Remington 740, 742, 7400

Blacksmoke said:

That occurred to me. I even thought about A "Spanish Hornet" or a Turkish Mauser in 7 X 57. Both with proven ability to give offenders a haircut at 400 yards!

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Ooof...7mm Mauser is pricey and hard to get these days. Spanish FR8s are around if you look a bit, and are great military .308 rifles. Love mine, and the ammos readily available and mid-priced....

The CMP is listing Garands, Field Grades for $630 and Service Grades for $730.

http://thecmp.org/cmp_sales/rifle_sales/m1-garand/

I can not disagree with the comments in the thread. I have owned a 742 in .30-06 for many years. I have shot many deer in the deep woods. I hunt in the cold. On two ocasions, I got my deer with the first shot and the second round failed to chamber. It is a rifle that is difficult to trust. Last year, it was retired to the back of the gunsafe. My youngest son even shot his first two deer with it.

I inherited my dad’s Browning BAR. There is no comparison between the two. Browning is smooth and fast and dependable. The Rem 742 is loud, clunky and slow to cycle.

I purchased an Abolt in .30-06 and I currently own a Tikka in 6.5x55.

I would avoid all versions. Everyone I know has dumped their 7400 “jam-o-matic” and moved on.

Swanee

Blacksmoke said:

That occurred to me. I even thought about A "Spanish Hornet" or a Turkish Mauser in 7 X 57. Both with proven ability to give offenders a haircut at 400 yards!

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I thought of two that might fit your bill-
Egyptian Hakim: Semi-auto, 8mm Mauser, easily effective at 400yd, military tough battle rifle- can be found around here in the $6-700 range. The ammo is a little pricey and hard to come by, but If you stock up on Prvi Partisan or Sellier and Bellot its not too bad.
French MAS 49/56: Originally chambered in 7.5mm French, but this ammo is getting very scarce. However, most of them in the USA were imported by Century Arms and converted to .308. The conversion is not 100% successful reliable, however all that is usually needed to make these run great is a chamber honing and installing a gas regulator- the net is full of instructions to cheaply and easily do this. Afterwards, these are awesome battle rifles that are built like tanks! Around here (and on Armslist), Ive seen them regularly in the $4-500 range. Might be worth lookin into!

Lever action 30-30 for what you want is hard to beat.

Whats "giving you problems" at 400yds? If it's 2 legged a good AR will give you range, accuracy and mag capacity. Plus they're cheaper than a Garand. If it's 4 legged then a good bolt action in .308 with detachable mags may work. I can't thing of anything closing in fast from 400yds that you can't get off multiple shots with a BA. Unless it's the Road Runner or bullets.

for what its worth, 400 yards is easily in the range of even a 16" 5.56 rifle. Mini's, and AR's have the peep sites. They may not knock down steel targets, but they will kill a coyote at that range.

I had a 742 in 30-06, it always ran perfect and was hunting accurate but had more felt recoil than my 300wm BAR for some reason.

Get a Marlin or Winchester LA and feed it the Hornady Leverlution ammo. Done.
https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/30-30-win-140-gr-monoflex-leverevolution#!/
https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/30-30-win-160-gr-ftx-leverevolution#!/

My dad hunted with a Remington 742 in .30-06 for probably 25 years or so before moving to a Ruger M77. My brother is currently hunting with that same 742. It's not without issues - with certain brands of ammo he had trouble with the extractor ripping through the case rim, but the gun is surprisingly accurate and still works well to take game.

Still, for me personally for a plain old "get the job done" option it's hard to argue with almost any of the $250-350 budget bolt actions out now.

mgmorden said:

with certain brands of ammo he had trouble with the extractor ripping through the case rim

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Remove the barrel and polish the chamber, first lengthwise by hand, then diagonally and finally finishing it with fine lapping compound and a Dremel buffing wheel at low rpm. No more FTE, broken extractors or ripped rims. Unfortunately there's nothing you can do to 740/742 lugs chewing their way through the receiver rail so the ultimate service life is considerably more limited than with 7400/750.

