Disenchanted with Remington 700

[briar rabbit]

Bought a used 700 Remington as I thought needed a 300 RUM in my collection. I decided to use it for my Elk hunt this year and was surprised to find that the bolt would lift up while the safety was on. Several times I caught the bolt up and had to push it down. I unloaded it to see if the trigger would engage with the bolt up and was concerned to find out that the trigger would work with the bolt up to the top of the bolt slot (only with the safety off) I have now read of the recall and changes done by Remington for safety reasons and/or to prevent lawsuits from mishandled guns.
My questions is this-can I have the gun fixed where it is like one of my old 700 where the bolt will not move when it is on safety and not be a safety concern of firing with out touching the trigger? I have never had an issue with unloading any of my other guns that the safety has to be off before it can be unloaded.
Thanks for your responses in advance....

 

[woods]

Personally I won't own a Remington because of the 2 position safety. Last year on an Elk hunt a friend lost a shot when his bolt was partially lifted. It is my understanding that the gun will not fire.

Remington used to have a "bolt stop" where the bolt would not lift when it was on safe but they did away with that years ago.

There are a lot better options out there.

IMO

 

[Mikecr]

It's hard for me to see this as an issue, but I'd like to understand it better.
You can't actually fire a gun while the striker is unable to travel to primer strike, and this is the condition when the bolt is open, right? When you pull the bolt back sear engagement is lost just the same as with all other brands, right?
If so, this IS a fired condition with the striker limited to nearly zero travel(not a problem)(well unless shooting at elk with the bolt open).
So,,
Is your safety suppose to prevent bolt turn?
Shouldn't you be able to cycle a bolt whether the safety is on or off?

 

[CogburnR]

That is one reason that I like the three position safety like a Winchester model 70 or Kimber 8400 and others have.

With the safety on all the way the bolt will not lift, in the middle position the firing pin is held back and the bolt may be cycled, and of course the third position is safety off.

Remington's safety sucks. I had a hole in one of my trucks from a Remington 700 going off when the person pulled it out of a case from behind the seat and the case caught the safety(now he knows why an empty chamber is a must), also if the bolt is slightly lifted the M700 won't go off.

These are the 2 known Remington safety problems and one is dangerous and the other can cause lost opportunities on game.

 

[rscott5028]

I prefer the Win M70 3 position safety. But, it's not foolproof by any stretch.

I pretty much don't put much faith at all in safety's. I generally feel pretty comfortable that the rifle can't fire when the bolt is open.

If your Rem 700 isn't working as designed, then it needs to be fixed.

It can either be put back to factory spec, or you can install an aftermarket trigger/safety, or you can install a Win M70 style 3 posistion safety that blocks the firing pin rather than the trigger.

-- richard

 

[Nimrodmar10]

I think we need to hear the rest of the story about this elk hunt.

 

[Coyboy]

Bought a used 700 Remington as I thought needed a 300 RUM in my collection. I decided to use it for my Elk hunt this year and was surprised to find that the bolt would lift up while the safety was on. Several times I caught the bolt up and had to push it down. I unloaded it to see if the trigger would engage with the bolt up and was concerned to find out that the trigger would work with the bolt up to the top of the bolt slot (only with the safety off) I have now read of the recall and changes done by Remington for safety reasons and/or to prevent lawsuits from mishandled guns.
My questions is this-can I have the gun fixed where it is like one of my old 700 where the bolt will not move when it is on safety and not be a safety concern of firing with out touching the trigger? I have never had an issue with unloading any of my other guns that the safety has to be off before it can be unloaded.
Thanks for your responses in advance....

I'm sorry for you getting stuck with that pc of junk, Tell me where to send $125.00 and you can ship the rifle to me, recoup some of your loss.lightbulb

 

[the444shooter]

Your gun is functioning as it was designed. There is no perfect solution to the problem, because even with a three position safety you can lose game by thinking you have the safety pushed all the way forward to fire, only to find out that you only have it pushed to the middle position.

I'll even raise coyboy's offer of $125 and give you $150 for that hunk of junk!

 

[Coyboy]

Your gun is functioning as it was designed. There is no perfect solution to the problem, because even with a three position safety you can lose game by thinking you have the safety pushed all the way forward to fire, only to find out that you only have it pushed to the middle position.

