Rem. 700 bolt action question

[ants]

I have a Remington 700 bolt action that I bought at leat 25 years ago.

When the gun is loaded and the safety is on I can work the action/ move the bolt. A couple of days ago I was at my brother inlaws house. He has the same gun but not as old. When his gun is loaded and the safety on you can't work the action/bolt. It is locked in place intil you take it off safe.

I never thought much of it till I checked out his 700. Is mine defective?? Is it just a later design change??

Mine is a lefty..his right. Both 30-06

Any ideas?

[Pygmy]

Hmmmm.. I only have one M700, a Mountain Rifle that I bought about 20 years ago...That is RECENTLY to me..

With the safety ON I can work the bolt, unload the action, etc.

My only other Remington bolt action was a 722 in .222 which was made in 1950. With that rifle, you had to release the safety to work the action.

So I guess the short answer is NO, your rifle is not defective..I am not sure when the design change occurred..

Edited July 14, 2012 by Pygmy

[Lawdwaz]

I can only say that either your friends has had some modifications or it is older than you think.

You ever want to part with that LH 30-06, keep me in mind!

[HUNT6246]

I'd sugggest that you call Remington. I have a left handed Mod 700 that I bought in the mid 70's (used). You couldn't work the bolt on that with the safety on. Remington had a safety recall on them after someone got shot - I believe trying to unload their gun. I sent mine back and had it fixed. Now I can work the bolt with the safety on. Check with them. They may make the change for no cost.

[Dinsdale]

I thought that switch was 1982.

I can only say that either your friends has had some modifications or it is older than you think.

You ever want to part with that LH 30-06, keep me in mind!

Course he could have bought old inventory? You just thinking it's a newer gun?

[Lawdwaz]

I thought that switch was 1982.

Course he could have bought old inventory? You just thinking it's a newer gun?

I was just going by the OP statement about the approx. ages of each gun. It is possible that ages of production and purchase dates (new/old stock) could certainly swap up the possible solutions.

Regardless, I'd still like that screwed up LH '06 <grin> although it has no issues.

[Dinsdale]

Regardless, I'd still like that screwed up LH '06 <grin> although it has no issues.

It's screwy enough just having the bolt handle all messed up and installed on the wrong side.

[silent death]

my dads remington 700 bdl in 7mm mag that he gave me.. was bought when they first came out in the early 60s he said. the bolt wont move with the safety on at all . not until the safety is off can you load the gun . which dont matter to me because of the bottom feed with the hinge floor plant and the gun has never had any custom work done to it at all

we called remington with the serial numbers on the gun and it was not on their recall list. they also said that the newer 700 rifles wer made differant. so if you have a early 70 or a rem 700 from the 60's yours will be differant from the new ones . ill take my old 700 over a new one anyday most of the new rifles today are synthetic crap .

Edited July 15, 2012 by hung4wheeler

[Larry]

my 700's that i got in the 80's don't open when the safety is on

[ants]

I bought this gun in 86 or 87. It's a great rifle. I just been thinking about the bolt thing ever since I checked out my brother inlaws gun.

I also have a Ruger bolt action and in the past have owned a couple Winchester 70's. None of those would open up with the safety on. I'll call Remington this week.

Thanks for the info.

[Suilleabhain]

There is arunning issue with remington on the 700 safety issue. They say they cannot duplicate the

problem in testing so they won't do a recall. A said, they changed the trigger mechanism and took a small part out of the trigger assembly. This part in the failures let the firing pin drop on closing the bolt and in some cases it just dropped on its own when on safe. You can find cases and Remington responses all over the 'net about it. Its a shame they let a gun like that get a bad rap. When you consider it was one of the go-to early sniper rifles in Viet Nam it was so good as well as a great hunting rifle.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

This has NOTHING to do with any safety issue with teh 700's. it is a feature difference. I have owned both types and know others that do also. Personally I like the old style of leaving gthe safety engaged and being able to open the bolt. It makes for very safe unloading. The "complaint" that initiated the modification of having to take the safety off to operate the bolt was the fact that the bolt handle could get bumped in the over the shoulder carry positionand a round would get expelled fromteh gun. I think the Rugers have a 3 position safety to avoid this problem.

Anyways --readers digest version---just 2 different features...not a malfunction.

[Elmo]

My 700 opens with the safety on. I have one of the newer ones. I also have a Savage. Savage also uses the 3 point safety. I agree. Not being able to open the bolt with the safety on is a safety issue.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I think Remington was doing a retro fit if you didn't want the locking bolt feature....so it would open with the Safety engaged.

[Lawdwaz]

I bought this gun in 86 or 87. It's a great rifle. I just been thinking about the bolt thing ever since I checked out my brother inlaws gun.

I also have a Ruger bolt action and in the past have owned a couple Winchester 70's. None of those would open up with the safety on. I'll call Remington this week.

Thanks for the info.

What did Big Green say?

[ants]

I finally called Remington today. They said that guns made prior to 1983 would have the locking action. (the bolt is locked with the safety on) After 83 the bolt can be worked with the safety on. They said it was a safety issue.

[ants]

I finally called Remington today. They said that guns made prior to 1983 would have the locking action. (the bolt is locked with the safety on) After 83 the bolt can be worked with the safety on. They said it was a safety issue.

[Lawdwaz]

I finally called Remington today. They said that guns made prior to 1983 would have the locking action. (the bolt is locked with the safety on) After 83 the bolt can be worked with the safety on. They said it was a safety issue.

So your buddies is an older model than you thought. Both those are nice guns of a great vintage.

[ants]

_{Yeah I would have guessed mine was way older. His looks like new. At least I know}

[ants]

_{Yeah I would have guessed mine was way older. His looks like new. At least I know}

[defrazzle]

I have a 700BDL in .308 with a serial number of 66280. That's right, only 5 numbers! it was bought new in 1962-63. Bolt does not open with safety on!

[ants]

I actually found the receipt today. I bought the gun in October of 1986 at Dick's.$430

[WNYBuckHunter]

Mine is a few years old. You can work the bolt with the safety on. I wouldnt want it any other way.

[ants]

Makes sense. You dont want to take the gun off safe to empty the chamber.