Editing Remington Model 700 (section)

==Controversy==
Thousands of Remington Model 700 customers have complained to Remington that a defect in the trigger mechanism could cause the gun to be fired without the trigger being squeezed.<ref name="cnbc20110808" /><ref name="cbs20170219" /> Remington received nearly 2,000 complaints from 2013 through 2016<ref name="cbs20170219" /> and 150 lawsuits had been filed against Remington alleging injury or death related to the trigger.<ref name="cbs20170219" /> Lawsuits have alleged that Remington covered up a design flaw in the trigger mechanism, resulting in dozens of deaths and hundreds of serious injuries.<ref>{{cite news |title=Is Remington getting too good a deal in rifle settlement? Judge wants to know |first=Scott |last=Cohn |date=February 14, 2017 |access-date=February 27, 2017 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/14/remington-getting-too-good-a-deal-in-rifle-settlement-judge-wants-to-know.html |publisher=[[CNBC]]}}</ref> A [[class action|class-action]] lawsuit alleges Remington knowingly sold a [[Product defect|defective product]].<ref name="cbs20170219" /> The [[Attorney general|Attorneys general]] from nine states and the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]] objected to the proposed settlement in the class action, saying that Remington has "long known" of the defect and that the proposed settlement "fails to adequately protect public safety."<ref>{{cite news |title=States join objections to Remington rifle settlement |first=Scott |last=Cohn |date=January 18, 2017 |access-date=February 27, 2017 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/17/states-join-objections-to-remington-rifle-settlement.html |publisher=[[CNBC]]}}</ref>

On October 20, 2010, [[CNBC]] televised the first in an ongoing investigative series, ''Remington Under Fire: a CNBC Investigation,'' reporting that the trigger mechanism used prior to 2007 on the Model 700 could fire without the trigger being squeezed. The report stated that Remington has received thousands of customer complaints since the firing mechanism was introduced in the 1940s and that nearly two dozen deaths and hundreds of injuries had been attributed to inadvertent discharges of 700 series rifles. Through internal Remington documents, the program showed that on multiple occasions the company considered recalling the product.

The inventor of the firing mechanism, [[Mike Walker (engineer)|Mike Walker]], 98 years old at the time of the documentary, told CNBC he proposed what he called a "safer trigger" back in 1948 while the product was still in the testing stage. Walker said his enhanced design was rejected because of the added cost, 5.5 cents per gun (adjusted for inflation: ${{Inflation|US|0.055|1948|r=2}}).<ref name=cnbc20110808>{{cite web |last=Cohn |first=Scott |title=Remington Under Fire: A CNBC Investigation |url=https://www.cnbc.com/remington-under-fire/ |publisher=[[CNBC]] |access-date=August 8, 2011 |date=October 20, 2010}}</ref> Critics of the documentary countered that every incident featured on the program involving loss of life was the result of firearms mishandling, where owners pointed their rifles at other human beings.<ref>{{cite news|author=David E. Petzal |title=CNBC's Remington 700 Trigger Coverage A Clean Mis s |work=Field & Stream |url=http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/hunting/2010/10/petzal-different-look-remington-model-700-trigger}}</ref> Remington responded with the Remington Model 700 Network, which gave direct rebuttals to the program, and their perspective on the incidents the program described.<ref name="pbp">{{cite web|url=http://www.remington700.tv/fileadmin/pdfs/point-by-point-response.pdf|title=remington700.tv|website=www.remington700.tv|access-date=July 31, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111030124813/http://www.remington700.tv/fileadmin/pdfs/point-by-point-response.pdf|archive-date=October 30, 2011|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Remington dismisses the allegations, pointing out that in every case either trigger mechanisms of the rifles were adjusted or altered beyond recommended specifications,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3197/is_n5_v38/ai_13997890/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109151117/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3197/is_n5_v38/ai_13997890/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-01-09|title=Remington answers legal attacks|work=Shooting Industry|edition=May 1993}}</ref> with rifles being poorly maintained and left to rust, or due to the misuse of the rifles. Those involved admitted to police they might have "possibly" pulled the trigger.<ref name="pbp"/>

Though Remington has since changed to a new, cheaper, trigger mechanism design, the original Walker trigger is still produced for the [[U.S. military]] and buyers of custom rifles.<ref name="pbp"/>

On December 6, 2014, Remington announced that as a part of actions put into place to settle multiple lawsuits and to avoid future legal actions, they are replacing all triggers in the Model 700s.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/remington-agrees-replace-millions-allegedly-faulty-triggers "Remington agrees to replace millions of allegedly faulty triggers"], 12/06/14, Scott Cohn, MSNBC</ref> Over 7.85 million rifles were included in this agreement, making all of them eligible for replacements.

