BAD remington experience

[82ndreddevil]

I bought a Remington 700 sendero in 300 win mag. it would not lock down because the extractor was improperly shaped to grab the rim of the casing. A quick visit to the gunsmith fixed it for free. Now it shoots like a champ. It reminds me why my first precision rifle was a savage 10FP. This is my fourth Remington 700, and first time I have had an issue with one.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

I own 7 Remington 700s which were purchased new. There are several more 2nd hand in the safe. I also have several other models of rifles and shotguns from Remington. There have been a few minor problems when they were new but all were resolved in a reasonable amount of time.

There are also a few other brands in the safe and they too have had a few minor issues. Of any and all that were sent back to the manufacturer, all were repaired and returned in a relatively short period of time. The exception being the last 700 sent back to Remington a couple years ago. That one took almost 2 months.

I have no proof BUT I believe that Remington (and other manufacturers) are taking their time and checking each gun returned BECAUSE their attorneys are demanding they do so in order to defend themselves should they have to go to court. On my 700 that went back for a bolt issue, the bolt was replaced along with the firing pin/spring. I had marked and photographed the parts before returning the gun. Additionally, they replaced the trigger simply because I had adjusted it. The factory seal on the screws was disturbed making the replacement automatic. When I called them, their response was "the trigger didn't meet their specification therefore it was replaced."

I've concluded that lawyers have made it impossible for firearm to go out the door unless it has a 8 lb trigger pull. And cynically, if the gun won't fire then no one can get hurt; lawyer logic if you will.

 

[steelshooter]

I am dissapointed in the Remingtons that I have bought and also with their service, no more for me thanks. All you get is the name nowadays, the quality is just not there anymore.

 

[25 Otter]

I pulled my first trigger 40 years ago. Since that day I've owned a truck load of assorted rifles. Ruger,Remington,Winchester and Savage as well. In that time I've had 2 that needed to be warranted. One was a then new chambering,the 7mm 08 in a new model,the 700 Mountain Rifle. Came through with a short neck. Likely a damaged reamer. It would chamber and fire as long as the case was .030" under min length. About 2 weeks in and out and it was fixed. The other was a M70 Super Shadow in the new 25 WSSM. I never got to really wring out the little round. The rifle was shipped with an excessive headspace issue. We call them issues these days. It sounds better than "problem". Another pet peeve of mine but off topic,lol. That rifle was returned for a refund and replaced with a Tikka 22/250. AH the Tikka. It was the rustingist (new word) little stainless rifle I ever owned. Again another "issue"/"problem" not worth discussing right now.The bottom line is this. ALL RIFLES SUCK. Heck Ruger can't get the front guard screw in straight. Doesn't change the fact that I have a problem of my own. I can't get enough of them. Rifles that is,not Rugers. With the exception of Savage. If I have to spend my cherished days afield looking down at something that ugly I may as well go fishing or golfing or something. In the end the M70 is my personal favorite rifle. Doesn't change the fact there are 6 Remingtons in the safe at the moment. I'd buy another today if I ran into a deal. We have fallen under this delusion that ALL rifles should be perfect. ALL rifles should be "Sub MOA". Buy the way, this MOA thing is getting old as well. Along with DRT. Too many abreviations these days. Just another issue of mine,lol. I love riflesgun).

 

[Greyfox]

I have owned a bunch of factory rifles over the past 40 years, including five Remingtons. Save one, they all worked out pretty well. I think the bigger issue described in the original post is the responsiveness of the Remington service department. I think Remington is a good company, but not a great company. Great companies run their service department like an emergency room at a hospital. When someone shows up with with a minor ailment they wait their turn. When someone appears critical, they go right in. The first responder at Remington should have the savvy to determine how their response plan effects the specific customer and have a response system that accommodates. A bigger issue is that if the service system is weak, the downstream sustaining engineering system takes too long pick up the problems and correct them in the production process. Having watched Remington for many years, I am convinced that this is their issue. They have had a huge number of published recall notices for many years. It indicates they are in a reactionary mode. Just think of the shooters that never see them. Any company can have a bad egg that slips through, but the customer service, and corrective action system is what separates good companies from the great ones. There are companies out there that do this right, and this is why I think Remington's market share is eroding.

 

[darrindlh]

i bought a Rem 700 adl chambered in a 300wm this spring. When i took it to the range to get it sighted in I noticed that It would not chamber one of my loaded rounds. So i left and went and purchased some Winchester power points. It would not chamber the factory round as well. I went home and called Remington. Mind you I was not mad I just wanted an answer. When I talked to the customer service rep I asked to be moved up the chain. He told me to write a letter about my problem and hung up the phone. Now I was mad. They fixed the problem but I'm breaking down the whole rifle and sending it to Kirby to build a rifle for me. I will never buy another Remington again.

