On the heels of a recall on certain Model 887 shotguns, Remington announced on Friday that it would replace triggers on all of its Model 700 rifles made since 1962 — about 7.85 million rifles.
Remington insists that this latest development is not a “recall” per se, but a settlement to “avoid the uncertainties and expense of protracted litigation.”
The initial lawsuit claimed the Model 700 would discharge without a pull of the trigger. Plaintiffs said the alleged faulty rifle led to the death of at least two dozen people and over 100 serious injuries.
However, in court, Remington denied the accusations, calling them “inaccurate, misleading, (and) taken out of context.”
More from CNBC:
Under the settlement, which still must be approved by a judge, Remington has agreed to retrofit the rifles in question at no cost to the owner. Many users had new trigger mechanisms installed on their own, and Remington will reimburse them as part of the settlement. For guns that cannot be retrofitted, the company plans to offer vouchers for Remington products.
The settlement covers more than a dozen models, specifically the Model 700, Seven, Sportsman 78, 673, 710, 715, 770, 600, 660, XP-100, 721, 722 and 725.
Rem 722 s need triggers 222,257,and 600 358
Anyone who thinks these model 700 misfires because someone adjusted their trigger wrong, is wrong themselves. Mine misfired twice and I was lucky I did not kill my brother standing beside me. 10 years ago you could do research and find that the man that invented the mechanism told Remington it was a bad design and told them not to use it. Many people have been shot or killed because of this. I did not have it fixed but went to Gander Mountain 20 years ago and was told they would fix it and Remington would take care of the charge. It was all hush hush. Don’t be fooled, this gun kills more than deer. It will discharge when you unload it. When you open the bolt the safety has to be off but make sure you put the safety back on to close the bolt to get the next one loaded and out. Still lots of risk involved. If you own one go get it fixed or put it on the shelf. But remember he who gets that gun next may have a deadly misfire. The first time I thought it was me and quit hunting that year. The second time I did my homework. It’s the gun! Please listen to me when I say, it’s the gun! The hunter always get blamed for bumping the trigger when a fatality happens with one of these rifles and the rifles are usually checked by so called experts. They work fine until they don’t but it always seems to be the hunters fault. You’ll think differently when yours misfires without touching it at all.
I bought my Remington 30-06 700 bdl new in 1973 ,serial no 6617934 BUILT no 4X THIS GUN FIRES WHEN LOADING OR UN LOADING WITH OUT PULLING TRIGGER OR BY PUSHING SAFTEY OFF HAS,NT BEEN FIRED IN OVER 30 YRS
My model 700 I bought new in 1972 misfired without my finger near the trigger. I’ve never had a problem before, is it subject to recall? Thanks
Just checked my serial at the below web site and it said my rifle is not one that is affected; however, it recently misfired while I was cleaning it. Fortunately, it was unloaded.What recourse do I have now. Please someone HELP!
Remington Recall
https://xmprecall.remington.com
I own a model 700 from the late 1990’s. Recently went to the range, set gun up for downrange shot on gun rest. Manually chambered a live round, pushed safety to fire, no finger on trigger and rifle fired. I own several M700’s never had this issue. Did the recall online, gun shipped to NY on June 19th, got gun back July 26th fully repaired. Mine had a Walker trigger, unless you’ve had an accidental discharge, your gun will not be repaired unless it is an XMark. No problems (yet) with other guns.
I have a 1996 Remington 700 in 7MM08. It a beautiful little rifle and a tack driver. I have had NO problems with it. It is not on the recall list. I wonder if a lot of these problem are due to people adjusting the trigger themselves making it so light a puff of wind would set it off. I change nothing on my guns. I use them as they come out of the box. Regardless of any malfunctions, the most important thing you can do is be aware of where you are pointing that firearm. No matter what you are doing, every firearm should be pointed down at the ground till your are ready to aim and fire. But tragically, some people just don’t pay attention to what the hell they are doing.
