Slam-Fires and the Remington 700

There is a growing rumor going around both the internet forums and many shooting circles about the Remington 700 action being very prone to slam-fires. It seems everyone knows someone who knows someone who has had their model 700 slam-fire, almost killing them or someone else in the process. Interesting thing is, no one seems to have ever had this happen to themselves. Think about it!

Let's put this rumor to rest right now. Slam-fires are not common for the Remington 700 series of rifles. If you have a factory original 700 that slam-fires (which is quite rare), call Remington and arrange to have your rifle repaired.

I am not saying that slam-fires cannot happen. They do, and 99% of the time, it is because the the rifle is mis-handled, or improperly modified. Let's see what can contribute to slam-fires and what you can do to reduce the possibility of a slam-fire:

• When operating the bolt, do not slam the bolt forward when loading a round into the chamber. This is hard on the rifle, an unnecessary abuse. When operating the bolt, use a smooth motion with only enough force to chamber the cartridge.
• Do not over-lighten the trigger pull. This is the main reason people do have slam-fires. They work the trigger over improperly, or reduce the pull so that it is too light. When combined with the afore-mentioned habit of slamming the bolt closed on a live round, guess what happens? The jarring of the bolt being closed too hard is enough to cause the sear to release, and walla, a slam-fire happens. So, if you have had any trigger work done, pay special attention to the line above.
• Over-lubrication. Yes, you read it right. The trigger mechanism is precision crafted, with tight and exacting tolerances. A small drop of lube at key points is all that is needed to keep things working smoothly. Too much oil can gum up the works as well as become too thick a buffer between parts, changing the overall fit of the parts.
• Some dummy wasn't paying attention and had something caught inside the trigger guard when cycling the action, pulling on the trigger as the bolt closed. The person using the rifle doesn't want to admit his mistake, so he blames the incident on a slam-fire.
• Non-qualified gunsmiths or poor quality gunsmithing has screwed up your rifle making it dangerous. Even the best gunsmiths can make mistakes too. If it started slam-firing after a trip to a gunsmith, that's a pretty obvious clue that many people seem to overlook.

Don't be afraid of shooting that Remington 700 rifle! Millions of these rifles have been produced, and the 700 action is relied upon by both military and law-enforcement. If there was a serious design flaw or defect causing all these slam-fires, these government entities would be looking to someone else for their rifles.

A clean, well maintained rifle is far less likely to malfunction than one that is dirty, poorly maintained, roughly handled, etc. Take care of your guns and they will take care of you.