Darrin

 

[kc0pph]

Saw this thread and really did not want to chime in. I decided after the serious issue i had with my Remington 700 yesterday I share how my 700 is unsafe and needing repairs.

Yesterday morning at 8 i went out to the local shooting range with a fellow member. We shot several rounds, and i put about 25-30 rounds down my .270. Put the gun away and went to my cabin in Beulah, CO. In the back yard i only have about a 50M range due to trees and being in a canyon. Shot 2 rounds, and the 3rd would not chamber. I attributed this due to seating the bullets to max length. So i put a little elbow greese on the bolt and force it down and BAM!!! The darn thing went off. I could not believe i had a slam fire. After i could not get the bolt to close normally (Unloaded) without slam firing. I Put the safety on, then cocked it, released the safety. I pulled the trigger and noticed it was very light, and not the 3lb's.

Now how could my triger move from 3lbs to well under 1/2 lb. Well me being the kitchen table gunsmith, i adjusted the trigger months ago, I also honed and polished the trigger.

Got home took the action out of the stock and looked in the peep hole for the sear engagement. I was amazed it was able to catch. I then looked at the screw and saw white powder on it. My super glue had shattered under the vibration and thus caused the screw to rotate under recoil.

This is the reason Remingtons have Slam Fires. I am ok with it, because i did it and not remington. I also learned a good lesson, LockTite the darn thing, then fill with the clear nailpolish.

Now some might criticize me but If you would of been there when i did this and told my father about it, the first thing i told him was "I made my gun unsafe, I cant hunt with one in the pipe pa," He shoots it too, and i stressed to him "Chamber only when your ready to shoot". All gunsmiths learned how to do things and im taking my time learning. At least if i mess something up its all on me.

I have owned several 700's and will be buying a 700 in 300RUM to blast a bear this year with. Never had a problem. Would rather buy a remington in a closed box then a savage in a closed box.

 

[squirrelduster]

i bought a Rem 700 adl chambered in a 300wm this spring. When i took it to the range to get it sighted in I noticed that It would not chamber one of my loaded rounds. So i left and went and purchased some Winchester power points. It would not chamber the factory round as well. I went home and called Remington. Mind you I was not mad I just wanted an answer. When I talked to the customer service rep I asked to be moved up the chain. He told me to write a letter about my problem and hung up the phone. Now I was mad. They fixed the problem but I'm breaking down the whole rifle and sending it to Kirby to build a rifle for me. I will never buy another Remington again.

Darrin

Friend of mine won a rifle from a RMEF dinner, 700 sps 300 win mag. The chamber was so crooked that he could only shoot new brass. Full length resizing wouldn't straighten them out enough to chamber. He traded it in and bought a Savage 300wsm that shoots little groups. I have several Remingtons but all are older, seems the newer ones lack the quality control.

 

[kc0pph]

Well lets see if any Smiths can chime in to this post and put up a buyers guide to purchasing a new rifle (Specifically a Remington 700) Outlining things to look for and ways to check out a rifle at the counter.

When i get a rifle i always check everything i can. I bring me a snap cap, and test to make sure it extracts, and chambers nice, One place i bought a rifle from had go/no go gauges and ran them through it. I also look for scratches dings, damage to the crown, smoothness of the action, how it cycles snap caps, will it Accidentally Discharge.

Someone can fill out the list but it would be nice to have an article up for it.

 

[Sully2]

Had you "test fired" the rifle after receiving it...you would have found any problems and had it repaired in time. You dont need a scope to "test fire" a rifle....you take it to the woods or in the desert and get withing 20-25 feet of "X" and shoot it. Pointing is good enough for you to cycle the action...s..l..o..w..l..y and then QUICKLY..etc..etc...to see that it feed correctly...ejects properly.. any and all functions.

Ive got a new custom made .260 coming in....should have been here already. Im intending on installing a big Zeiss on it.....I hope you dont think Im going to wait till that scope comes in for me to test fire it????

