Remington 742

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scaatylobo

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Just picked it up and I am hoping to find a decent gun smith to cut & crown the barrel [ I want it 16" or 18" ].

And have a set of peep sights on the rear.

I would also like to have it refinished in a matt black or hard coated finish that will not mar while in the woods.

Any suggestions ?,thanks
 
I'd be pretty concerned about cutting it that short (16").

The rifle is gas operated, and if you shorten the barrel that much, you may decrease gas pressure dwell time at the gas port to the point it will fail to cycle.

Maybe somebody will come along that has done it successfully?
I don't know.

But I know if you don't have enough gas pressure dwell time after the bullet clears the gas port?

You will have a bolt-action instead of a semi-auto.

rc
 
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The 742 was made in a carbine version with am 18.5" barrel. Try to find one. As was said above cutting down a rifle can be done. Unless the smith doing the work knows what he is doing and how much to open up the gas ports in the barrel it will never function properly. Too small on the ports and it won't function. Too big and it will beat itself to pieces.

Oh BTW, have you ever shot a 16" barreled 30-06?
 
I would never cut down a barrel to 16", ask Randy Weaver why. So far as the hard coated finish, it is hard/impossable to beat Black-T. Can send a link if interested, William Birdsong's (God rest his soul) finishes are world renound for being the best, and his sons do all the alphabet soup agencies weapons.
 
I had a 742 carbine in 30-06 at one time. Took several head of game with it. One thing for sure. You DID NOT have to ask if it went off when you pulled the trigger. You KNEW!!! Dxxx, it was LOUD.

It went the way of all 742's. It quit working very well. Traded it for a S&W .44 special.
 
Thanks

I am happy to get all the input,and I am not afraid to have a 16" Federally & State legal length.
I am SURE no gunsmith would cut a barrel to illegal length by any means.
I would do the barrel myself [ have done shotguns a while back ] but I know that a rifle NEEDS to be crowned very carefully to keep accuracy.
I saw a 18.5" barreled one and passed on it,I am very sorry to say it would have been a steal as it was NIB and cheap at 800.00.
I have shot many short barreled rifles and I was planning on getting a hunters ear for just such reason.
I generally hunt with pistol [ T/C 35 rem & .44 Mag ] so I understand noise and ear damage.
I would like to hear from any that know of a smith that does the cutting/crowning and sight remounting.
And then hopefully a refinisher that was close to a gunsmith.

btw,found a 'lighter' 30-06 round made by FUSION,so hope it functions and works action.
 
I too have shot many short barreled rifles and long barreled pistols and am at a loss to the elevated noise comments, aside from the muzzle being a couple inches closer the blast contained in the barrel is pretty much the same. I agree that there may be some extra flash but even that has never struck me as extreme.
I stated in a similar thread and will again that I wouldn't chop every gun I have in the rack but until you have enjoyed the balance and effectiveness of a nice carbine in a fairly powerful caliber you really shouldn't knock it.
I have long believed that the 18.5" "carbine" length popular in many manufacturers catalogs has more to do with their ability to sell to the Canadian market than any loss in ballistic efficiency or loud noise or flash.
 
HOWEVER, A 760 makes a very functional carbine.

X-Rap,
Unless you load your own 30-06 with powders on the faster end you end up with a lot of flash and speeds more like a 300 Savage shooting a 06 out of a 16". A "Tanker" Garand with its 18" barrel is a sight to behold in low light.
 
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