Here's a whatisit for discussion....

A friend just returned from a hunt in Mozambique. He described a problem he encountere with his rifle that would not allow him to fire a follow up second shot.

It's a Model 700 Remington, 375H&H with a factory trigger/safety on it. Had about 150 rounds through it, been on two (African) hunting trips.

Towards the end of the hunting trip, the trigger failed on it. Happened three times. Specifically, with cartridges in the magazine, he would take off the safety and fire the first shot. Cycling the bolt, the trigger would "lock" up. However, it would function as a single shot when there were no cartridges in the magazine. i.e., if cartridges are fed one at a time into the chamber, no problem.

I told him to replace the trigger/safety assembly, have the bolt stripped and cleaned, and chalk it up to a mystery. That's probably what he will do.

But, has anybody experienced this and solved the mystery as to why the first shot will fire, but not the second shot?

[ 08-21-2003, 07:13: Message edited by: Matt Norman ]

Matt,

This is the first I've ever heard of such a problem with a Remington trigger. If the trigger locked up every time the bolt were cycled I would say that the safety was being bumped. But to lock up after the first shot, and then only when the magazine was loaded doesn't make sense.

Something within the magazine assembly ie. the cartridges, the box, or the spring and follower would have to make physical contact with the trigger to cause such a problem. I can't immagine any scenario that would explain this particular behavior.

I would strip the trigger assembly down and give it a thorough and detailed cleaning. If you discover the cause, I would sure be interested in hearing about it...

Good luck,

Malm

Matt

Nearly all of the trigger problems I've encountered on Rem 700's were caused by oil getting in the assembly and then gumming up. Nearly everyone stores their guns muzzle up, when they apply excess amounts of oil and solvents to the gun and store it guess where the stuff migrates to.

Most likely your friend's problem can be solved by detail disassembly of the trigger mechanism and thorough cleaning, de-greasing and de-burring. Then reassemble using only dry lube such as Dri-Slide on the pins only, dont lube any thing else. Then adjust all the adjustment screws properly with a minimum of .030 inch sear engagement. Be sure to adjust for a little more over travel than minimum, if not you could experience sporatic failures to fire like you just described.