 

[Trickymissfit]

And it came from the factory with a FLAW! The response i got was "I recently purchased a Remington sendero in 7mm mag. Took a couple months to save up for my mark 4 scope but finally got it before labor day weekend. Got my scope mounted and test loads made and headed to the range. Needless to say, I was excited to sit behind my new rifle. To make a long story short, I got to shoot it twice because it wouldn't eject my first brass. I used my cleaning to tap it out and thought I would try it again. Same result. I examined brass and bolt and found nothing wrong but didn't even have a nick on the brass where the extractor tried to get it. This happened on noon sept 2. I immediately called Remington but they were already closed for the holiday weekend by 3:00 their time. Now i'm ****ed. Really ****ed. I took the rifle to my FFL. To be sent back to Remington. They said they would contact Remington and send the rifle back as soon as Remington sent them the required tag to place on the rifle to be sent back. THAT TOOK 2 WEEKS! Just to get the tag so my FFL can send it back! NOW I'M REALLY ****ED! So I call Remington to see how long it will be before I get my rifle and they say 4 weeks! ***???? They say that they have to take the rifles in the order they receive them. I explained that my rifle was new and the response I got was "once it is in your name it's used". So now I will be waiting 6 and a half weeks for my NEW rifle that I received with a factory FLAW! I missed the high hunt with it and will probably miss general season with it as well. Remington is lacking. Lacking in customer service and quality control. My FFL said they have sent 5 new remingtons back this year that all had factory flaws. I know a lot of people love Remington but I thought I would share a story from the other side. Feel free to email this to remington

well I can say I've been there with Remington as well. But if you were in my neck of the woods, I would take you out to the safe and put a MK. V. Weatherby in your hands (30-06). We simply have to take care of each other. I had similar issues with Burris a few years back, and now I will go outta my way to not buy one. On the otherhand a few years back I saw a guy bring back a brand new Pentax scope. It sounded like a baby rattle inside! He had it mounted on a Remington rifle in 7mm mag. His elk hunt was two weeks out, and Pentax wouldn't just send him a new scope under the dealer's urging. The dealer went into the back room and found a Leupold 3.5x-10x, and mounted it for him. He then called Pentax a second time and told them to just send the store a refund for the scope he was sending them. Guess what? The guy beats the bush back to that same dealer everytime he needs something. That's kinda like a good way to stay in business!!
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

Actually they have had several lemons, ( every model 700 since 1962 ) they have been trying to have them all recalled for sear engagement issues that have lead to several accidental discharges, some causing death or serious injury but the government claims they can not force a recall, this is the main reason the x-mark pro trigger came about and I have seen one of them slam fire. The little gun store closest to me has sent 4 back this year, 2 sps varmints due to burrs in the crown, an sps tactical and a sendero, those 2 had over .020" off center chambers. These remington freaks around here are getting pretty aggrivated.

I had a .223 that the factory reamed the chamber .007" off center for .014" TIR. But to compound the issue the chamber was also at an angle to the bore centerline by about seven degrees. The rifeling was so rough that it tore up patches! The bolt was seating on a burr that was about 1/16". The extractor was so miss aligned that it actually bent the rim on each case chambered and fired! The trigger was so bad that it would actually freeze up in travel. No hang fires or miss fires here as you couldn't make it work. The dealer took the trigger and just polished it and smoothed everything up, and set the pull at about three pounds. Samething. He can't figure out what the problem was, but it's a little better. (now we have to be carefull when the saftey is let off as it sometimes fires). He asks Ferris about it and the two of them have a look it it. They thought they had it fixed, but it was the same crap. Ferris then pulls a reworked 1978 trigger stored in a cigar box and gave it to me. Never missed a beat after that. The trigger was set at 2.5lb with just a little travel in it. Plenty good enough for a dog gun. What makes me mad is that I traded a mint Browning Liege pheasant gun for that thing!
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

I wasnt going to post anything until I read this... I for one respectfully disagree with your statement about EVERY model 700 since 1962 being a lemon.

I have owned many 700's and still have several of them and I have had no problems out of ANY of them. I have had used ones, new ones and also custom built ones and I repeat I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH ANY OF THEM!

Now I am sure that like other posters have said there have been some rifles that have slipped through the cracks of the QC department and maybe some have had a problem that lead to an accidental discharge, but not EVERY 700 made since 1962 has had issues. Now would I take one of mine, load it, stand in front of the muzzle and let you bang away on the rifle with a mallet to try to get it to A/D... no, but with normal use and care do I think that the 700 is a safe weapon... yes.

... And who is the "they" that you speak of that is trying to have the 700's recalled for sear engagement issues? Is it the people that you saw on t.v. a couple of years back when a news team was bashing Remington?

I'm not trying to bash you, but when you make a statement like you made you have got to figure that there will be someone that posts something that does not agree with what you posted.

Mike Walker will dissagree with you, and he's the guy that designed that trigger
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

Wait... There is such a thing as a "good" remington????

I had a 700ADL in .270 once that would shoot the eyes out of a snake at a hundred yards! So some did get thru every once in awhile!
gary