Defense In Depth In Firearms Design And Operation
BY Herschel Smith
9 years, 10 months ago
We’ve discussed the Remington 700 trigger issues at length, here, here and here. There is no reason to rehearse what I’ve said, but this report (and the associated comments are interesting).
Brent Bachert had just gotten finished with killing an impala buck when he shot himself in the left leg below the knee, according to the lawsuit his attorney filed in Will County court.
Bachert “and others were hunting near Bend, Texas” when he shot himself after killing the impala, the lawsuit said.
Impalas are “ found in open woodlands and grasslands of Africa,” according to the website Animal Files, and not in Texas. The lawsuit did not mention how the impala made its way to Texas for Bachert to kill it in November 2013.
But Bachert, an “experienced hunter,” according to his lawsuit, did kill the impala. And soon after suffered his own wound.
“After successfully shooting an impala buck, (Bachert) chambered a fresh round, and moved the safety selector on the rifle to ‘safe’ position,” the lawsuit said. Bacher “then approached the animal. (He) rested the rifle across the torso of the animal, pointed away from (himself). As (Bachert) reached away from the gun to reposition the animal’s head, and without making contact with the rifle in any way, the rifle fired, striking (him) in the left lower leg below the knee.”
This was not Bachert’s fault, the lawsuit said, as the Remington Model 700 bolt action rifle he had purchased two months prior to the accident “contained a dangerously defective ‘Walker’ fire control system that may (and often does) fire without a trigger pull upon release of the safety, movement of the bolt, or when jarred or bumped.” Bachert was “not aware of the defective and dangerous propensity of the rifle to fire without a trigger pull, and did not receive a warning from Remington of this dangerous condition, either before or after said purchase.”
Bob Owens responds thusly:
On April 9, 2015 at 10:24 pm, Haywood Jablome said:
Bob Owens = Who cares!
On April 10, 2015 at 11:20 am, John Miller said:
African herd animals are common in areas of southern Texas. There are enclosed ranches that offer hunts for these exotic species as they are called there.
On April 10, 2015 at 11:57 am, Mack said:
“[S]afety related systems are designed with redundancy.”
Yes! Engineers understand that implicitly.
On April 10, 2015 at 3:59 pm, Ned Weatherby said:
I’ve personally seen this happen with a Model 700 in 8mm Mag. You don’t want an eight mm mag firing when you mess with the safety selector – even if it’s pointed in a safe direction. That specific rifle now wears a different trigger.
On April 11, 2015 at 8:52 am, StBernardnot said:
I bought a used 760 that would fire while pumping the action. Took it back & the dealer replaced the innards with new parts. Bromley’s in Mason City, Iowa. Retired now, but he did right by me.