I have an old model 788 22-250 that I used to love, but after misfiring twice in a row I took it in to a gun shop to get it fixed, and though they say they repaired it, I never got any explanation of what was wrong with it or what they did to repair it. I haven’t used it since because I have no confidence in it and it only takes one misfire to kill someone. I hate it too because that thing would shoot a gnats eye out at 200 yards. I might add, the safety was on both times it misfired. I guess I’ll keep it around as an antique and go buy something else. (Not a Remington)
I think that Remington 700 trigger is good but it becomes unreliable and dangerous when someone tries to adjust it. You shouldn’t try to do that. Leave it alone or replace it with aftermarket adjustable trigger.
It seems they could use someone to develop a new fail proof trigger to replace on all these 700s and could still save money on all the claims and repairs “fixing” the current X-Mark.
I own the .243 and .308 Rem 700 ADL bought new in 2012, after several hundred rounds the .243 misfired while closing the bolt at the range, luckily the rifle was pointing down range from the bench. I checked their site and saw the recall notice for the trigger fix, then sent and received them back with the trigger stamped. So far have not had any more misfires after a few hundred rounds yet but am afraid that it could misfire again at any round bolted until a new trigger is installed.
It seems they could use someone to develop a new fail proof trigger to replace on all these 700s and could still save money on all the claims and repairs “fixing” the current X-Mark.
I own the .243 and .308 Rem 700 ADL bought new in 2012, after several hundred rounds the .243 misfired while closing the bolt at the range, luckily the rifle was pointing down range from the bench. I checked their site and saw the recall notice for the trigger fix, then sent and received them back with the trigger stamped. So far have not had any more misfires after a few hundred rounds yet but am afraid that it could misfire again at any round bolted until a new trigger is installed.
My model 700 308 was handed down from grandpa , it is a wonderful rifle but last hunting season while hunting some hogs . I was aiming at the hogs and had forgot to remove the safety , I had pull the trigger and realized that and I raise my thumb to remove the safety and the rifle went off . I was surprise and at the same time scared because I was not expecting the rifle to go off. Being a hunter for many years I remove the bullet from the rifle and tested what had happen . I set the rifle in safety and pull the trigger and then remove the safety and the firing pin would go off every time . what do you recommend for the fix on my 700 model .
I have owned several high dollar Remingtons over the years. My favorite was a pair of 700 Clasics in 350 Rem Mag.
Twice I missed getting nice bucks due to them not firing. Just a click. Failure to feed was also a problem. Many times I had to
reach up and manually chamber a round. Try that when you have just taken a shot. Another time a buck worked its way to within about 10 yards of me. Was using a KS M700. Paid a lot of money for it. When I squeezed the trigger it went click.
After that I sold all of the Remington M700s that I owned. Since then I have purchased one rifle and that is a VTR 223. May use it for Coyote hunting and punching holes in paper but that is all. I got the rifle new from a local dealer for $350. after rebate. I just couldn’t pass up such a deal. Now I buy Kimbers for hunting in warm weather. They have problems in the cold if the trigger mechanism is not perfectly dry. No oil. If I go hunting in the cold I take one of my Ruger M77 MkII rifles. They always go bang no matter what the weather and they shoot very well indeed. No excuses needed for Ruger M77 rifles.
Winchester M70 controlled round feed rifles are also an excellent rifle in every way. To bad they are now made overseas.
Winchester M70 is now made by FN in the o’l USA
Eh, Portugal from what I’ve read. You heard for sure that they moved to the US assembly? Or just some parts?
I have one m70, one savage 12, and seven rem 700’s, only one with a Timney trigger on it. If you have problem because you mucked around with the factory settings (and don’t lie about it) and you have problems set a little heavier or go to a Timney trigger, TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTION, I have never had a misfire, in forty years of Model 700s
Yeah well that may all be well and good, but I already went through this once with them and their “Inspection” process. After 9 months, I demanded my rifle back. I had already missed one Deer season because of their inability to do the work in a reasonable amount of time. Now they want me to send it BACK? And go through this same BS routine, just so THEY could avoid protracted litigation and uncertainty? How about a voucher for a gun that has never been fired yet? Just give me back all the money I have spent for what amounts to a boat anchor and I’ll apply the money against what I owe for the replacement I had to buy while waiting on them. I can honestly say, this is my last Remington product.
