Is the Remington 700 a bad choice?

Point is this: NO Rem 700 safety blocks the firing pin from release.

The only "safety" that renders the rifle "safe" is an empty chamber.
What are the odds?
Are they ever high enough when accidental discharge is the outcome?

Have you adjusted your 700 trigger? Do you bounce the hell out of the rifle, on the buttstock when cocked, to see if such an event will cause the "safety" to fail? They will fail. You have to back the screw out enough so that it won't (maybe), and then lacquer it down so (maybe) it won't come loose. That's on the old 700 trigger. New ones I know nothing about, since I never bought another.

Ever unload a round from the chamber by using the bolt?
Damn sure better know where that muzzle is pointing, and have hearing protection on; plus, do it outside... Firing the round and dumping the magazine by floorplate release is the only 100% way to unload a loaded rem 700...

100%. Everytime, all the time...
How much we take for granted.

Got that special tool to remove your 700 firingpin from the bolt-body? Maybe you use shoe lace or other means to retract the FP from the bolt recess? On a Winchester 70, even the push-feed, you set the safety position to center press the locator and simply unscrew bolt assy from the bolt-body. On a Sako M995 action, you twist the bolt to un-cam the detent. Takes seconds. Bolt-body can be easily inspected and cleaned. These rifles are designed thoroughly to incorporate all important features, not with trigger group as some afterthought.

700s are easy to make shoot well, even with cheap factory barrels. Yet... the 700 was made for cheap production and no two have same headspace, even in same model and chambering.

A real "safety" blocks the firing pin so accidental discharge cannot occur while the block is engaged. Can a "safety" that is defective possibly discharge once bolt block is disengaged? Might could... Who can promise it won't? What is their promise worth if they're wrong?

Accidents have happened. None at my house...
 
Its not 1975 anymore and there are much better choices these days.

Currently have a Ruger Hawkeye--Browning X-bolt and TC Venture-----none were particularly expensive since they were all bought on sale-----all are better than any 700 I've owned as in better fit and finish and by far more accurate. Much safer also.
 
Everyone that I know are well-taught that there's no such thing as a 100% safe firearm, so the barrels should never "see" a person or animal that could be unintentionally harmed. That said, I've never had a Remington 700 that I'm sure fired by itself.

I had one go off unintentionally, but the trigger may have caught on my pants when sitting on a rock wall and the safety was off (my fault). The rifle was pointed in a safe direction, as always.
 
The Remington old style trigger had 3 adjustment screws. Sear , over travel & pull weight. Very safe trigger. You can test by bump test, cycling the bolt safety off & bumping the heal of the stock on the floor. Also cycling the bolt fast, finger off the trigger. And last safety on an pull the trigger. I have adjusted the trigger, if not adjusted properly I can see how it could fire on its own. Its not a bench rest trigger that could be adjusted in ounces. Its a hunting trigger set no lower then 3 pounds. If adjusted properly it will not fire on its own. Cleaning a trigger every once an awhile is good. Using charcoal lighter fluid, acts as a cleaner & a very light lube. If your looking for a lighter trigger pull then 3 lbs. Change the trigger. If you like the Remington but the trigger is your worry, have a GS check it out. I shoot bench rest Rem 700 308 changed to a Jewell trigger in ounces, not used for hunting. Love shooting the rifle, I'm on my second barrel.

Hope I helped. Chris
 
Consider looking at it this way: You find yourself in a gun shop because you are intent on buying a rifle and there you find a fairly decent Remington 700 in your preferred caliber for $450. In the same caliber you notice a model 70 Winchester for $600 and it's pretty decent as well. You are going to buy one of them but which one? So the real cost of the Winchester is only $150 bucks, as you were going to spend 450 anyway. Get the Winchester.
 
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And consider looking at it that way: You find yourself in a gun shop because you are intent on buying a rifle and there you find a fairly decent Remington 700 in your preferred caliber for $450. In the same caliber you notice a model 70 Winchester for $600 and it's pretty decent as well. You are going to buy one of them but which one? So the real cost of the Winchester is as much as $150 bucks, as you were going to spend 450 already. That's 33% more. Get the Remington.

