Paul,
I agree with you except your second paragraph.
"....And this in not the problem in this particular recall. They are simply saying the safety may or may not work every time, not that the gun is discharging on its own. "
The problem was indeed that the rifles were firing when the safety was taken off and no pull on the trigger, i.e. going off by themselves.
Had he lived, Gus Barber would have turned 10 years old this week. CBS News told you his story last February, just months after his mother's Remington Model 700 rifle discharged and struck him in the stomach.
For Barb Barber, it is a moment stuck in time.
"I pulled the safety off and it fired. The gun went off. My finger was nowhere near the trigger. I had an open hand," she recalled.
Gus bled to death that winter day and one family's tragedy might have gone down as just another tragic gun accident until a curious thing happened, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart. One by one the Barbers' Montana neighbors reported that they, too, had experienced accidental discharges with Remington Model 700s. People like Sheriff T. Larson. "Took off the safety and the gun discharged," said Larson.
Personally a 700 needs a replacement trigger and safetyanyway. Lots of good trigger companies. Gentry makes a nice Model 70 style three position safety for the 700 with bolt lock down on rear most position. Amazing how long Remington chose to pretend that there was no problem, then when they "fixed it" it was a damn poor fix.