Rem 742 need to know info

[d2wing]

Allmanns in Waterville Minnesota used to convert 742's to 460 pumps. There is not much different except the fore arm, slides and gas tube and port. I don't think they do it anymore.

 

[cheygriz]

I had a brand new one in .30-06. Being familiar with it's weaknesses, I used only handloads with 150 grain Speer or Hornady bullets and 4895 powder ( light M-1 Garand charges.)

It was handy, the ergonomics were near perfect. I loved this rifle. The action was completely destroyed in less than 2000 rounds.

I'd buy another one tomorrow if they were built to last.

 

[Slamfire]

The Remington 760 pumps were a much better rifle than the autos. I can't tell you how many of the 740 series autos came into the shop for repair for malfunction issues. Unless a 740 series rifle was like brand new we wouldn't even take one in on trade... The bolt isn't supported very well and as it wears it naturally gets sloppier to the point where the locking lugs begin to get chewed up with use. Once the guns have several hundred rounds fired through them it's easy to spot the wear on the lugs, that's when the malfunctions start... The later models in the series with larger and fewer lugs were better than the earlier ones but I would expect a high round count with any of them...

I would have to dig around to find a vintage review in one of those for profit in print Gun Magazines, but I doubt the evaluator shot more than 50 rounds total, and what you are describing, is another reason those guys really don't wring out the rifles they writing about. They don't want the thing to fail!

 

[rbernie]

Since the BHO is part of the magazine and not part of the receiver, you'll need three hands to clear the inevitable feed jam (which happened often for me, especially with HP bullets) - one hand to hold the rifle, one to hold the bolt open after you've dropped the magazine out of the way, and the third one one to pry the round out of the feed ramp. Ugh.

I'll never have another.

 

[Elkins45]

Since the BHO is part of the magazine and not part of the receiver, you'll need three hands to clear the inevitable feed jam (which happened often for me, especially with HP bullets) - one hand to hold the rifle, one to hold the bolt open after you've dropped the magazine out of the way, and the third one one to pry the round out of the feed ramp. Ugh.

I'll never have another.

I have never understood why they designed the magazine that way.

 

[SwampWolf]

Not especially relevant but Winchester's answer to the Remington was their fine Model 100. I killed my first deer with one, chambered in .308, back in 1964. The Model 100 semi-auto rifle was discontinued decades ago, though you can still find affordable ones from time to time at gun shows and pawn shops. Mine was well-made, accurate and reliable but it should be noted that there was a safety recall issued for the Model 100 involving a problem with the firing pin.

 

[Slamfire]

Mine was well-made, accurate and reliable but it should be noted that there was a safety recall issued for the Model 100 involving a problem with the firing pin.

The Win 100 would slamfire. It had a free floating firing pin. When it came on the market, the "smart guys" were telling everyone that the only causes of slamfires were "your worn out receiver bridge and high primers.". The "smart guys" had been educated by the US Army Ordnance Bureau, who did not want to admit that their service rifle would periodically slamfire, given a sensitive enough primer. So would the M14, and I have a Army Test report from the early 1960's, where a factory new M14 slamfired out of battery, in an Army endurance test, with issue ammunition. I don't know why that report is not on the web, I got a paper copy from a book box of literature from an estate sale. The Army Ordnance Bureau fabricated a coverup about their rifles, many still believe it, but since the advent of hundreds of thousands of AR15's, enough slamfires with factory ammunition have more or less shown that sensitive primers are the primary cause of slamfires. It turns out, the high primer excuse is also bogus. High primers are a very common source of misfires, because the primer won't ignite if the anvil is not firmly seated in the pocket.

The Gun Club President had/has a Win 100. He sent it off to Winchester and told me they did a "firing pin fix". The rifle still slamfired. Anyone owning a Win 100 should only use mil spec primers, which are the least sensitive primers on the market. And they should always full length resize cases with a small base die, to ensure that the bolt closes without resistance.

This is a M1 Carbine action, functionally similar to the Garand and M14. The firing pin retraction cam is simpler to cut. There are a number of posted in battery and out of battery slamfires with carbines, M1 Garands, and M1a's. Functionally, they all have the same issues. The action is able to slamfire in battery, once the firing pin is clear to rebound off the primer.



And worse, if the bolt is slowed down, by a long or fat case, the firing pin will rebound off the primer, and the lugs are not in battery.

[/QUOTE]

While I don't have a Win 100 to detail inspect, from the exploded diagrams I have seen, I have plenty of confidence those rifles can also slamfire in battery, and also out of battery.

 

[FL-NC]

I've never had one, and I've never heard anything good about them. I nearly bought one years ago in 243, but a knowledgeable friend advised me to buy a 700 in 243 for accuracy and reliability.

 

[DM~]

Over the years, we had two Winchester 100's... Both of them would go full auto at times, so both were sent back down the road.

DM...

 

[EIB0879]

I have a 742 in 30-06 circa 1971 that I inherited from my father. I don't use it anymore but I killed a lot of deer with it. It wasn't very accurate but accurate enough for hunting.

I had a 742 in 30-06 that i got as a teenager in 1976, but sold several years later and bought a BAR in 7mm RM. The BAR was a much better rifle.

My BIL has one of the original 742s and he still uses it.

 

[hdbiker]

I hunted and range shot a 742 for 40 years or so, a .308 carbine. Always shot my own loads, 165 grain round nose bullet over IMR 4064 powder. The rifle was never what you'd call accurate, about 2 1/2 inches on a good day at 100 yards,but it never jammed or failed me !!! Always hunted in the heavy Wisconsin woods where shots were always less than 100 yards. The 742's that used the longer ctgs, 30-06, .270, .280 seemed to batter the inside of the receivers, some to the point of destruction. The .308, .243's not at all. I pulled the barrel and bolt out a couple times for a good cleaning, but mostly just sprayed the action good with Gun Scrubber, and compressed air and a good spray of Rem Oil. that rifle ALWAYS performed very well and I know I killed 50-60 deer with it . hdbiker

 

[Bushpilot]

Here is an excerpt from:

https://www.leeroysramblings.com/Gun Articles/remington_7407427400_semiauto.html

He has a LOTS of very useful gun and gunsmithing info on his site that is well worth a look....

This is a better and more thorough explanation of the wear problems the 740/742/7400 series rifles have that I was referring to...

"In the photo below, look at the rear scope mount hole (LH one). Directly below this hole you can see 5 regularly shaped bumps in the guide rail slot, these are caused by rearward inertia of the bolt's 5 locking lugs when they come to an abrupt stop at the rearward end of the stroke of the whole operating system inside the forearm and receiver. Over time, it just keeps being battered more and more to where it can become so bad that the slide unit may become bound up rearward. There is another spot here that is worn but hard to see in this photo, that is again in this guide rail slot, below the front (RH) screw hole and almost to the 2nd hole. This is also caused by the bolt lugs, but not to the same degree of damage, and more of a scraping situation which is caused at the initial unlock stage of the locking lugs.

What you will usually experience when these rails get chewed up like this is the bolt unit may get stuck rearward, or part way forward. But if it fails to close completely it is usually not caused by this, but a bad chamber or ammo, or for an early gun a unscrewed barrel lug extension (as mention below).

In the 7400 series rifles, this problem was eliminated by machining out a wider/shallow dovetail in the inside upper part of the receiver and inserting a hardened steel insert to guide the bolt lugs better. They also changed the small multiple locking lugs on the bolt to less and larger lugs."