Remington is Getting Hammered

[DrMike]

Fascinating article in USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/2010-10-20-remington-700-trigger-cnbc_N.htm). This will stir up a storm for Remington. However, one poster makes a great point. Out of over 5 million rifles sold, 75 accidental discharges amount to 0.015%. In every case, if the one handling the rifle had practised the basic rules of safety, no one would have been injured. The handlers did not maintain muzzle control and they failed to treat the firearm as loaded. A good reminder for all shooters to insist on safe handling from everyone with whom they shoot/hunt.

 

[FOTIS]

........ In every case, if the one handling the rifle had practiced the basic rules of safety, no one would have been injured. The handlers did not maintain muzzle control and they failed to treat the firearm as loaded. A good reminder for all shooters to insist on safe handling from everyone with whom they shoot/hunt.

Amen Doc. Anything mechanical can fail.

 

[SJB358]

Yep, I just watched a CNBC deal on the M700's. They even had some local SWAT guy showing how the rifle would fire just by touching the bolt. Hope Remington steps up, their name hasn't exactly been golden the last few years. Too bad to, the CDL's and some others are very nice rifles. Scotty

 

[JD338]

........ In every case, if the one handling the rifle had practiced the basic rules of safety, no one would have been injured. The handlers did not maintain muzzle control and they failed to treat the firearm as loaded. A good reminder for all shooters to insist on safe handling from everyone with whom they shoot/hunt.

Amen Doc. Anything mechanical can fail.

That is exactly what we teach in our Hunter Safety program. A safety is an mechanical device that canfail.

JD338

 

[SJB358]

That is the basis for any weapon training. Scotty

1. Treat every weapon as if it were loaded, even after you have ensured it to be unloaded.

2. Keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you intend to fire.

3. Never point your weapon at anything you are not willing to destroy!

4. Be sure of your target, and its foreground and background.

I have have used those for awhile and seem to work pretty well.

 

[Desert Fox]

Watched it with my wife last night. They were able to dragged Mike Walker into an interview though and ambushed him. They tried to make him admit that the design of the trigger was flawed since the beginning. Mike told them that the flawed was in the manufacturing of parts and not the design. 75 accidental discharged out of 5 million rifles! I say, that's pretty good track record.

 

[nitis]

I was watching the police sniper or whatever he was when the gun fired on lifting the bolt

you cant tell me that he was using an unmolested trigger I remeber when I was adjusting my trigger it would do that if I went too far so I went way back the other way

I would bet most are botched trigger jobs the rest stupid people

 

[SJB358]

Yeah, that makes alot of sense, but nothing for nothing, I still like the Winchester 3 position safety over them all. Nothing wrong with the Remington's I own and I haven't ever had an issue though. Again, if your muzzle is pointed in the correct direction a bad safety still shouldn't hurt anybody. Scotty

 

[DrMike]

I have owned a few Remingtons and shot a large number belonging to other people; I have never had a problem. I bear responsibility for my own safety and for the safety of others whenever I handle a firearm. Perhaps, in our litigious age when we are indoctrinated to believe that government will care for us because we are all victims, this message has been forgotten. I am grateful that on this forum I meet a group of individuals who recognise they are responsible for their own actions, and who act as mature individuals. While Remington quality control may not be all that it has been in the past, they still make a good product and don't deserve the smear job they seem to be receiving at the moment.

 

[C.Smith]

My brother in law had this happen to him. Deer season and pushed his safety off and rifle fired. Swears his finger was not on the trigger. Nothing harmed though.

Corey

 

[DrMike]

I've been privileged to shoot a large number of rifles belonging to other people over the years of my life. Twice, I've had discharges when the safety was released. Each time it was a new rifle of one particular make (not a Remington). Each time, there was detritus on the sear from the manufacturing. Cleaned and honed and there were no further problems. I could not return a rifle to a customer in that condition without knowing what was happening. Because it was drilled into me early in my shooting career, I had been careful to ensure that the muzzle was pointing downrange when the rifle was loaded and there was no damage (except for a sky screen on my Chrony). I was startled, but no animals were killed and no vehicles wounded. Consequently, this show was the subject of a discussion from a parishioner at church services this morning. I told my interlocutor that while I hadn't seen the show, I felt it was a hatchet job from what I read.

 

[onesonek]

........ In every case, if the one handling the rifle had practiced the basic rules of safety, no one would have been injured. The handlers did not maintain muzzle control and they failed to treat the firearm as loaded. A good reminder for all shooters to insist on safe handling from everyone with whom they shoot/hunt.

Amen Doc. Anything mechanical can fail.

More often if darwin's are involved :wink:
Dave

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

It's not the crime that will get you, it's the cover up, and in this case it could bankrupt Remington. Cyrbus is already taking steps to spin-off Remington from the rest of the company to mitigate liability. For years, Remingtion has been shipping their 700"s with 10 pound trigger pulls and epoxy over the adjustment screws. They have been criticised by sportmen for a "Lawyers trigger" for years, Well, now we know why. Ship the rifle with a trigger that the user will have to adjust to make it usable, so you can claim it been "molested" in order to sever themselves from liability? Receive a stack of complaints a foot thick in one year and state there is no record? Add to this the fact the it was Remington that first published the 10 rules of gun safety, and I'd say their actions speak pretty clearly.
I've personally seen both of the conditions described in the CNBC special. My uncles 700 would fire when the safety was released. He sent it in to Remington, and they fixed it for free. I've also seen the, pull the trigger, doesn't fire until you touch the bolt. fortunatly this was on a firing range, and the muzzle was kept in a safe direction, but it was still unnerving.