Freedom Group to recall millions of Model 700 rifles

[WestDan]

Massive recall about to happen...


Freedom Group (aka Remington Outdoor) has agreed to recall an estimated 7.85m units of its Model 700 rifle, according to a report today by CNBC.

Under a nationwide settlement filed Friday in federal court in Missouri, the company has agreed to recall the weapons and replace their triggers, which are deemed to have a design defect that has led to fatal incidents, according to the report.

The company and attorneys for the plaintiffs are expected to issue a joint statement shortly regarding the settlement, which must be approved by a judge, the report indicated.

A 1948 internal analysis that was obtained by CNBC in the process of an investigation estimated that the cost of making the change would be USD .055 per gun. This cost is likely to be much higher today, according to the news organization.

In the 3Q earnings report issued last month, Remington revealed that it has set aside USD 29.7m for a “Model 700 settlement reserve.”

 

[Hunt'nFish]

I'm mixed about this.
I've owned a bunch of Rem700's over the years and I never had a problem w/ any of them.
Personally I think it's the anti's hard at work.
Hunt'nFish

 

[Darren Best]

I agree, I have owned several of them and still own one and have never had a discharge.

Do we get a Jewell trigger in replacement if we send it in?

 

[Shrek]

I'm not so sure it was all anti's. I know several friends who have had their m700 go off when they moved the safety to fire and I had it happen to me once in the late eighties with a 70's model 270 win. Myself and all my friends were thankful that no one was injured or killed and assumed it was because of debris in the action and went home and cleaned the heck out of our rifles. I've always kept my rifles clean and never noticed any of my friends rifles dirty and when this information came to light it made more sense. I switched to model 70's with their safety that holds the firing pin because I didn't trust the Remingtons after that incident. I saw the show where the guy who designed the trigger told how the part had been made in two pieces to save a few cents despite his warnings that it would be vulnerable to failure because debris could now get in between. Bottom line to take away from this is never rely on the safety to keep you safe. They are mechanical and can and will fail. But really Remington ? .55 cents was probably equivalent to five bucks today but when your guy who designed the fire control tells you that cutting the part in two is a bad idea and you do it anyway then you deserve to be sued out of business.

 

[Zbowman1]

This is interesting. I had a 90's model 700 discharge a round into the ground at my feet a few year ago when I closed the bolt on the gun. I sent the gun back to Remington and they charged me to replace the trigger.

 

[SDHNTR]

This is interesting. I had a 90's model 700 discharge a round into the ground at my feet a few year ago when I closed the bolt on the gun. I sent the gun back to Remington and they charged me to replace the trigger.

Seen it personally happen. Close bolt with finger no where near trigger and bang! Stock, un modified rifle. This ain't no anti agenda folks. You can take the tinfoil hats off.

 

[Zbowman1]

Seen it personally happen. Close bolt with finger no where near trigger and bang! Stock, un modified rifle. This ain't no anti agenda folks. You can take the tinfoil hats off.

This is exactly what happened to mine. Stock, unmodified rifle.

 

[Cranny]

I have 2 rifles affected by this recall. Both mine and my son's. These are our main hunting rifles. I will be buying timney triggers and replace them myself instead of dinking around with remington. Who knows how long it would take to get them back.

 

[Ray]

I have 2 rifles affected by this recall. Both mine and my son's. These are our main hunting rifles. I will be buying timney triggers and replace them myself instead of dinking around with remington. Who knows how long it would take to get them back.

Yup. I have already fixed my Model Seven with a new trigger system. When I start rebuilding my daughters 700 .243 it will get a timney.

Why spend potentially months for Remington to do a project that takes 20 minutes of your time and simple tools. And you get a better product out of it.

 

[robby denning]

I bought a Model 700 BDL in September 1991. Had a gunsmith do a trigger adjustment down to about 3 pounds. Never shot the gun before the trigger job, so can't say if it was the cause, but the first time I hunted with it, it did exactly what zbow and SDHNTRs did- closed the bolt and went off.

I sent it back and Remington said it was my fault for having the trigger adjusted (by a qualified gunsmith, mind you) and charged me $70. I sold it on principle but then began to hear this was a problem with all the 700's, even leading to fatal accidents.

 

[Jeff Martin]

I do not think it is the Antis. In fact, the show I watched on this, they had the designer of the 700 say he found the issues shortly after the 700 went to market / went into production. He said he could have been fixed for under a .05 per gun and Remington ignore the change because of $$$ and kept on producing.

You know how shows are but he sure was adamant about how easy it was to fix it....

 

[Cranny]

Like I said I have 2 remintgton 700's both great shooters. I will keep them and replace triggers but this sure makes me think twice about buying a remington again.

 

[husky390]

I don't believe it's the anti's pushing this either. I hunted with a guy who shot a hole in the roof of his tent with his 700 while unloading it. Funny thing is, he talked non-stop shit about my Savage. If it's affected by this recall, I guess I'll be buying a Timney for my 700 VSSF because I'm not dealing with shipping my rifle to them. Do the Timney's come with the same trigger width, shape and curve?

Here's an article on two of the cases I had read about in MT.

http://missoulian.com/news/state-an...cle_f6c1d34e-1793-11e2-8f0e-001a4bcf887a.html

 

[LaHunter]

Hushky390, I installed a Timney in my M700 and I am no where near being a gunsmith. I had to do just a very little bit of filing to allow enough room for my rigger. My 700 is in an H.S. Precision stock. I have been very happy with my Timney.

Hope that helps.

 

[husky390]

Thanks LaHunter. I have the Timney's on my Savage rifles and love them. I just like the feel of the stock trigger on my Remington. So far, it looks like mine is not affected by the recall according to Remington's website.

 

[BackcountryMT]

Just to clarify, this is a voluntary program. In fact, it's not even classified as a recall. Remington is simply agreeing to upgrade trigger assemblies.