700 safety lever

[bukfevr]

I own a 1990 Model 700 ADL in .270.  The safety is really stiff when going from safe to fire position.  It almost feels like it is stuck sometimes.  It comes back to the safe position from fire position easily though.  Is this normal on this rifle?  If not, what's the fix for this?  I have thought about trading this rifle for a newer model 700 BDL in 30-06, but after reading some of these post I'm not so sure about this.  I hate to be sorry as this rifle shoots really well. 

[NYH1]

I have two model 700's. The safeties on both are a little stiff. Not to the point of getting stuck though. I want to have the safeties changed to a three position after market safety, might even have the trigger's changed too. I really don't know what has to be done to do this. I don't know of any good gun smiths in my area (Central New York) to have it done. Gander Mountain has a gun smith but I don't know what he can or can't do!

You might want to find a good gunsmith and have him/her check it out. No sense of getting rid of a good shooting rifle if you can get it fixed. It might not even cost that much to do it. Good luck! 

[Chuck White]

I'd suggest taking it apart and giving the safety a good cleaning before taking it to a gunsmith!
Could be just gunked up!

[sniperVLS]

Getting rid of a rifle that shoots good due to a safety being sticky? Thats just asking for more headaches.

Strip it down and look at it yourself. If tinkering with it doesnt help, take it to a smith, it should be a quick, cheap job unless he makes more problems than really exist. Make sure hes reputable if you go that route

I wouldnt even sweat the safety issue if it shoots great. I recently lightened the pull on the VLS myself and I am in no way very handy when it comes to such things. A monkey could do it with the right directions. I kicked myself for not doing this 20 years earlier.

Good luck and let us know what happens....

[ScoutMan]

Go with Sniper.

Take the rifle out of the stock. Go to your favorite Wally World and get a can of brake pad cleaner. Spray the living sh$t out of the whole trigger area. If you have a friendly mechinic, go to his shop and have ihim go over that area with the air hose. "Lightly lube contact points with graphite or some other dry lubricate. If this works, you don't have to break it down any further.

[bukfevr]

Getting rid of a rifle that shoots good due to a safety being sticky? Thats just asking for more headaches.

I should clarify what I meant on my original post.  I wasn't going to get rid of the rifle because of the safety, I had just been thinking of trading for a BDL in 30-06.  I'm not real sure about trading this gun now because of some of the posts on here about the new models.  Maybe I should just keep my rifle since I know what I have now.  My bad on that...should have explained it better.  Sorry!  I'll take it apart and clean it good and see what I can find. Thanks for the info!

[sniperVLS]

For every complaint about a bad remmy rifle posted on a forum, there's 5,000 others who dont complain because the Remington they bought is just fine

I have 7 new models, well models bought within the past 4 years anyways, and all are as good as or better than anything I bought 20 years ago that also had Remington stamped on it.

[bukfevr]

Well I took my rifle apart and the trigger and safety are as clean as a pin.  The ONLY thing I can come up with is the little silver detent ball fits in the hole for the "SAFE" position way too well.  It's really hard to get the ball to start out of that hole when you push on the safety lever.  The "FIRE" hole is beveled all the way around which explains why it is so much easier to move from "FIRE" to "SAFE".  Don't know what else to do now.   Any ideas?

[beemanbeme]

That flat cover over the little ball acts somewhat like a spring.  A little judicous prying with a flat bladed screw driver can ease some of the tension. 

[Argonaut]

I recently purchased a Rem 700 Varmint rifle in .222 that was made in '68 but looked like new. But the guy who owned it before must have at least fooled with the trigger at least once. As the hammer fell about 30 % of the time when i slipped off the safety. I could not adjust it until I got the ol can of brake pad cleaner and washed out 30 years of gummed up oil. after that, I addjusted it properly and it works great. But I never have trusted a remington safety, because you have to slide it off to open the bolt on a loaded chamber. Woman in montana killed her own son a couple of years ago because of this very problem.    Always have a gunsmith check the safety if you are planning to buy a used remington rifle, cause if there is a screw slot, someone will but a screwdriver in it and turn it!

[wncchester]

I agree with ScoutMan and Argonaut, clean a Remmy trigger at least once a year with carborator or brake cleaner and relube with something that won't dry out and gum up.  I use ATF fluid, its good and won't gum.  Others use graphite, Dri-Slide, lighter fluid, etc, and have good luck with them so I don't think it's critical what we use but it is critical that we keep the trigger mechanism clean.

There is no way for any of us to prove it but I believe the "problem" with Rem triggers unintentionally firing is due to a build-up of gummed internal oils, likely uncleaned from years of use.  That's the only thing I can see that would keep the disconnector from sliding properly and allow the piece to fire when coming off SAFE.     

In fact, I think I'm gonna go clean mine again, right now!