I recently discovered the trigger issue on the internet, including a moving documentary of a Montana father who lost his
young son due to a model 700 discharging while closing the action on a round. I have two model 700 CDL’ss, both with expensive scopes in 30-06 and 223, which I’m now reluctant to use. I will get after market trigger assemblies installed by my local gun smith.
Short of a great government contract to save them, they are only wishfully thinking the move to new facilities in Alabama,
will save them. As with moves such as this, top brass making decisions allowing unsafe product production will be included in the move while leaving the real craftsmen behind. The “American way.”
I am confident in our litigious system and market of my generation and my children’s generation of hunting and sport
shooting, events of this nature will take care of Remington products.
For me, after correcting an inherent and dangerous design in my 700″s I will pass this message on to my three sons and all
my friends that hunt. As has been said, “the best advertising is word of mouth.”
.
For those interested in guns and trigger designs that goes into a great amount of detail, please try my book, “UnSafe by Design: Forensic Firearms Accident Investigations.”
Amazon and kindle are supposed to have it, but publishing isn’t my ‘thing’.
The book was written to give information not available anywhere else.
Bought a Remington model 700 BDL in 30-06 back in 1969. After working up a load, and adjusting the trigger, I had a gun that could consistently touch 3 shots at 200 yards from a sand bag bench rest. However, after hunting with the rifle a few years later I experienced an unexpected discharge as I moved the safety from safe to fire to eject the chambered round. Scared the crap out of me but fortunately I had the gun pointed at the ground and in a safe direction. I’ll admit that as a novice I probably should not have adjusted the trigger, but I followed the factory provided instructions. As several writers have already noted I probably ended up with too little sear engagement. This has been corrected.
A few years ago I watched a documentary on TV about this problem with Remington triggers. The designer of the rifle trigger was interviewed, noted the potential for this problem and stated that for only 5 cents a rifle this issue could have been fixed. Remington declined his suggestion and started production. What a shame….
I purchased a Remington 700 BDL 22-250 cal back in the early 1970. I toyed with the trigger by removing the colored wax from the adjustment screws holes trying to lighten the trigger pull. I lightened it up alright, to the point that every time I chambered a round (live or dummy) and turned the bolt down the gun went off. I realized what was happening and quickly readjusted the screw back to a true safe condition. It’s been fine ever since.
Remington is going through a difficult period now. In my opinion they will have moved their entire manufacturing facilities from Ilion, New York to Alabama within three years. They already have at least two lines up and running there now.
The Remington spokesperson swears by all that’s holy that most of their manufacturing will remain in Ilion. Really? If I were trying to get out of town due to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new S.A.F.E. gun law, would I tell all of my workers that they are doomed? Yeah, I would tell the news reporters the same bull. The Remington workers are some of the best people in the world at what they do. However, the company has been trying to compete with other companies like Ruger, and it looks like they took short cuts with the quality control and the customer service departments.
This is a sad ending in Ilion, New York for a company that has making firearms there for over 200 years. The good news is that the huge state of the art facility in Alabama is reported as being superb. Remington will struggle to recover its reputation for some years but I’m betting that it will do so. Those C.N.C.. machines hold their tolerances much closer than the humans could in the 1960’s.
If I had a Remington 700 rifle, I would get a Timney trigger installed in it. There is no other rifle that has a better action than the 700 model, except one of the custom rifles like a Dakota, etc.
Well I recon i’ll start with my 700 was on the recall list too. They sent me a letter to inform me what to do. I went online and filled out my information and in about 10 days they sent a box. I sent it in and in about 3 to 4 weeks I got it back. Now with that out of the way. I’m a gunsmith, I checked my rifle before I sent it in, there was a little bit of extra lubricant on the trigger mechanism. But I never had any problems with my rifle and the reason I sent it in is to keep it under warranty. And I agree with the other guy about if you don’t know what you’re doing messing with a trigger is a very bad idea. Just my two cents.
I have a .223 XP100 with which I have experienced trigger malfunction and which goes off very easily. How do I securely go about getting Remington to repair it as per their recent announcement, It was one of the guns they listed for replacement. Is there a list of approved gunsmiths I can use near me who are authorized to perform the repair? What is the proper procedure per Remington? I don’t really want to mail my gun anywhere.
