No. Popularity is not an indicator of much, and is of itself a flawed argument. I’m not making “an argument” but rather an observation. I did not imply people were being fooled. I own an R700 footprint action and have never had an ND. That doesn’t mean it isn’t possible.
Consider how many typical folks who buy those R700s shoot more than a box of ammo or two per year through them. Now of course they get carried all over the place…..and of course, no one dares chamber a cartridge unless readying a shot, due to the possibilities. And before everyone freaks out about carrying a weapon chambered……we do it with handguns all of the time.
I’ve been hearing about issues with R700 triggers as long as I’ve hunted. Why are companies trying to design better and safer triggers for them? No one is “fooled.”
The good old Remington is the Skippy peanut butter of bolt actions - it’s not fancy or expensive, but has simply works well enough with few complaints for longer than most of us have been alive.
I feel a little funny being the very first person to let you in on a secret, but you should know the anti Remington 60 Minutes segments, and attorneys that sued Remington had a giant incentive to blow things way out of proportion. I know it’s hard to accept anyone would stretch the truth for personal gain, but it’s true. Give it a little while to sink in.
Do you remember the brother that accidentally shot his little brother when the Remington trigger “failed”? That was the defense the shooter used. Turns out the jury didn’t buy it and the brother was found guilty.
How about the guy pulling the rifle out of a closet when it went off? When the state crime lab couldn’t get the trigger to fail, that information didn’t make the headlines.
How about the mother who shot her son unloading his gun after a hunt. Sorry, but my mother has been around guns her whole life, but I wouldn’t trust her to unload a rifle while it’s pointed at me. Watching anyone unfamiliar with good handling practices, it’s amazing more aren’t shot working bolts and having fingers near triggers. Trying to jump on the trigger malfunction bandwagon is what attorneys do, but I find that situation questionable.
Weekend diy gunsmiths have always created unsafe triggers, especially those with adjustment screws. It makes me chuckle when PRS shooters dick with their triggers not knowing what they are doing and then have failures and everyone around them blames it on Remington.
It’s unfortunate, but we have become a nation of dummies and the liability laws have been used to put gun companies out of business and ruined classic gun designs. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if in our lifetime, liability laws are how the antis take all new guns off the market.
As always, I’ll buy any unsafe model 700’s for double scrap price.