Remington shotguns, rifles claim pattern of inadvertent discharges

[Scoutfish]

Reminds me of something that was covered by 20/20 ( or similar news show) back when I was about 15 years old.

 

They were taking on chainsaws. Seems a think tank group thought there ought to be legislation to outlaw homeowners from having chainsaws because they were so dangerous.

 

But further inspection seperated the accidents into three groups of people:

 

1) Those new to chainsaws,

 

2) Those who had been using chainsaws for a fairly long time

 

3) Professional forresters and such.

 

Well, in the group of people new to chainsaws, there were few accidents, but not too many as people were being very diligent and careful and following all safety precautions.

 

The professionals also had a few accidents because they had years and years of experince with chainasaws and knew that no matter what, you always follow all safety precaustions - ALWAYS!.

 

But the middle group....well, they had the highest rate of accidents because they had used chainsaws just long enough, and became just comfortable enough with them that they felt the knew everything and were okay to not follow every single precation. You know: "I'm good, I know what I am doing and I can handle it!"

 

I have noticed this with guns too. Some of my friends get where they feel overly confident in their abilities and just know that all safe handling procedures do not really apply to them because they know what they are doing!

[Gunny2862]

Firearms maintenance, most gun owners do a decent job of basic cleaning I think, except for those who throw it in a desk and never pull it out, ick. Especially those who get out monthly practicing with them.

But this particular trigger system is designed in such a way that really only COMPETENT gunsmiths should attempt any adjustment, and are not designed to be disassembled and cleaned by common users. Pull it out as a group, clean what surfaces you can and leave it alone.

 

But if memory serves, the trigger/sear bearing area is something like .002 sq inches on the Remington trigger we are talking about - it doesn't take a lot of contaminant to alter the characteristics of such a small area. And if it "breaks" (trigger break) while the safety is on, then the safety sear is the only thing preventing the firing pin from activating, and as soon as the safety is taken off - inadvertent discharge...

[Gunny2862]

.004 sq inches, sorry.

[JoeBob]

Media attempt to smear a firearm company that they can't sue out of business.

 

To believe the underlying premise of the story, you have to believe that a major corporation, Remington, finds it economically advantageous to let their lawyers fight lawsuits instead of changing a trigger design.

 

Since 1948.

 

 

Darwin at work!

[le Voyageur]

Seattle -

 

A gun is like any other tool. It has to be maintained. Before hunting season it's a good policy to to use range time to troubleshoot the gun. If there are problems no matter how slight, then it might be necessary to take it to a gunsmith.

Gunny did hit on another aspect, and that is the safe way to carry a firearm in the field. For myself when hunting, the bolt stays out of my firearm until I'm set, and no longer moving.

[jrush]

The only problem with the model 700 is the number of ignorant fools who own one.

 

Rifles, not even the model 700, don't just spontaneously discharge.

 

Disassembling the trigger group to clean it isn't considered "operator level care", not by Remington or any other gunmaker. No, not even for members of the US military with their M16s and M4s. Matter of fact, it is strongly discouraged.

 

It isn't exactly rocket science to keep your booger hook out of the trigger guard and watch where the muzzle is.