I have a .223 XP100 with which I have experienced trigger malfunction and which goes off very easily. How do I securely go about getting Remington to repair it as per their recent announcement, It was one of the guns they listed for replacement. Is there a list of approved gunsmiths I can use near me who are authorized to perform the repair? What is the proper procedure per Remington? I don’t really want to mail my gun anywhere.
I still have my 722’s in .257 & .222 (now rebarreled to .223 after shooting the barrel out!), and 700 HB .223.
I can truthfully say well over 20,000 rounds fired in these and NEVER A TRIGGER PROBLEM! I lived many years in Prairie Dog Country. These are still extrmely accurate rifles.
I purchased a new Remington 700 and had a problem with the ejector, anyway Remington would not honor the warranty . say that the gun was built in the last part of the 90’s and I purchase it in 2012.. the way the warranty reads is from the date of purchase not the date it was built . anyway they didn’t honor it and I was out 170 dollars.
The only “problem” with the 700’s old trigger system is that it is too easy for plumbers to adjust it. People whom do not know what they are doing attempt to get a lighter trigger pull but at the expense of leaving very little sear engagement surface area. Un molested Remington center fire rifle triggers are some of the best and safest triggers in the world. DO NOT MESS with stuff if you do not know what you are doing. Also worthy of noting, anything mechanical can fail…anything. If people would always use the basic’s of gun safety we would not be having this conversation.
You are wrong. I had a NEW Rem 700 .243. Unlike Winchester, where you can load the gun in the safe position, Rem has you load it with the safety on “Fire”. After loading the gun one day, I switched the safety back to safe and it went off into the ground. Don’t comment when you don’t now what you are talking about.
A friend and I fixed my 700 remington trigger by cutting the small metal arm on trigger assembly. We did this as we have been working on guns for over 45 yes. This was done after rem. Would not fix. After the fix, no problem since. We, have shot about 300 rounds and hunted with it and no problems.
If Remington can’t handle a relative small recall for the X trigger in an organized and timely manner, how are they going to refit 7+ million rifles???
Talk about one gigantic cluster!! Glad I don’t have stock in Rem/Freedom Group.
This whole mess could be the beginning of the end for Remington,, costs for recall and lost reputation which means lost future sales.
Remington 700 rifles I believe are one great rifle and I agree remington has messed up bad but I’m just going to put TIMNEY MODEL 512 in my guns two pins is the only thing that holds your trigger in this model is a drop in real simple great trigger
I had the same thing happen to me while hunting with my 11 year old son. I shot at a 6 point buck with my Remington 700 BDL and started to load another round and it went off. I thought I did it at first but I had one hand on the forearm stock and one on the bolt so that made it impossible. I brought it to Gander Mountain to have it checked and they claim nothing was wrong with it. I was glad with my years of experience of hunting that I had it pointing up when I did this because I could have shot my son. From my experience I only shot a hole in the roof of my friends deer stand. Who would I contact for this problem???
By your testimony: You had the safety off with a round in the chamber, and the rifle pointed up at the sky? I’m not going hunting with you for sure new trigger or not.
Winston, he said “a round in the chamber and the safety off” isn’t that what you have to do to shoot something you’re aiming at? He said the gun went off when he closed the bolt hard. I had the same thing happen to me. Twice.
I replaced the POS Remington safety with a Timney trigger.safety. I called Remington, and the dipstick in Customer service said “There’s nothing wrong with the gun…its you” Remington has been lying about, and denying the trigger problem for over 60 years now. I sure am not going to hold my breath waiting for Remington to re-emburse me for the $200.00 Timney trigger I put in.
After one instance of my first Remington firing when safety was moved I changed to Time triggers. All future 700’s got these when puchased before shooting. Their new Xmarks triggers are junk!!
Please advise about an alternate trigger that I can purchase and install.