[emoji15]
 
I like Remingtons & Winchesters. Then I bought a CZ 452 Varmint in 22lr. I guess is starts out what your looking to do with the rifle, then caliber , then model. No different then buying a car. 98% of the time your happy. Hopefully we don't turn out to be a 2%er
 
Better quality generally costs more. I do think that the Remington 700 is a lot better than many of the budget rifles being marketed so successfully today. Even so, there are a lot of push-feed M-70 Winchesters out there at attractive prices that, while not the Controlled-Round-Feed versions, they at least have better safeties and triggers than those infamous ones found on the Remington 700. You can get after-market, three-position, Winchester-style safety conversions for the Remington. I rather doubt that anyone is marketing a safety conversion to make the Winchester like the Remington. What sane person would do so?
 
Only had 2 700's, a .308 SPS and a .222 BDL. Both were accurate and dependable. Never had a problem with the triggers. I replaced the one on the SPS with a Rifle Basix unit as I had intended from the beginning, and am very happy with it, but the factory trigger wasn't bad at all. Sold the .222 because I built an AR for varmint hunting that was just as accurate and it makes it easier to get off that second shot. I still have the SPS, and do shoot it. Very accurate rifle. If you want to buy a 700, then buy a 700. It will serve you as well as any other out there.
 
I don't care for controlled-round feeding on Winchester 70s and others because it's a pain to feed rounds from the magazine when shooting from the bench. Yes, it's possible to depress the extractor to allow closing the bolt, but it's not easy at the bench, and I shoot a lot more from the bench than when hunting.
 
I can see the advantage of a safety that locks the firing pin versus just locking the trigger. I get that.

The safety on my Mod 70 started binding & getting worse & worse. I finally took it to a gunsmith & he fixed it saying it was very common problem on this model. Now it is starting to do it again. It seems to me both Win & Rem need to look into their safety design.

BTW: I never had a problem or bit of trouble with a dozen 700's or so...
 
"I don't care for controlled-round feeding on Winchester 70s and others because it's a pain to feed rounds from the magazine when shooting from the bench. Yes, it's possible to depress the extractor to allow closing the bolt, but it's not easy at the bench, and I shoot a lot more from the bench than when hunting."

HUH???? :confused: The only ones I've seen that can be a problem are those based on Mauser actions and most of those I have will chamber just like a push feed rifle. It's the same with the several Model 70's I've owned, no problem with feed from the bench. It's no problem to set the cartridge on the follower and push it into the magazine. Just about as fast as loading a push feed rifle. In fact, I no longer just drop the shell on the follower and chamber, but set the shell into the magazine and chamber from there. First sometimes it picks up a feeding problem and two, the shell is chambered from the magazine as if the rifle were being used on a hunt. I have seen some slight changes in point of impact when just chambering from the follower and then from the magazine. Might be slight but it's there.
Paul B.
 
Paul B. said:
"If buying today, would look for a C action or nothing later than an E. B or C had best quality and finish."

Interesting. All my M700's are 1980's models one "B", and one "C". Not sure about a Classic in 30-06 though. Has an "A" serial number. Maybe late 1970's???? All three are good shooters and so far no trigger troubles. Knock on wood. :rolleyes: Nice rifle and they don't break my arches down on a long mountain hunt. Guess I'll keep 'em. :D
Paul B.
Click to expand...
WhooHoo, I just checked the 700 in my gun safe and it has a C prefix to the serial number!

I guess I won't sell this rifle to fund a Ruger 10/22.
 
This issue about 700's has been beat to death. In my personal experience the old 700 trigger failures had to do with the Bubba Custom Gun Shop. When the recall started sent my SPS stainless back for the retro fit. The rifle came back with a heavy trigger pull. It broke clean with no creep. It was possible to adjust it trigger back to 4-4.5 pounds. I'm still of the mind that the main cause of these safety failures had to do with Bubba. If I were to need to buy a 30-06 right now it would be a T-3. Remington's are still fine rifles. Next week my choice might be different. For Remington, it's hard to argue with success.
 
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