Remington 740 questions.

[bigbomar4]

So my uncle just gave me an old 740 chambered in 30-06. On the out side it looks like it just came out of the box. As for the inside I dont really know. This gun has not been fired in several years. I can remove the fore stock and everything looks good there but I dont have any punches at home so I can not completly take it apart to inspect it. Every thing seems to work just fine other than firing it which I have not done yet. Should I wait till I can fully take down the gun and inspect it before I fire it? I have ran a brush down the barrel so I do know that it is clear. Also he gave me some old ammo that he had that the brass has turned green in a few places. Is this ammo still safe to shoot?

 

[hardluk1]

Well if the bore cleans up well give it a try with some new ammo. Sounds like the old ammo is not in good shap. It may not have any real shooting time .

 

[Abel]

The main thing with these rifles is to keep the chamber clean at all times. They have a tendency to jam. There are stories of gunsmiths who won't work on them and also stories of gunsmiths who have made a living making them work. Sight it in and only shoot it while hunting; it is not designed to be a target rifle.

I wouldn't fire the green ammo. Get some new ammo.

 

[T.R.]

740 is becoming a rare rifle. They were built 1955 - 1960. Remington stopped production because of ongoing complaints. Engineers fixed the problems and improved model was sold as the model 742.

TR

 

[Z71]

Use standard 150gr ammo...this helps prevent the receiver battering that plagues many of these rifles.

 

[Slamfire]

Go take a look at Wisner’s Gun Parts and the article they wrote about this series of rifles.

http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_info/Remington_7407427400.htm

Absolutely the chamber has to be kept clean.

Small base size for these rifles.

Do not hot load for the things. Use 150’s around 2700 fps or less. Modern 30-06 ammunition is a lot hotter and faster than what was used in the 50's. Use fast burning powders, follow Garand reloading advice: nothing faster than IMR 3031 and nothing slower than IMR 4064. I would think IMR 3031 is better than IMR 4064 in terms of quick pressure drop.

I would think a load of a 150 grain bullet with 47.0 grains IMR 4895 would be excellent for this mechanism. You can read how excessive pressure beats up the rails.