[HELLRAISER II]

I don't believe for a second that gun went off without either being dropped or her accidentally pulling the trigger. I feel for the parents, but this just doesn't sound right to me. I salute Remington for checking the guns, but I have a Remington 700 and it's a great gun. Even if the gun did go off by itself, she should had the barrel pointing away from her child, preferably at the ground.

[Noslrac]

If I remember right there was a condition where you could pull the trigger with the saftey on (maybe it was even hold the trigger) Then when you set the saftey to off the pin would drop. Its been a while since I heard this, but perhaps this is what it is in reference to.

[MikeJ]

I don't believe for a second that gun went off without either being dropped or her accidentally pulling the trigger.

This is a very rare event, but Remington 700s do sometimes fail this way. The striker can fall when the safety is released.

I have owned one for years, excellent rifle, excellent value, too. Mine has never malfunctioned in this way, and 9999 out of 10,000 never will, but it can happen.

[SauronOfMordor]

I've heard of cases where defective mechanisms cause the gun to go off when the safety is released. Always treat manipulation of the safety as something that possibly might make the gun go off

[ctdonath2]

I've had a comparable malfunction on a different rifle. It fired when I released the safety - but I did so on an UNLOADED rifle, POINTED AT A BACKSTOP, so no harm done. Something had gone wrong shortly after having trigger work done.

Truly mechanical malfunctions DO happen. Accidental discharges are real. Thing is, NEGLIGENT discharges are FAR more common.

[tx4guns]

I have a 1970's model 700 ADL 30-06. I have done some trigger work on it, and the 700 can go off if someone jacked with the trigger and made it too sensitive. Most of them come from the factory with about a 6lb pull, but after the trigger job, mine's close to 2lbs. Go any lighter than that, and it can go off. Best way to test it is with any empty chamber and bang the butt of the rifle on the floor a couple times with the safety off. I don't mind the safety feature the way it is, but it does make me feel better to not have to take the safety off to open the bolt. I don't want to glass my action and resight it in, so I'll just leave mine the way it is.

[spectr17]

Ping for safety and to set the record straight. Please read the above link I posted.

[toddst]

I don't believe for a second that gun went off without either being dropped or her accidentally pulling the trigger. I feel for the parents, but this just doesn't sound right to me. I salute Remington for checking the guns, but I have a Remington 700 and it's a great gun. Even if the gun did go off by itself, she should had the barrel pointing away from her child, preferably at the ground

I own and use three pre-82 Remington 700's and have experienced one incident where a rifle fired when the safety was disengaged. One time in thousands of unloadings. Of course, the gun was pointed in a safe direction so no harm done.

None of my rifles are going back for modification. Apply the safe handling rules and there is no problem. End of story.