Remington 700 Fires When Bolt is Closed or Safety Released

[Thegman]

For whatever reason (most likely culprits- dirty, trigger spring mis-adjustment, sear mis-adjustment or a combination of these) your sear isn't getting far enough back. If you’re at all mechanically inclined, it's fairly easy to pull the barreled action out of the stock take a look at what's going on mechanically to create the problem. Very likely it's very fixable and very simply fixable.

I've had this occur with aftermarket triggers as well due to a wear/defective issue, but have only seen a Walker trigger do this due to poor adjustments, not wear.

 

[Vern400]

I have one M700 trigger at 3 lb. 5,000 shots down the tube, no problem B code SN

I had one M700 varmint rifle trigger that fired a live round when I shut the bolt. E code SN. I replaced it with a 1 lb Jewell trigger. Don't do that. You will want a jewell trigger on every rifle you have. And they're hard to get right now.

Two days ago I got my hands on a trigger tech trigger set at 2 lb on a fully customized M700 deer rifle.
It was Schweet. Not a Jewell but Schweet .

Definitely don't keep the original trigger. When I rebarrel my B code deer rifle I'll do a Trigger tech.

PS I followed the instructions for adjusting the Remington trigger. I cleaned all the oil off, and set it with a gauge. And I bumped the rifle hard on the stock, on the barrel, generally beat on it to make sure it was set right. Over time, I Oil running into the trigger assembly during storage was enough to cause the failure ( firing on bolt close). You can't spray enough perfume on that to keep it from smelling like sht. Unacceptable.

Once you change the trigger and have it properly set and tested, there's no unreasonable risk. If you want a 100% guarantee of safety, don't shoot a gun, and definitely don't drive a motor vehicle.

 

[Wrench]

I'll buy all the original walkers you guys want to sell.

 

[B23]

the sear engagement has been reduced too much by a weekend gunsmith

I'd bet a good amount of money a very large percentage of Rem 700 factory triggers that had the it goes off on bolt close or when safety is flipped off was caused by people who didn't know what they were doing and thought they had the "creep" all tuned out of their factory Rem triggers when all they really did was get the sear engagement adjusted so thin the trigger went off on its own with just the very slightest bump like closing the bolt or flicking the safety off.

Unfortunately, instead of people's poor judgement going on trial and being sued it was the manufacture, in this case Remington, that had to pay the price for others lack of knowledge. Honestly, I'm very surprised any gun manufacture has a sear engagement adjustment screw on their triggers.

 

[Fireman03]

Happens if the sear engagement is not adjusted right

 

[Thegman]

I'd bet a good amount of money a very large percentage of Rem 700 factory triggers that had the it goes off on bolt close or when safety is flipped off was caused by people who didn't know what they were doing and thought they had the "creep" all tuned out of their factory Rem triggers when all they really did was get the sear engagement adjusted so thin the trigger went off on its own with just the very slightest bump like closing the bolt or flicking the safety off.

Unfortunately, instead of people's poor judgement going on trial and being sued it was the manufacture, in this case Remington, that had to pay the price for others lack of knowledge. Honestly, I'm very surprised any gun manufacture has a sear engagement adjustment screw on their triggers.

That's the cause of the cases I personally know about, or -maybe- a sloppy trigger spring for the safety release firing.

Back when I was adjusting Walker triggers, my neighbor suggested that he preferred to leave enough sear engagement to have a tiny amount of creep to insure this doesn't happen. That was good advice, I think.

I don't think you can safely adjust these triggers simply by how they "feel". You have to visually inspect the reliability of trigger return and the amount of sear engagement. It's probably also good to see what too little sear contact looks like when this happens while adjusting.

 

[TaperPin]

I'd bet a good amount of money a very large percentage of Rem 700 factory triggers that had the it goes off on bolt close or when safety is flipped off was caused by people who didn't know what they were doing and thought they had the "creep" all tuned out of their factory Rem triggers when all they really did was get the sear engagement adjusted so thin the trigger went off on its own with just the very slightest bump like closing the bolt or flicking the safety off.

Unfortunately, instead of people's poor judgement going on trial and being sued it was the manufacture, in this case Remington, that had to pay the price for others lack of knowledge. Honestly, I'm very surprised any gun manufacture has a sear engagement adjustment screw on their triggers.

I agree. Any trigger with adjustments will be dicked with until it’s unsafe. I can’t remember the last time a writer quoted a gunsmith even talking about testing firearms for safety after stoning or adjusting a trigger, yet every weekend warrior loves bragging about how they do it, without any means of testing. Even people here that should know better talk about adjusting different brands to low trigger weights and I know for a fact the factory sear will disengage on many of those when the rifle is allowed to drop onto its recoil pad from only a foot off a carpeted floor. None of the three Winchesters I’ve had could have the factory trigger weight reduced to 2 lbs - the design has too much mass effected by drops and there’s no way around it other than replacing the trigger with an aftermarket design. Factory triggers have so much creep, they should usually be replaced anyway.

 

[EastHumboldt]

“Honestly, I'm very surprised any gun manufacture has a sear engagement adjustment screw on their triggers.”

I heartily agree with the statement. Guns are inherently dangerous, and it seems like a very bad idea to include an adjustment that would make a particular model more so.

I have a 1963 R700. After the second slam fire discharged a loaded cartridge, I replaced the trigger with a Timney. Fortunately, I am a Nazi about muzzle direction. There were people close to me in both instances, and it could’ve turned out very badly..

 

[Thegman]

I’m not sure I’d ever trust that rifle. A high school classmate of mine killed his brother on a bear hunt in Canada about five years ago. I don’t know the details, but I believe it was caused by a faulty Remington.

I don't want to make light of this, but ultimately it was caused by pointing a firearm at another person. I know that's easier said than not done though. Happens more often than it should, especially with certain individuals.

 

[Jpsmith1]

I'll buy all the original walkers you guys want to sell.

Lemme check. I think i have 2. Be glad to have them gone

 

[Lou270]

Extremely dirty is your culprit possibly combimed with trigger monkeying. the original safety lifts the sear and blocks the cocking piece and hence firing pin but the trigger is free to move while safey is on and only kept in place by spring tension. So if there is gunk can get stuck and not return to forward position escpecially if pull weight is reduced and spring tension is light. So when you take safety off it can fire if stuck especially if somebody monkeyed and have min sear engagement/over travel. The newer triggers hold the trigger while on safe as well as lift the sear to block cocking piece/firing pin so they cannot move

Lou

 

[Bowjack]

Well, I swapped the trigger with a Trigger Tech.

I was a little reluctant replace the stock trigger once I cleaned it. Those who said the trigger was dirty were correct. It was really gunked up. It worked perfectly afterwards, but I still coulda’t trust it and I had already bought the Trigger Tech. However, no rifle is safe and no safety is. The most fail proof safety is pointing the weapon in a safe direction.

Nevertheless, I swapped the trigger myself and glad I did because I learned a lot about the rifle I purchased.

What I discovered is that, apparently the previous owner never cleaned this rifle and if he did, certainly not he in innards.

I took apart the bolt and cleaned the firing pin and spring and saw how tarry the whole trigger mechanism was.

I am now wondering how much life is left in this barrel and considering a barrel swap.