Timney
I sent my 700 SPS in for trigger “inspection” and they kept it for over 15 weeks, Contrary to the approved repair policy, mine came back but did not have the punch marks on the trigger as the policy stated it would have. Like others comments, Remmington was extremely rude, would not respond to inquiry and just plain sucked from a customer service standpoint. The real bad thing is they don’t seem to care what you or I think. It sure looked to me that they are just going through the motions to avoid a lawsuite. Sure wish I had bought something else. I have nearly $3000 in customizations, scope, stock etc. Now they want to replace my trigger instead of inspect it. No FAITH IN REMMINGTON. DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU SEND IT IN. I’d either replace it with something you trust from a company with integrity, or pay for a gunsmith to look at it. That is the only way to get peace of mind. Because of their poor performance, these guns are now junk. The value has just gone away as a result. Nobdy can trust that the replacement is going to be any better, and their past performance has everyone wondering about what they actually did to the ones they “fixed”. I don’t trust my gun now as a result.
Why not send it to a real gunsmith for some real custom work. Have him blue print your action, lap your bolt lugs in the rail, maybe even put in a custom fluted bolt from PTG, throw the factory trigger in the garbage and install a jewel, timney, or rifle basix, use the factory barrel for a cheater bar on the barrel wrench when you replace it with a bartlien, drop the whole thing in a manners stock. I always liked the saying that if you haven’t voided the warranty, then it isn’t really custom 😉 😉 😉
I sent my 700 SPS in for trigger “inspection” and they kept it for over 15 weeks, Contrary to the approved repair policy, mine came back but did not have the punch marks on the trigger as the policy stated it would have. Like others comments, Remmington was extremely rude, would not respond to inquiry and just plain sucked from a customer service standpoint. The real bad thing is they don’t seem to care what you or I think. It sure looked to me that they are just going through the motions to avoid a lawsuite. Sure wish I had bought something else. I have nearly $3000 in customizations, scope, stock etc. Now they want to replace my trigger instead of inspect it. No FAITH IN REMMINGTON. DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU SEND IT IN. I’d either replace it with something you trust from a company with integrity, or pay for a gunsmith to look at it. That is the only way to get peace of mind. Because of their poor performance, these guns are now junk. The value has just gone away as a result. Nobdy can trust that the replacement is going to be any better, and their past performance has everyone wondering about what they actually did to the ones they “fixed”. I don’t trust my gun now as a result.
For a long time, Remington knew about this problem but they acknowledged to me that “there was NO Problem. My M 700, 300 Win Mag would fire sometimes when you moved the safety from SAFE to FIRE. They offered to look at the rifle for free. I sent it to them and they wanted to charge me close to $200 to fix the trigger issue. I declined and they sent the rifle back to me with a RED TAG noting that the rifle was unsafe to use. I am now sure they offered to check the rifle in order to cover their on butts. They documented that it was unsafe and noted that to me so if there was ever a misfire that resulted in an accidental discharge resulting in someone being hurt/killed to keep them out of court. Not once did they acknowledge the trigger problem was their fault.
Remington SUCKS and I would never, ever buy a weapon from them, I wouldn’t take one of their weapons if it was offered for free. They lied to me and had the go-nads to ask me to pay for their mistake. Remington cannot be trusted. Makes me wonder how many other people they have tried to swindle. I place Remington and the Govt on the same level!
Thanks for your comments Mike. We all need to know when under-handed crap like that happens. That kind of lousy workman ship and horrible customer service is how companies are destroyed.
I didn’t even hear hear about this issue until a couple of years ago. I’ve owned my M700 for over 30 years and have never had a problem with it, it always shoots when it’s supposed to and doesn’t when it’s not.
I’m a little leary of sending it back after Reid’s comment. Thanks for the warning about the documentation.
In the 80’s I had a 700 (bought new by me) that would fire if you closed the bolt fast.
Back in pre-internet days the 700 trigger issue was unknown amongst gun owners. I didn’t know that others had issues also. A benchrest shooter wanted the action so I sold it and he changed the trigger to Shilen.
If Remington had Fixed this problem when it was first discovered , That was as soon as they were sent off the line it would have been cheaper for Remington. Theses why I own Ruger’s, In my opinion the Best Gun in the world.
