Remington Litigation

Riff Law Firm Take Aim at Dangerous Remington Rifle Defects

In a December 20, 2015 CNBC exposé, the now deceased inventor of the Remington rifle trigger discussed a known design defect in millions of existing Remington rifles that has caused many of them to fire absent a trigger pull. In fact, the Remington engineer reported he proposed a safer design decades ago but the company rejected it because of the cost. Subsequently, every centerfire, bolt action rifle Remington produced since March 1948, with the exception of the Model 788, utilized a trigger connector fire control, and every one of the models over the years has exhibited similar and persistent forms of malfunctions, of which Remington received thousands of complaints.

Several incidents involved clients of Riff Law Firm, which has handled a number of Remington litigation cases over the years and settled its first Remington case in 2010. Those clients were the widow and sons of a man who was shot and killed when his Remington rifle fired without the trigger ever being pulled. Although the company denied any wrongdoing, a monetary settlement was reached with Remington in mediation before a lawsuit was ever filed.

Unfortunately, cases like these are common, as every year countless people are injured or killed as a result of firearm accidents. Some of these accidents, admittedly, are the result of careless users, but many more are the result of negligently designed or manufactured guns that discharge absent a trigger pull, such as the aforementioned Remington rifles, creating a catastrophic event just waiting to happen.

It should be noted that  Riff Law Firm is not an anti-gun law firm, as they are gun owners themselves. But they are an anti-defective-gun law firm, and have experience in handling defective gun cases against manufacturers, including Remington. The goal of Riff Law Firm is to do whatever it can to help those that have been harmed by defective guns and also prevent future catastrophic accidents from ever happening.

With gun control issues being front and center news these days, it’s a great time to let people know how dangerous the Remington guns are that have the old trigger mechanisms still in them. Guns often are passed down and stay in families for generations, so it’s of critical importance to let gun owners know that there are millions of Remington rifles out there that have that defective trigger mechanism.  Riff Law Firm hold gun manufacturers liable and accountable for their products until the dangerous designs are changed and the dangerous defects are fixed.

Attention:
Defective Remington Model 600 & 700 Bolt-Action Rifles
A CNBC Investigation – The Remington 700

Every year thousands of people are injured or killed as a result of firearm accidents. Admittedly, some of these accidents are the result of careless users. However, many more are the result of negligently designed or manufactured guns that discharge without the trigger ever being pulled. These are arguably among the most dangerous products on the market today because the people that own them have no idea of the latent product defect until the gun suddenly goes off without any warning…

Popular Remington 700 rifle linked to potentially deadly defect

Update: 12/18/2015:
Remington case shows court secrecy is dangerous

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Watch Online – Remington Under Fire

Defective Remington Model 600 & 700 Bolt-Action Rifles

Every year thousands of people are injured or killed as a result of firearm accidents. Admittedly, some of these accidents are the result of careless users. However, many more are the result of negligently designed or manufactured guns that discharge without the trigger ever being pulled. These are arguably among the most dangerous products on the market today because the people that own them have no idea of the latent defect until the gun suddenly goes off without any warning –without the trigger ever being pulled –and the result is often catastrophic. Defectively designed rifles can fire simply by being bumped or in some cases, like Remington, when the user has to move the safety into the “off” position which has to be done on some of their rifles just to unload it. In all of these examples, the gun is firing without anything ever pulling or even touching the trigger.

Riff Law Firm is not an anti-gun law firm. To the contrary, we own guns ourselves. However, we are an anti-defective gun law firm, and we have experience in handling defective gun cases against manufacturers, including Remington. Our firm goal, and often the goal of our clients, is to do whatever we can to help prevent future catastrophic accidents. That goal is usually accomplished by holding the gun manufacturers liable and accountable for their products until the dangerous defects are fixed.

Why Are These Bolt Action Rifles Defective?

The problem began in March 1948 when Remington released its Model 721 to the public. This rifle changed the process of building centerfire rifles to utilize cheaper manufacturing techniques and machinery developed during the just ended WW-II. It used, for the first time in big game rifles, stamped metal internal parts and major components were brazed together instead of forged in one piece. One of the unique features was a trigger that was based on other manufacturer’s prior design, but able to still be patented because they used an excess part inside the trigger housing called the connector. The patent is based on this connector piece as an attribute to the trigger. Every center fire, bolt action rifle Remington produced since March 1948, with the exception of the Model 788, utilized a trigger connector fire control, and every one of them over the years exhibited similar, and persistent forms of malfunctions. In 1962, Remington introduced the Model 700 bolt action rifle and they would go on to sell millions of these rifles, all of which had the same trigger connector fire control.

The connector wraps around the upper body of the trigger and is only kept in place by the tension from a spring. When the trigger is pulled, it and the connector moves forward allowing the sear to fall, thus firing the rifle. Since the connector is not physically attached to the trigger and has an angularity at the rear that acts on the sear, it separates from the trigger every time the gun is fired. The separation that occurs repeatedly between the trigger and the connector allows dirt and debris to fall into and become lodged in the space between the trigger and the connector.

As dirt and debris accumulate in the space or gap between the trigger and the connector, the connector’s position in relationship to the sear is altered and the security of the trigger is critically compromised. This is where the inherent danger lies. If the connector doesn’t return to its original position, the sear is not supported adequately and the trigger can trip without a pull or become extremely light so that the rifle fires as the bolt is closed, the bolt is opened, or, if the connector is totally out of position during the time the safety is ‘on’, the rifle will fire as the safety is released. And if that condition wasn’t dangerous enough by itself, consider also the fact that the Remington bolt action rifles were designed in such a way that required the safety to be in the “off” position to open and close the bolt. The result was that many rifles were being reported to have fired when the safety was released as the shooter attempted to unload the rifle!

It wasn’t until 1982 that Remington finally changed the design to at least allow the guns to be unloaded while the safety remained on. Pre-1982 guns should be modified as soon as possible to allow them to be unloaded while the safety is ON.

Remington not only knew internally about the inherent danger of their trigger connector fire control, they received thousands of complaints from customers about the rifles firing absent trigger pulls, and many of the catastrophic accidents that resulted therefrom. Remington addressed this problem they called “tricking” in their January 2, 1979 Product Safety Subcommittee meeting and in the minutes from that meeting that were entitled “Safe Gun Handling” (see link below).

Remington documents dating back to as early as 1948 (only a few months after the trigger connector fire control was introduced to the market) address their knowledge of the dangerous conditions being created by the unique connector which caused the rifles to fire without the trigger being touched or pulled. They could have redesigned the fire control at any time, and in fact commissioned studies over the years to do just that, but it wasn’t until 2006 that Remington finally introduced the newly designed connector-less trigger, the X-Mark Pro.

If a Remington center-fire rifle trigger has grooves in the front of it, it also has a connector.

While their new bolt action rifles are being sold with the connector-less trigger, millions of rifles are still being used with the inherently dangerous connector still inside the trigger housing. Despite their knowledge of this dangerous condition that exists in every connector style trigger, Remington chose not to recall the Model 700 rifles and to this day won’t even warn the unsuspecting users of the likely catastrophic accidents that are just waiting to happen.

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