Question Concerning the History of the Remington model 700 Safety

[SwampWolf]

It has long been my understanding that the Remington model 700 two-position safety was originally configured so as to lock the bolt in the closed position when on "safe", requiring the shooter to move the safety to "fire" in order to unload the rifle but that, sometime in the early eighties, Remington changed the design so that the bolt remained unlocked when on safe, allowing the rifle to be unloaded while on safe as a concession to liability concerns. However, in his book Deer Rifles and Cartridges, one of my favorite hunting/shooting writers, Dr, Wayne van Zwoll, stated that in 1982, Remington altered the safety so that it "...locks the bolt down when the safety is 'on' to prevent opening of the bolt during carry. This change would later be blamed (not justly) for accidental discharges when hunters unloaded their rifles. Remington would respond by reverting to the original safeties..."

My question is whether Dr. van Zwoll has this nugget of history backwards or has my "understanding" of the reason for changing the operation of the safety and when it was done been in error all along? The answer would appear to be based on how the safety of the first Model 700 rifle functioned. Anybody know for certain? Thanks to everyone who might be able to provide me some "closure".

 

[C-grunt]

I have an ADL from I believe the late 70s, if I remember correctly, and it locks the bolt on safe.

 

[jmr40]

Remington has a well documented history from as early as 1946 of their guns discharging when the safety is moved to the fire position, with no touch of the trigger.

Remington was hit with a flood of lawsuits in the late 70's because of this. Prior to 1982 the bolt was locked down when on safe and the safety had to be moved to the fire position in order to remove a round from the chamber. When lawsuits are settled both parties are very often required to sign documents saying they will not discuss the outcome. While I cannot prove it, I strongly suspect changing the safety was part of a lawsuit settlement.

At any rate the safety was changed in 1982 letting gun owners unload their rifles while the gun was still on safe. This did not address the real problem, but it did dramatically cut down on the number of unintentional discharges. It also created lots of problems with bolts opening while walking with guns. Remington is one of the few companies that has a gun that will not lock down the bolt when on safe.

Because of pressure from many other lawsuits Remington did finally change the trigger in 2007 to basically the design recommended n 1946 by Remington engineers who discovered the flaw at that time.

 

[SwampWolf]

Remington has a well documented history from as early as 1946 of their guns discharging when the safety is moved to the fire position, with no touch of the trigger.

I'm aware of this issue but it's not what I'm trying to find out.

At any rate the safety was changed in 1982 letting gun owners unload their rifles while the gun was still on safe.

This is the matter I'm trying to verify and what you say here is what I've long understood to be the case. Thanks for your input. It was helpful.

 

[SwampWolf]

I have an ADL from I believe the late 70s, if I remember correctly, and it locks the bolt on safe.

You are correct but what I'm trying to ascertain is if the Model 700's safety was configured this way from its inception. Thanks for your input. It's all starting to add up.

 

[rcmodel]

Yes it did lock the bolt, as well as on the 721-722 that preceded the Model 700.

The change was made, whenever it was made, so it no longer locked the bolt.

rc

 

[jmr40]

When gunwriters write books or magazine articles they are gone over by editors, who may not be gun people. They often re-arrange text, or re-write sections of the book etc. for a variety of reasons. Most of the time this does not change the meaning of the article. Often when you see technical or historical errors like this it can often be traced back to an editors mistake rather than the writer.