Blacksmoke said:

Before this incident I was thinking about one of these for different reasons. They are handy.

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If it has to be semi auto and you're really wanting knockdown power, the benelli R1 is getting quite a reputation for semi auto accuracy and reliability. I've found 2 on separate occasions used in good condition for $500-800. Most are bragging 1moaish with factory ammo, you can probably do better handloading. It's the only semi that's tripping my trigger right now. You might consider scouring the racks for a good used one, neither of the 2 I located lasted more than 1.5weeks.

I still have a 742 Delux 30-06, it's always ran good and my dad shot a lot of deer with it. It's groups about 1.5" or so at 100 yards and that's more than good enough to take a deer.

Used as a "hunting" rifle and taken care of, they do that job just fine.

DM

Dad's early 742 is still going strong, but I do agree that the 740 and 742 were never a range toy...

My 7400 carbine .30-06 on the other hand, has been dead reliable since the 80's, and sees several hundred 180gr hand-loads per year...

I have never seen a 7400 with the rail issues of the earlier models...

But then. I don't spend an inordinate amount of time looking for 7400's to inspect...

Salmoneye said:

I have never seen a 7400 with the rail issues of the earlier models...

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The bolt head design is totally different, the rail doesn't self-destruct like in 740/742 so it can cope with a higher round count without problems. Neglected rifles with rusted chambers and recoil spring guides have given it a somewhat undeserved bad name and a good one can be a real bargain on second hand market. It's still no battle rifle but around here they go for a couple of hundred bucks so what's not to like. 750:s aren't that much more expensive, which is the reason I got interested in them in the first place.

Do you require wood stocked?
This:
http://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-...15-m-lok-upper-with-bcg-and-ch-516447164.html
plus
http://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-gen2-pa10-308-complete-classic-lower-receiver-516447192.html

equals Garand-level power, and mine is more accurate than my HRA Garand. Mine is older, but ARs are the bargain these days.

ontarget said:

I have a 740 in 30-06. I know that I'm at least the 3rd owner of the rifle.
What they are is a hunting rifle designed for the guy who shoots a couple of boxes of rounds per season. At that rate they WILL last a lifetime.
What they are NOT is a high round count range toy. They will beat themselves to death in a hurry if you try to treat them like a combat rifle.
Mine runs well and I only use it for hunting.
I use the AR15 for range blasting.

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My dad bought a 742/30-06 in the 70's and it has been very reliable hunting rifle. It has only been used for hunting, so it hasn't seen many shootouts. Sight it in, and hunt.

The 740 didn't last long in production because of internal problems. Spare parts are a problem.
The 742 replaced the 740 with several improvements. This model lasted for many years. Spare parts are a problem.
The 7400 replaced the 742 with several improvements including larger locking lugs on the bolt and improved function of the magazine. This model has been in production the longest time.
The 750 has an improved gas system to reduce fouling.

Remington's slide action rifles share some of the same parts. They have a long reputation of reliable function and superb accuracy. If I had to choose between a 7400 auto-loader or 7600 slide action, I'd buy the 7600.

TR

T.R. said:

If I had to choose between a 7400 auto-loader or 7600 slide action, I'd buy the 7600.

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Much of the 7400/750 fascination of mine started when I finally found a 7600 in a configuration I had been looking for a long time. It looks like yet another self-perpetuating problem that started with one gun, which is about to multiply in my gun safe with (almost) no human intervention. At least that's what I'm telling my wife.

I have had 2 a 742 and a 7400. The 7400 is better and I still use it. Faulty or dirty magazines can cause jamming. The 7400 has been a reliable deer killer for over 20 years with no problems. However as others said, do not do mag dumps. Keep it clean and in normal hunting use it will be fine. There is a company in Minnesota that can convert them to pumps. Garands are ok but heavy and like the Remington, do not like hotrod loads.
If I were to replace it, I would look at an AR-10 type in .308. I like the Armalite. Or a Browning BAR, or Winchester version.