Rem 7400 opinions

[streetstang67]

I've got a remington 7400 autoloader in .30-06. Its synthetic and i've changed the stock to one with a pistol grip on it. Anyway, I recently began reloading brass to allow me to shoot the .30-06 over and over without killing my wallet. I have had some issues with the spent casings not ejecting. what do you think could be the cause of this? its probably something with the way i've reloaded the casings but mabye not.

Anyway, mainly I want to know what yal think of the 7400. Generally i gather people don't really like it, but i haven't really had too many issues with it. I use mine for deer hunting and target shooting (simply becuase i haven't bought a 'plinking' gun yet).

 

[rbernie]

If it works for you and you like it, then why give a fig what others think?

 

[streetstang67]

your right, but i'll be buying other rifles hopefully soon and I don't know how the 7400 compares to them

 

[Grunt]

I would guess that a failure to eject may be a sign of a dirty gun. However, taking apart a 7400 for cleaning is NOT any kind of fun!

 

[rbernie]

I would guess that a failure to eject may be a sign of a dirty gun.

That's the classic 742/7400 problem, caused by...

taking apart a 7400 for cleaning is NOT any kind of fun!

It's worse than not fun - I'd rather have hot tar poured up my nostrils while hanging upsidedown and chewing tin foil than try to detail-strip and clean a 7400.

but i'll be buying other rifles hopefully soon and I don't know how the 7400 compares to them

The 7400 works OK, and is probably the least expensive semiauto rifle that you can get in a major caliber. Other rifles can be found that are more accurate and that are easier to clean and that can actually feed and shoot hollowpoint bullets and that are semiauto in operation - but they will all cost a lot more.

It all depends on what you want. Do you want another semiauto? Do you want a different caliber, or a more accurate rifle? All those sorts of things will play into the determination of the suitability of the 7400.

For someone who wants a scoped semiauto 30-06 for less than $400 and can live with a 2MOA rifle, the 7400 is king. Remove those constraints and all sorts of options fall into place.

 

[R.W.Dale]

When I bought my 7400 used I completely disassembled the rifle and gave everything a through cleaning. 140 rds later no malfunctions as of yet I've only punched the barrel once since then. If you're the kind of guy who changes your
own sparkplugs dissasembly and reassembly should be no problem.


You state that you are reloading for your rifle, what powder and charges are you using light charges of faster powders can cause shortstroking of semiautomatics. The best advice I can give is when selecting powders and bullet weights for a 7400 treat it as if you were loading for Garand.


Overall I'm quite impressed with the rifles perfoemance. If I let the barrel cool COMPLETELY between shots MOA 3 shot groups are rather common for my example.

 

[streetstang67]

Well I don't mind cleaning the gun, but once again I have no other rifles to compare the cleaning process to. What is so bad about cleaning the 7400? Mabye I haven't been completely cleaning it because I haven't found it agrivating...what are the procedures for cleaning this gun?

I think my only wish is that the gun would be more accurate. I already got a new stock to fit me better, it is longer and has a pistol grip. I feel pretty comfortable holding and shooting it. What could I do to make it more accurate?

BTW the scope is a Weatherby Supreme 3-9 x 44; I don't know much about it other than it was given to me for free. Mabye a better scope is needed, I have no other scopes to compare this one to, therefore I don't know if its really good or a piece of crap.

 

[Grunt]

The cleaning process isn't all that hard and is really not much different than any other firearm. It's the taking the beast apart that will give you fits! In order to get the bolt out, you have to remove the barrel. The barrel is retained by a nut that is put on by a gorilla at the Remington factory and is positioned in a spot where the operating rod makes removing it that much more difficult. I've seen plenty of nuts rounded by open-end wrenchs that didn't get enough bite on the nut to overcome the torque required without buggering it up. If you are going to take the nut off the get the barrel off to get the bolt out, you would do well to get the wrench from Brownells that is made specifically to get that nut off.

 

[streetstang67]

When I take this gun out to shoot for a while, its not uncommon for me to go through 50 shots in 30 minutes to an hour. Does this heat the gun up to a 'hazardous' level? What problems emerge if the gun/barrel gets too hot? What would happen if I shot 50 rounds in 5 minutes?

The cleaning process....I have only removed the barrel once and that was before sighting in my scope. I don't remove it every time i clean the gun because I'm worried it will no longer be sighted in with the scope. will removing the barrel affect accuracy?

 

[Karbon]

Depending on the range temperature, you very well could be heating the barrel up too much. Hot barrels, repeatedly shot, can wreak havoc on accuracy and barrel life. Yesterday at the range up here in WI, I could only shoot 19 rounds in 3 hours with out getting the barrel of my .270wsm Tikka too hot. (uncomfortable in the hand…) Granted I tried to keep the barrel as cool as possible and when I did get it a bit hot, the bullets started to fan out, plus 1-2 inches.

Now for 50 in 5 min...

My guess is you would have little as far as results, a red hot barrel (with all the negatives of shooting one), a sore shoulder and a ton of fun.