On February 19, 2017, [[CBS News]]' ''[[60 Minutes]]'' aired a segment on the Remington 700 trigger mechanism safety. The episode highlighted incidents of accidental deaths as a result of Remington 700s firing without the trigger being initiated, problems with Remington's trigger mechanism replacement program, and a class-action lawsuit filed by Remington owners.<ref name=cbs20170219>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/popular-remington-700-rifle-linked-to-potentially-deadly-defects/ |title=Popular Remington 700 rifle linked to potentially deadly defect |work=[[60 Minutes]] |agency=[[CBS News]] |date=February 19, 2017 |access-date=February 27, 2017 |first=Lesley |last=Stahl |author-link=Lesley Stahl}}</ref>

On October 23, 2018, the wrongful death class-action lawsuit originally filed in 2000 was settled for an undisclosed amount, however part of the settlement involved Remington agreeing to replace the trigger assembly on even more rifle models than previous recalls covered, the new agreement covers over 7.5 million rifles equipped with the X-Mark Pro trigger; besides the Model 700 the replacement agreement also includes replacements for the model Seven, Sportsman 78, 673, 710, 715, 770, 600, 660, 721, 722, 725, and the [[Remington XP-100|XP-100 bolt action pistol]].<ref name="KRTV original suit settled">{{cite news |author1=MTN News |title=Settlement in class-action lawsuit against Remington finalized |url=https://www.krtv.com/news/montana-and-regional-news/2018/10/31/settlement-in-class-action-lawsuit-against-remington-finalized/ |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=KRTV News |publisher=© Scripps Media, Inc |date=31 October 2018}}</ref><ref name="Recall Models">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Remington settlement will offer replacements for recalled rifles |url=https://www.wral.com/story/remington-settlement-will-offer-replacements-for-recalled-rifles/17942305/ |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=WRAL News |issue=National News |publisher=© Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. |date=24 October 2018}}</ref> Owners of qualifying models had 18 months to file for a free trigger replacement. Earlier that year Remington filed for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11 Bankruptcy]] due the large amount of settlements from lawsuits, but by May of 2018 had been bailed out by their creditors, who took control of the company and by 2020 the company had shredded over $775 million in debt. This was done by selling off various Remington assets, including selling the rights to the [[Marlin Firearms]] brand name, which was purchased by [[Sturm, Ruger & Co.|Ruger]] for $28.3 million.<ref name="KRTV original suit settled" /><ref name="Ruger buys Marlin">{{cite news |last1=Zent |first1=John |title=Marlin Reborn: Ruger Resurrects A Legend |url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/marlin-reborn-ruger-resurrects-a-legend/ |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=[[American Rifleman]] |issue=Lever Action Rifle News |publisher=[[National Rifle Association]] |date=3 April 2022}}</ref> After Remington was bought out by its creditors in May of 2018, one (or more) of them anonymously sent over 80,000 pages of documents dating back more than five decades to the law firm and original plaintiff in the lawsuit, the documents revealed that Remington had known about the faulty trigger assembly as far back as the 1960's, and had settled its first lawsuit out-of-court regarding the issue over 50 years ago. The documents showed that Remington actively covered up this fact, and settled dozens of lawsuits quitely out-of-court, getting the records sealed.<ref name="KRTV original suit settled" />

In April of 2020 [[CNBC]] News published a story featuring updates about the trigger replacements, and also reports on their investigation regarding claims of faulty replacement triggers. The deadline for the free trigger replacement was April 23, 2020, but the [[COVID-19]] shutdown created complications for Remington's offer to replace the triggers as the shutdown had caused many gunsmiths and repair shops nation wide to close. About a dozen people who had their rifle's triggers replaced claimed that they continued to experience malfunctions of the gun firing when the bolt was closed, or the safety being disengaged, without the trigger being pulled. Remington examined several of the rifles alleged to have malfunctioned after they were repaired, they confirmed that the guns had not been altered by the customers, but were unable to duplicate the reported malfunctions; the lead attorney for the plaintiffs stated he had not personally received any complaints of malfunctioning rifles after they were repaired.<ref name="Repair Malfunctions">{{cite news |last1=Cohn |first1=Scott |title=Retail Gun owners say rifles still malfunction after Remington class-action settlement repairs |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/06/remington-trigger-problems-surface-as-class-action-settlement-deadline-nears.html |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=[[CNBC]] |issue=Retail |publisher=© CNBC LLC |date=6 April 2020}}</ref>