Remington 700 BDL

Remington triggers can malfunction if broken or incorrectly adjusted. I have had a couple that I shot alot with no issues. I saw those issues in a video that I if I recall was a bogus report by CBS. I did work on my triggers, changed to match springs and adjusted to fairly light pull wieght. Did some experimenting and the only way I could get a malfunction was deliberate misadjustment. If you have had a malfunction, absolutely have a gunsmith check it. If you just want peace of mind, same thing. Always follow safety rules when handling any firearm, handle it as if loaded and about to go off no matter what. Any mechanical device is subject to malfunction under certain conditions.
There are millions of those rifles in service and if it was a common problem we would hear alot more about it.
You can do a simple test. Check and double check empty and clear. Then operate the bolt fast and rough numerous times, safety on and off, and it should not dry fire. Then cocked and safety off. Bounce the butt on the floor several times, get as rough as you dare. If the rifle operates normally and passes those tests I would feel pretty comfortable with it. If it dry fires, do not load it until a gunsmith corrects the issue.
 
If you're happy with it than no. I don't believe people, that didn't mess with their trigger, have had problems. See hoffbill's post. I have a BDL that I used for years and never had a problem. I decided I wanted a 2.5 lb. trigger so I adjusted it. Followed the three step procedure. Safety tested it and it worked perfectly for over a year. One day when I closed the bolt it went bang. Down range of course. So I adjusted it back up to 3.5 lbs. No more problem. Till this day I'm really not sure if I hit the trigger with my finger or not. I believe I did. I really wanted a 2.5 lb. trigger so I replaced it with a Jewell last year.

If you don't mess with it and keep your finger away it'll be fine. If you want to play with the pull weight replace it with a Jewell or Timney.
 
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I'm not trying to sound like an @$$, but I came across this problem with one of my Father's friends that said (and I paraphrase) "When I closed the bolt it went BANG" My suggestion is as stated above, send it to Remington, or sell it and get a Model 70. The 70 has the safety on the bolt itself...
 
when most people have trouble with a remington rifle trigger, they were dicking with it and didn,t know the right way to adjust it. its a three step procedure and must be followed the right way. has there been trigger failures in in the remington rifles? yes. but not in the numbers claimed by the medi that were not improperly adjusted. i have owned several 100 or so remington 722-721-700 series rifles in 60 years and have adjusted the triggers on many of them with out any of them going off with out the trigger being pulled. but by trying to get a set trigger ultra light weight pull, is not what the remington 700 series hunting rifle triggers were meant for. if you need that buy a trigger thats meant to go down to ounces and be safe. eastbank.
 
Remington won't fix it - if it's an older model that requires you to release the safety to open the bolt, they (actually an authorized gunsmith) will replace the safety. I have one that would sometimes (happened twice) fire when the safety was released. My father got it used years ago, and I inherited it. Sure enough, when I checked, someone had cranked the trigger tension back as far as it would go. Guess what, that will cause trouble with a Model 70, too (New Haven gun, not the new FNs). I adjusted the trigger on my M70 and found that it's not too hard to go too light and create an issue. Proper tension, no problem. Unfortunately, the 700 adjustment screw was frozen (can't get much torque on the little bugger), so I went with a Timney. Two pins, easy installation. Now it's good. If you haven't had a problem, and you don't mess with the trigger, you are probably OK. If it bothers you, a new Timney is about $110, installs in 20 minutes, and in my opinion is a better trigger anyway.
 
There have been many people who, when closing the bolt, accidently hit the trigger, and deny it and then blame the gun Manufacturer. There are others who "modify" the trigger (and are unqualified to do so), or let the insides get rusty and corroded, and then cry foul when the gun no longer works correctly.
This issue has been covered before in multiple threads on here, if you care to conduct a search.
I have several Remington bolt actions, old & new, and have never had any issues. Go to Remington's website and learn the facts, as opposed to the lies of money grubbing lawyers and the media.
 
Any Remington bolt rifle ( except the 788) made from 1946- October 2006 has the Walker designed trigger. It has a design flaw (the trigger connector) that could release the firing pin with no trigger pull. This could happen at any time, to any gun. While rare, over a 60 year production run it has happened several thousand times.

