I broke my Remington 740

[possom813]

I'm not sure what happened, but would like some opinions.

Yesterday we went to sight in the borrowed scope(Nikon 5.5-16.5x40) I've always had the low profile scope mounts so we had to change the scope mount to an ar-15 mount. It looked a little overkill for the Remington, but it would work until payday.

Anyways, had to preface the conditions. We get down to the range and set up the sandbags at about 25 yards to start. We shot a few rounds out of the Gp100 and his Rock River 1911(which I have to get one of those). We got to the 30-06 and zero'd the scope. He spotted for the first shot and it hit high left about 10 feet. So we adjusted and hit high left about 6 feet.

We kept adjusting and shooting. He sat down to try to hit the paper and his 3rd shot misfired. We got the shell out and it appeared that the firing pin barely tapped the primer at all. We put in another magazine and I fired 2 shots and let the barrel cool for a little bit and we shot .22's for a while. I sat down to shoot again and the 3rd bullet fired and the 4th did the same as before.

We still hadn't hit the 1'x2' target with the rifle so I loaded another magazine and walked to within about 25 feet and started to pull the slide back. The slide will not move. I don't know what else to say about it. I cannot pull the bolt back at all.:banghead: I talked to my dad about it and he said that this rifle had done this once before in the mid 80's. Bear in mind, this gun was a "closet queen" and since this happened the last time I would seriously doubt that more than 1,000 rounds have gone through it. I've had it for almost 8 years and haven't put more than maybe 200 through it. It was never a big hunting gun, it's just nice to shoot and have on the atv when you're out and about.

Any ideas on what happened, or a good gunsmith who isn't going to charge me an arm and a leg to fix it. Our local gunsmith is decent, but his prices aren't, I don't know the going rate, but 150 bucks to replace a hammer spring on a single shot seems kind of expensive.

Thanks,
John

 

[rcmodel]

Pull the borrowed scope mount off and see if it frees it up.

You may have a too-long screw sticking through and binding up the bolt inside.


rcmodel

 

[Gustav]

A couple of things I would check for first and foremost I would remove the scope base and rings some times a longer base mounting screw interferes with the bolts travel.

On the old Remington 740 and later 742 you have IIRC 19 small bolt locking lugs which along with the chamber barrel and gas system have to be kept clean which can be a pain in the a@*

Rust crud and residue all can cause the action to jam up or stick.
In the worst cases its not that the cruddies have caused the jam but either damage to the lugs or barrels breech.

Also the barrel is held in pace by a nut which keeps the barrel tensioned against the receiver, check to make sure the nut is tight.

Because of the constant complaints with these rifles Remington later came out with the 7400 and now the 750 rifles, too many problems with the 740 and 742's.
A bolt redesign was done on the later series rifles and now on the 750 a different gas port as well.

Also check you ammunition sometimes it can be the culprit.

Once you can check and thoroughly clean your rifles bolt and chamber (use a chamber brush) then inspect carefully each part closely for wear or signs of abuse.

Pay attention to each of the bolt lugs and the chamber the gas port the guide rails (look for galling or excessive wear) the barrel retention nut the operating rods the main spring and main spring guide and of coarse the trigger hammer and sear should all be in good condition.

These rifles have been know to have more than a few lemons among the ones out there even when new, some work great others seemed destined to be wrapped around the nearest tree

They were designed as hunting rifles to be carried allot and not so often shot.

These rifles can be fussy and a pain, when they work they work great but they do require extra TLC and cleaning.

Hope you can get yours up and running again.

 

[possom813]

Alrighty, I should have clarified a little. We did pull the scope off first to check it out, however, the scope mounting base was the same used, we changed from the weaver mounts to the over-sized scope mount, but the base remained the same.

The guy that was with me is much more knowledgeable about semi-autos than I am, so he's stripping to see what may have happened. If he can't figure it out, it'll end up at the gunsmith eventually. But as of now, I'm looking at replacements, not repairs.

So what does everyone think of the 770 chambered in .270?

 

[DnPRK]

Forget the770. Remington renamed the 710 because the 710 had such a poor reputation. Save up for a Remington 700ADL. Its not much more than the 770.