I'll even raise coyboy's offer of $125 and give you $150 for that hunk of junk!

Wow thats a good offer, better jump on it!

 

[FEENIX]

Your gun is functioning as it was designed. There is no perfect solution to the problem, because even with a three position safety you can lose game by thinking you have the safety pushed all the way forward to fire, only to find out that you only have it pushed to the middle position.

I'll even raise coyboy's offer of $125 and give you $150 for that hunk of junk!

I raise the444shooter's offer to $175 for that *** and make sure it will never never never happen to anyone but me again.

 

[woods]

I think we need to hear the rest of the story about this elk hunt.

If you're talking about my post then here it is. The man had a late model Rem 30-06. The gun shot well when we went to the range before the hunt. The hunt was in Colorado and we weren't seeing many Elk in the usual places. He decided to try a far corner of the lease and walk cross slope through some dark timber. He jumped a big bull up from being bedded down and when he took the gun off his shoulder where he had it slung and pulled the trigger it would not fire. He said the bolt was lifted a little, not enough to release and come back but enough so the gun wouldn't fire. Without the bolt stop the bolt can be lifted at any time, on safe or not.

The man was a good shot and the distance was within 50 yards so that gun cost him a trophy.

I have seen posts where shooters have unslung rifles and have the bolt all the way back and a cartridge gone also.

But I am not speaking from personal experience since I only own one, a 22-250 VLS which I don't carry in the field.

 

[rscott5028]

If you're talking about my post then here it is. The man had a late model Rem 30-06. The gun shot well when we went to the range before the hunt. The hunt was in Colorado and we weren't seeing many Elk in the usual places. He decided to try a far corner of the lease and walk cross slope through some dark timber. He jumped a big bull up from being bedded down and when he took the gun off his shoulder where he had it slung and pulled the trigger it would not fire. He said the bolt was lifted a little, not enough to release and come back but enough so the gun wouldn't fire. Without the bolt stop the bolt can be lifted at any time, on safe or not.

The man was a good shot and the distance was within 50 yards so that gun cost him a trophy.

I have seen posts where shooters have unslung rifles and have the bolt all the way back and a cartridge gone also.

But I am not speaking from personal experience since I only own one, a 22-250 VLS which I don't carry in the field.

It's a good thing it was only an elk rather than a lion, buffalo, or enemy insurgent.

It's always a good policy to know your individual firearm.

When making adjustments, it's imperative that you test every aspect of the operation of the safety after the procedure.

Even when you don't make changes, things can go awry due to shipping, recoil, dirt, grease, water, etc.. So, it pays to check your equipment thoroughly before going into the field.

If he had only pushed the bolt closed all the way while shouldering.... I guess that seems obvious in hind sight.

-- richard

 

[Tikkamike]

I have only used a safety a hand full of times in my life, I only chamber around before I shoot and use the safety if i need to reposition more than a few inches. I think it just comes down to knowing your rifle and being familiar with it. if you dont like the safety on them sell it and buy something else.

 

[Azprc]

If you're talking about my post then here it is. The man had a late model Rem 30-06. The gun shot well when we went to the range before the hunt. The hunt was in Colorado and we weren't seeing many Elk in the usual places. He decided to try a far corner of the lease and walk cross slope through some dark timber. He jumped a big bull up from being bedded down and when he took the gun off his shoulder where he had it slung and pulled the trigger it would not fire. He said the bolt was lifted a little, not enough to release and come back but enough so the gun wouldn't fire. Without the bolt stop the bolt can be lifted at any time, on safe or not.

The man was a good shot and the distance was within 50 yards so that gun cost him a trophy.

I have seen posts where shooters have unslung rifles and have the bolt all the way back and a cartridge gone also.

But I am not speaking from personal experience since I only own one, a 22-250 VLS which I don't carry in the field.

I believe that the gentlemen should be happy that he was out hunting. Most do not carry a gun in a sling or pack with a round chambered. If he carried with no round in the chamber, he would have had to cycle the bolt and the gun would have fired because it would have been in the down position. There are a lot of hunting accidents that come from people who carry guns with a round in the chamber. The army released a memo that they have more injuries from negligent discharges (that is what they should be called, not accidental discharges) than they do from the enemies bullets.

But if he is still not happy, I would be glad to pay for the "problem" gun.