Estimates range between 5,000 and 10,000. I have documentation of 135 guns returned to the factory in 1980 alone. If that were an average year 135 guns X 60 years =8100 rifles returned with this issue. When you consider 5 million rifles produced 8,000 incidents seems small. Unless you are one of the 8,000. And this is only rifles returned. It does not include those guys who simply replaced the trigger.

Having an improperly modified trigger can cause this to happen with any gun, but this is not the issue here. The Remington trigger can do this if adjusted to 10 lbs and if perfectly clean. It is the connector that is failing, not the trigger and it has nothing to do with adjustment.

This is a problem unique only to the Walker trigger. All other triggers are directly linked to the sear. The Walker trigger uses a metal connector in between the 2. The connector, in extremely rare cases will release the sear. When this happens the guns safety is the only thing holding back the firing pin. Release the safety, the gun fires. Mike Walker discovered the problem in 1946 and urged a redesign without the connector at that time. Remington made the change 60 years later.

After being hit with a flurry of lawsuits in the 1970's Remington redesigned the guns safety in 1982 making it possible to open the bolt with the gun in the "safe" position. This greatly reduced the possibility of it happening, but didn't address the real issue.

I own a gun that has done this 2-3 times. All on the same day. The gun was 30 years old before ever doing it, and hasn't repeated the problem in about 10 years. If it were a gun I actually planned on using I'd replace the trigger. But I wouldn't return it to Remington. For not much money you can have a gunsmith replace it with a BETTER trigger while doing the work.
 
Remington 700 trigger issues are like seatbelt issues in cars. They do happen in spite of thousands of human beings never being effected by them. And some people are convinced that if they don't see it happen, then it never happens anywhere.

It happened with my Rem. 700 years ago.

Let your own objectives be your guide setting the safety margins you want to live with. 1 in 1000 says it happened to them. 17 of that 1000 report they've never had a problem. Nothing's reported from the other 982 people in that 1000. Believe whom you want to.
 
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This debate has went on and on, and in the end we're going to be where we started: some people think there is an issue and some don't. If it were me I would replace the trigger. The benefits are two fold, you get a known safe trigger (nice to know weather you believe there is an issue or not) and you get a way better trigger pull on your rifle. A good trigger pull is very important for accuracy and by getting a better trigger you very well could be making you and your rifle more accurate.
 
I've shot remington 700s & a Model 7 for many many years. I never experienced any trigger problems. But a friend of mine has had some safety issues with the trigger and bolt on his Rem Model-660 6-MM. As told. I know my friends rifle issue has been resolved by a local gunsmith. Neither of us know how to lighten a trigger pull? So we two have no ambition to get involved in trying too.
 
I have a 25-year-old BDL that I bought from a good friend, and it has everything original. The friend told me about the trigger story soon after I bought the rifle. He worried about me getting into trouble when using the rifle he just sold me, and he offered to buy it back if I liked. I decided to keep the rifle after some research of my own. Here are a few conclusions I arrived at after listening to arguments from both sides.

1. Remington has (or had) a patent on the Walker trigger. It's key to their trigger's superb performance right out of the box. It is a brilliant idea, with a few shortcomings unfortunately.

2. It is crucial to keep the trigger mechanism clean. Clean means not even oil and grease in it. Rem sells their Action Cleaner which is nothing but a degreaser. If the connector is stuck forward, the firing pin will fall as soon as the safety is turned off.

3. It is silly for Rem's safety to lock the bolt. They recalled to fix it for free, which I did.

4. The said connector may not reset reliably if the trigger is set too light, which means trouble. I will never go below 3 lb.

5. The old Walker trigger performs better than the new trigger. I actually bought one off ebay as a spare, before they totally disappear.

That's just me doing what I do. No need to jump up-and-down if it is against your expert opinion.

-TL
 
I have replaced Rem 700 triggers with both Timney and Rifle Basix and been happy with both. The instructions that came with Rifle Basix triggers were a little easier to follow. Whichever you choose, I recommend getting the version with a new safety included. The right hand trigger will work for a left hand action, though you will have to use the original safety and may need to counter sink for the safety.
 
Have read a lot about these failures. I have 6 model 700's from 7-08 to Rem 8 Mag. A 7 Mag that is pushing 50 years. Never an issue. When I wanted to mess with the trigger, I replaced with a Jewell. Just lucky I guess
 
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