recalled, but it did the same thing. I took the safety off in the bedroom, and the "hammer" dropped. I took the gun to a shop, and they adjusted it. So far no other problems. It wouldn't hurt to consult Remington because this is a common problem through out all the models.

[.270]

any model 700 with the original style trigger has the potential to do this. remington started putting new triggers, similar to a jewell, in the 700's a few years ago. never had one o' mine do it, but i've seen em right outta the box do the same thing. i had a 180 gr '06 bullet hit between my feet when a friend's rifle did this. it is a problem in the old model 600 also. Lark.

[Viper]

any model 700 with the original style trigger has the potential to do this. remington started putting new triggers, similar to a jewell, in the 700's a few years ago. never had one o' mine do it, but i've seen em right outta the box do the same thing. i had a 180 gr '06 bullet hit between my feet when a friend's rifle did this. it is a problem in the old model 600 also. Lark.

 

I don't know if mine is the X-mark trigger or the older style. I believe it's a 2006 model. It's the XCR, which came out in 2005. I like the performance of it....just have to take it out this weekend to verify it is safe.

It sounds like regular trigger maintenance/cleaning is important to prevent this from happening again. How do you clean a trigger assembly, without taking it apart, if possible?

[THOR]

That could happen also if your trigger had been worked on and is too light....

[.270]

the old style 700 trigger has been suspect since inception in the 40's. same with the 721 and 725 and all the other variation of the 700 they made. sometimes a really small amount of dust can make em go off. sometimes they are just screwed up and there ain't no fixing em. if i ever have one do it, it's getting a new trigger. if you have a 700 with the old trigger, you really need to be aware of the problems that some of them have. it is a real deal that does happen way to often. the 700 has a sort of a canned trigger that can be kinda hard to clean too. Lark.

[Viper]

Update: I took the rifle out last weekend to verify it is fixed. No problems at all through the whole shooting session. I feel a lot better about having a "safe" rifle in my hands. The trigger is set at 3 lbs now. It's a little heavier than it was, but still feels good and crisp.

[kwp]

There's an article in the most recent Western Hunter about this issue which says basically what everyone else has already said, a problem with the factory triggers that is more widespread than Remington admits. An aftermarket trigger or proper adjustment from a gunsmith should fix it. I've only seen this happen once first hand, while coyote hunting with a buddy about 11-12 years ago. Switched off the safety and boom, did it one more time and we called it a day.

[CouesWhitetail]

Thanks so much for bringing this up...hopefully someone will be helped by this and perhaps it will save someone from getting hurt!

[Sundevil99]

My brothers 700 did the same thing and it blew a hole in the door of his truck. he too took it to a gunsmith that re set the screw and put locktight on it.

He has not had any problems since then.

My brother inlaw put a hole in my Expedition, just missing the gas tank.... same thing click - BOOM! His was an older model 7 I think he bought it from Bear Mountain. The wierd thing was he had to take the safety off to open the bolt!? Another friend had purchased a savage new in the box. His did the same thing.

That is scary stuff!

 

James

 

 

That is an older rifle then. The orig trigger design had that flaw and remington knew about it before it went into production origionally. For like 40$ or so you can send it into Remington and they will most likely (99%) put an entirely new trigger assembly in the rifle or fix the origional problem. I have an older 60's 700 in .243 that I inherited from my grandfather that I'm sending in after this deer season to have it done. It's a known problem with the older Rem's and I believe the "fire" to cycle the bolt mechanism was changed in the 80's or so. It scared the crap outta me and my friend the first time it went off on me when we got back to the truck after hunting and went to empty the rifle. Did a little research and now I know.