new ammo through old rem 742

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782bird

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Just picked up a remington 742 carbine in 280 rem made in 1961 was wondering if todays higher pressure factory ammo be safe to fire through gun Thanks
 
Troy, can you explain what you mean by shark teeth?
Because of the design of the bolt the rotating causes the bolt to gouge up the action rails. This will make the gun jam. You can not feel by pulling the bolt back. You can just see if looking in the right spot. I'll see if I can find a photo.

I like these guns but will not own anymore.

when you see a real bad gun it looks like shark teeth.
 
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Modern ammunition is loaded to the same SAAMI limits as it was in 1957. It is safe for firearms in good condition.

No!

SAAMI limits the top end loads. But many cartridges have traditionally been loaded WELL below that level. Some rounds are more prone to this than others. 280 was down loaded well below it's potential when the 742 was introduced to help ensure reliability in that rifle. The factory 280 could have been loaded a lot hotter in the 1960's but it wasn't. Today it is still within SAAMI specs, but is loaded a lot hotter than it used to be because almost everyone is using 280 in bolt guns, not semi's. I don't think it would be dangerous. But modern loads would probably not be as reliable in that gun. And the increased pressure will probably beat the gun up pretty bad.

The same is true with 30-06. The original 150 gr load left the muzzle at 2700 fps. By the 1940's it was up to 2800 fps. Today mild factory loads are 2900 fps and 3100 fps is possible with book loads. There are even a few factory loads at 3100 fps.
 
I have a Remington 7400. Basically the newer model of the same rifle. Mine is in .30-06. One of the problems with this rifle is magazines. The gun can be very magazine sensitive. Mine gave me fits out of the box. It would load, shoot, and eject single shot just fine. The problems started when I loaded the magazine to capacity, or even with just a couple of rounds. It would eject the fired case fine, but would hang up on rechambering a loaded round... ANY loaded round.

At first I thought it was the ammo. I tried several factory loads, along with every handload in the book. With just about every bullet weight and powder imaginable. (The rifle prefers mid range burning powders like IMR-3031). If you use too slow burning of a powder, it puts too much pressure on the gas system, because the pressure curve is too long.

It's the same with bullets. Stay away from light (110 grain), and heavy, (190 to 220 grain). Bullets in the 150 to 165 grain range are considered correct in this rifle. Basically, a lot of the ammo manufactured for the M-1 Garand works well in these rifles, assuming the overall length isn't too long. Then they can hang up. Again because of the quirky magazines.

Now, back to the magazines. Remington has made several. As have other aftermarket manufacturers like Triple-K and Pro Mag. My rifle was purchased brand new in 1985. It has the one piece magazine that contains the bolt release on the magazine itself. The bottom and sides of the magazine itself are drawn from one single piece of steel.

Many of the newer Remington, as well as several of the after market magazines are 2 piece. They have a separate bottom. I purchased one and it wouldn't even fit into the gun. Also the feed lips were noticeably shorter, and quite different in angle and shape. So I called Remington to purchase an original one piece magazine for my rifle. They told me they are no longer being made, and they have none in stock.

So I'm basically screwed with a gun I can't get a proper original magazine for. My only option is either find one on the used market and hope it runs. Or else find a gunsmith who is familiar with these rifles, who can "adjust" my magazine to work correctly. Neither option is good for a new rifle that probably has less than 50 rounds through it.

I may attempt to correct this myself. But to be honest I've lost interest in the weapon over the years because of this nonsense. Remington sold a total of well over 1.5 MILLION of these rifles over the years, under different model numbers. (Model 742 from 1960 to 1980, Model 7400 from 1981 to 2004). One would think factory available magazines should be as common as dirt.... But they're not.

The bottom line is if you have feeding issues with a Remington 742 / 7400 series rifle, the first place to look to correct it is the magazine. And if it requires replacement, good luck.
 
This thread may have changed my luck, (hopefully), with my magazine issue that I've been experiencing with my Remington Model 7400 in .30-06. (See my above post).

I started poking around the Internet this morning having my coffee, seeing if I could find an old style, (read one piece bottom and sides), magazine for my Remington 7400 in .30-06. And low and behold I came across a little mom & pop operation in Galesburg, Illinois (Simpson Ltd.), that had 3 brand new, (still in the original packaging) old style Remington 7400 magazines in .30-06!

The price wasn't bad at all for $110.00 for all 3. ($124.00 including shipping). That comes to just $41.00 each. I paid almost $40.00 for a 2 piece new one from Midway. And the damn thing wouldn't even fit in the gun. The newer 2 piece one's claim they'll fit .30-06, .25-06, .270, .280, and .35 Whelen.

These are stamped .30-06 ONLY. From what I've read the older one piece walls and sides magazines had much tighter dimensional control. The newer one's are all over the map. These are the one's I bought.

https://simpsonltd.com/remington-model-four-clip/

And these are the newer 2 piece models of the same magazine, that are hit or miss as far as fit and function. And Midway wants almost $40.00 for a blemished one. And that's not including shipping.

https://www.midwayusa.com/ltd/product?pid=582169

When I get them I'm going to crank up my 7400. I'm hoping these magazines will do the trick. The older one piece magazines are hard to find used at any price. Let alone find 3 brand new in the original packaging. For once I was at the right place, at the right time.
 
I should add that if you find older, new in the package magazines like the one's I linked to that I bought. If they have the oval DuPont company logo on the packaging, (like all 3 of mine do), it means they were manufactured BEFORE October 1993. That is when DuPont sold Remington Arms to RACI Acquisitions. A New York investment firm. It's just a way to help date the manufacture of them. It can be helpful in matching the correct magazine to your rifle.
 
I hunted with a Rem. 742 carbine in .308 win. in the northern Wisconsin forests for over 50 years. I killed 50-60 deer with it, Shot nothing but my own reloads in it. The rifle was never that accurate on the bench but as a heavy woods gun it worked great.The receiver never showed any signs of battering. hdbiker
 
When they got much worse than that, we'd put it back together, and offer the guy $50 cash or $100 trade towards a different rifle,we had quite the cache of 740&742 parts..
Weird thing is I've seen a few where they were fine, i had one I put a good 500 rounds through for the brass. Then I had a nos that I shot less then 20 shots and it was about worn out.
 
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