TTAG scribes are working on a new batch of gun reviews. Ahead of that joyous firearms farrago, I came across a review of the Remington Model 700 50th Anniversary Edition on rifleshootermag.com. J. Scott Rupp’s piece stayed within the confines of the usual criticism-free zone, save for a kvetch that “the Allen screw on the X-Mark Pro trigger protruded from the trigger face.” And this little gem about a manufacturing issue . . .

I had only two gripes from my single day at the range, unfortunately a too-short time frame mandated by press deadlines. One, the hinged floorplate kept popping open. However, Remington jumped through a lot of hoops to get us the rifle in time to make this issue, and Lundgren told me that while the barreled action came off the manufacturing floor, the gun was assembled as a pre-production prototype by the engineering department. Had the rifle gone through the standard assembly process, this glitch surely would’ve been caught by quality control inspectors.

Are we sure about that, Freedom Group lovers? Oh, and then there’s this revealing comment:

I don’t care what anybody says: The two-position safety is fine just the way it is.

Would I be wrong to suggest that Mr. Rupp’s lack of sympathy for shooters who’ve been bitching about the 700’s two-position safety for decades indicates a certain antipathy to those who would criticize any gun about anything? Or have years of reading milquetoast gun reviews made me sensitive to proactive petulance?

In other words, fair enough?

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13 COMMENTS

  1. Lincoln is attributed with the quote:

    “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”

    That is what I think of the mainstream gun mags’ gear reviews.

  2. I would think that a pre-production build would receive extra quality checking, not less, when it’s a pre-production build aimed at displaying the ware to reviewers.

    Sure, things can always go wrong, and they especially go wrong on new products and on special builds, but if a plate is falling off, that would signal to me that they paid little attention to quality in the design phase. Something that fails after extensive use in a way unanticipated is excusable. Something that just falls off is not.

  4. “Had the rifle gone through the standard assembly process, this glitch surely would’ve been caught by quality control inspectors.”
    —–
    Aaaaannnd, bullshit. A hand-assembled piece should always be subjected to more scrutiny during the build process, not less. Especially if “the gun was assembled as a pre-production prototype by the engineering department.” Ya know, the guys who designed the f^ckin’ thing?

    • Yeah.

      If they know they’re sending it to be reviewed, they’ll be paying more attention to making sure it’s assembled properly and in working order, not less.

      Someone dropped the ball, bigtime.

  6. How can ANY Model 700 be a ‘pre-production prototype?’ As this gun’s floppy floorplate proudly announces, Remington has been making them for 50 years.

  7. I think that floorplate is tacky, they should actually do something special about the gun, like a unique barrel or stock, rather than a stupid floorplate with a saying silkscreened on it.

    How about a better trigger?

  10. I’ve hunted with two-position safety Remington 700’s for almost 40 years and never had a problem with the safety. Gun writers all seem to think the only safety worth a crap is the Winchester three- position safety. Fact is they’re both good. Stop whinnying about it.

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