Remington Responds to CNBC Investigative Report

On October 20th, CNBC broadcast “Remington Under Fire”, a story attacking the safety record of Remington model 700 rifles. CNBC’s report suggests that the Rem 700 is unsafe because it can discharge merely from moving the safety or lifting the bolt, even if the trigger is not pulled. The show, which aired last night, has already created a big stir in the gun industry. Jason Schauble, VP of Remington Defense Division, responded in an NRA News interview just hours after the “documentary” aired. Schauble attacked CNBC’s “irresponsible programming”, stating that the problems trumpeted by CNBC could not be replicated by the manufacturer (or even by plaintiffs’ lawyers). CLICK HERE for the Schauble interview. Schauble argued, “CNBC squarely placed us in their cross-hairs… [with] a loosely strung-together series of data points that relied more on an emotional pull than the facts[.]”

Remington Launches Remington700.TV Website to Defend Product
Remington has challenged CNBC’s report, asserting that the Rem 700 has an excellent safety record. Remington also argues that CNBC’s “experts” were biased and lacked proper qualifications and knowledge. An official response by Remington states: “CNBC ignored facts and information provided by Remington and instead relied on allegations, misleading anecdotes, and false claims.” Remington has also launched a dedicated web-page, www.Remington700.tv to counter the CNBC report. On that site Remington states:

For nearly fifty years, the Remington Model 700 rifle has been the preferred choice for millions of hunters, shooting sports enthusiasts and military and law enforcement personnel. Despite emotional reporting of baseless and unproven allegations and plaintiff lawyer assertions, several undisputed facts remain:

• The Model 700 is the most popular, reliable, accurate and trusted bolt-action rifle in the world, with over five million rifles produced and billions of rounds fired over nearly five decades.
• The Model 700 is the firearm of choice for elite shooters from America’s military and law enforcement communities, and has been the platform for the United States Marine Corps and the U.S. Army precision sniper weapon systems for over two decades, both of which specifically require the “Walker” trigger mechanism.
• The Model 700, including its trigger mechanism, has been free of any defect since it was first produced and, despite any careless reporting to the contrary, the gun’s use by millions of Americans has proven it to be a safe, trusted and reliable rifle.
• Both Remington and experts hired by plaintiff attorneys have conducted testing on guns returned from the field which were alleged to have fired without a trigger pull, and neither has ever been able to duplicate such an event on guns which had been properly maintained and which had not been altered after sale.