[DILLIGAF]

I need help confirming a story my Dad told me. He saw a television special that claimed that there have been over 60 shooting accidents with the Remington model 700 bolt action rifle (30-06).

The problem occurs when the bolt jams and is unable to eject a shell. If you knock the safety off while the shell is in the chamber, it will fire.

I have hunted with my 700 since '86 (love it!) and have never had a problem. Can any of you shed some light on this?

Thanks,

DILLIGAF

 

[Pat Eddinger]

Dilligaf,
The rumor extends to all 700's,and is partly true.
In the mid 80's Rem. took care of this by changing the safety so the bolt could be opened and unloaded with the safety on.
The problem stemmed from improper sear contact from wear or improper adjustment,then the sudden load from turning the safety off.
This problem went away with the new safety,and newer rifles that are factory adjusted with lots of sear contact.
If you have any concern take your rifle to a good local 'smith that you trust(Trust is important as it's your life and those around you that is the issue)and have him give it a good look see.
I can recommend(Outside of myself)Steve Durren at Johnsons in Adrian(Rem authorized 'smith)as outstanding with the 700.Contact Remington and see if they recommend work be done to your rifles as well,just have the serial #'s ready as they will determine manufacture date.
If you ever wish to part with your early 80's 700's lemme know as I have customers that preferr the pre 82' models over the newer ones because of the quality and button rifled barrels.
Hope this helps!
Pat

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[DILLIGAF]

Thanks, Pat! I'll check the serial # with Remington, just to be sure.

 

[Pat Eddinger]

Trout,
The weight of pull is a combination of adjustments on the 700 trigger.
Sear contact,and sear spring preload.
Even more imortant is the angle of contact between the sear and striker release surfaces.
On production rifle triggers that are cranked out at a high rate,tolerances are set for a slightly positive angle,to eliminate any chance of a negative angle slipping out.
What often times happens is,that a guy buy's a rifle,is unhappy with the gritty long(Sear contact)pull,finds out it's adjustable and backs off the sear spring preload,then reduces contact for a nice trigger....and gets greedy.
I never adjust a factory 700 trigger below 3 lbs,and .015 sear contact without an angle correction,unless when checked the angle is already neutral(Extremely rare!)and that can be skipped.
The internet is full of places that describe adjusting the 700 trigger in detail,and rely upon numbers of turns on the sear stop screw to determine contact.At best this is a rough method,as the angle is not considered.
For the peace of mind vs cost,having a 'smith adjust the trigger is a good value.
To illustrate the depth of this:
Last fall I had a gent bring me an older 700 that he had bought used at a gun show.The trigger scared the daylights out of him as it was set in the under 1lb range,and he wished to have the rifle bedded and a general going through.
When I got in there,I found the sear return spring had been cut down to 3 coils,and had been packed up from use so that it was sorter than the adj. screw nose.
The sear had only around .005 contact,and had been worn slightly negative in angle.
It was an accident waiting to happen.
If a guy wishes to have a sub 3 Lb trigger that is safe on his 700,and likes the do it yourself approach,I suggest that a Timney,Rifle Basix,Shilen,or Jewel trigger should be purchased.
The units are neutral,and have been made for safe operation at lighter pulls.
Unfortunately Remington took it on the chin from Lawyers,because people did things they were not supposed to do,and violated the golden rules of firearm safety.
Hope this helps.
Pat