The good thing is ” Remington Moment ” will be no more
What ever you send to remington make sure you document your guns very well. They tend to misplace and are unsure how to catalog your items. Rude they have been.
My recent experience with Remington 700 recalls was the “gooped up trigger” problem this summer. One of my newer 700’s was on the recall. When I contacted Rem per their instructions it took about a month for a reply which said to wait until they re-contacted me. Reason given is they wanted an orderly inflow instead of a big pile coming in at one time. Made sense (at the time). Several months later they email me with info and mailing label, so I find box and send it off. A few weeks later I get another email kind of with the same info except now they’re telling me they’re sending a specific box to me. Too late!
I didn’t need the rifle over the summer so I didn’t give it much thought. After a couple months go by I start checking the recall status link on Rem’s website. All it shows it that its been received, nothing more. Continue to check throughout next month but no change. By now I’m starting to wonder what’s going on. Several email inquiries went unanswered. Status stayed the same.
Finally got an email response. To say it was snippy and snotty would be a slight understatement. The gist of the message was they’re “working” on it and they’ll get to it when they get to it!! HUH?? They’ve had it over 3 months by now. I’d been assured when I sent it that their process was orderly, organized, etc to get the rifle turned around in two weeks.
Not only was the answer snippy but the Rem rep had no idea what the status was…is it still in storage….is it on the bench…or what??? That to me was really disturbing.
A week after the 4 month “anniversary” I get an email its already on the way back. Except according to UPS, its not. More confusion. At this point I’ll really, really be glad to end this agony. It finally came. Apparently there was a little FUBAR in shipping. Finally it arrived. The trigger pull was worse than before and it came back with a few extra scuff marks. I didn’t bother to contact Rem about it because I didn’t need anymore of their “customer service”. I had enough.
My written story is actually an abbreviated version because I can’t type that long. An apology would have been accepted but that’s too classy for Remington. Others can ignore or poo-poo my experience I don’t care its their gun.
My lesson has been learned with Remington.
My experience was the same. For years, I have heard friends speak glowingly about the Rem. 700. Instead of the 700, I purchased a 770 because of the price, but it was too late to use in the season. When I used it last season, I was not pleased with its performance, so I used another gun. Finally, I broke down and bought the 700 BDL. It is a beautiful gun, and I was pleased. While waiting for the scope I ordered, I found an article in the NAHC magazine regarding the “recall.” Imagine my disappointment when I found out my 700 was included. So, I followed the process and within ten days, I had the box, printed the label, and sent it off to Remington. It took three weeks to be notified the rifle was even received (June 28). Once a week thereafter, I checked the site, only to find the same message that it was received.
After two months, I began to worry as deer season was drawing near, and I wanted to sight it in during warm weather and tweek the settings in cooler weather just before the season began, so I emailed Remington. A week later, no answer, same search result, so I called Remington, but could only leave a message. Two weeks later, I received an email stating the repair was completed and the rifle was on its way back to me. Ten days later, I finally received the gun and noticed something missing, but I could not immediately recall what. As I closed the box, a metal piece rolled out; it was the front sight hood. Not knowing how to install it, without possibly ruining it, I sent an email to Remington asking how to properly put it back on the gun. A week later, I received an email acknowledging my email. Ten days later, I received an email stating my repair was complete and the part was on its way. Ten days later, I received a new hood via USPS. Thankfully, I was able to find instructions on a forum a few days after my email to the company and successfully put the hood back on the gun. A little gun blue pen covered the minor scratches I made trying to reinstall the hood, prior to my initial email. Now, I have learned that the Remington 770 I purchased may also be be included in the recall. I won’t know for sure until I return home from a trip tomorrow.
I won’t knock the Remington process, as these two rifles are my first purchases from them; however, there is much to be desired about their repair service efficiency and customer service email system. The 770’s efficiency was my fault due to an improperly bore sighted and zeroed scope accomplished by a local service. Missed five deer during a special hunt for disabled persons. I finally harvested a deer at the end of the day using my attendant’s 700, thus, erasing my embarrassment and confirming to him I do know what I am doing and made a quick, clean kill.