Remington 742 .30-06, modified magazines, is it worth it

[MagnumDweeb]

A buddy and me were looking at his latest acquisition. A nice Garand he got second-hand from parent's neighbor who was selling it in part to finance a trip across America vacation(plus my buddy is a surplus fan like me). When he said "I want to get it so it'll take those M14 mags." And I was a little remiss about it. He has a genuine piece of history Garand it looks like(it's a Springfield production the neighbor bought in the 60's at a surplus auction he said) and he wants to modify it. I don't know if there are M14s that fire .30-06 nowadays, I mostly see the ones in .308, but I'd sooner get one of those than modify a piece of history. I won't even sporterize my Nagants or Mausers(even the Yugo ones) so maybe I don't have much room to speak.

The whole "Public Enemies" discussion here on the board caused me to look into the Remington model 8 and then subsequent discovery of the 742. There are commonly modes in .30-06 that can be had for less than $400 and sometimes under $300 in pawnshops(I've seen three pawnshops with them in stock and one selling for $239.99).

I've been wanting to get a legit original deer rifle so this would be a nice addition, but I can't leave well enough alone. And to fulfill my buddies high-capacity(his words not mine, he refers to anything that holds more than 10 rounds as high capacity, and dares to call himself a southerner) itch. One pawnshop has two in stock and we think if both us went in and bought one each, we could talk them down to letting them go for $250 a piece out the door(one is $239.00 and the other is 289.99 because it is supposed to be in better shape, probably just been on the rack longer).

The only piece missing, is can I mody the existing 4 round magazines with an arc welder, or maybe some JB Weld and drill gun, to essentially link them together horizontally, so we can have some 20rd or 16rd magazines. Anyone heard of this being done or maybe they know of the magwell on the 742 being modified to take M14 mags because either one would be good. I have some ideas how to go about linking the mags, it looks to be a matter of joining the springs from each magazine, cutting out the bottoms and fitting the exetrior walls. Then breaking out the vise, lining them up properly, and using a 210 volt arc welder to cleanly weld them after making the appropriate cuts to magazines.

It'd be fun to take a 742 to the range, I've got a Leupold scope sitting around unused, and having a few 16rd or 20rd magazines. Oh and I live in Florida and we don't have those ridiculous magazine capacity restrictions.

 

[Heck]

you can get get new 10 round magazines for the 742 and 7400

 

[GRIZ22]

The sporter barrel on a 742 or 7400 heats up fast and after 5-6 rds accuracy goes to hell until it cools down. Not a condemnation of the rifle. You're not going to be rapid firing more than a few rounds when hunting. Only one shot if you're good.

 

[ants]

I've cut and welded magazines before, and it seldom works right. It's a lot harder than you think. But maybe yours will work successfully. So here's my advice.

Go buy two magazines and weld them together BEFORE you buy the rifles. Try loading cartridges in them to full capacity, and then pushing them out manually (with your thumb or a tool) as if the rifle bolt were cycling. If they don't work, throw them out and you didn't waste your money on the guns.

No disrespect to your skill, I'm sure you are highly skilled. But it's a lot harder to make magazines than you might think.

 

[Dr.Rob]

There are several MFG's of 10 round steel and plastic magazines out there, I'd try those first rather than hacking up facory mags, which often cost more.

 

[Titan6]

CTD sells 10 round magazines. In many states these are not legal for hunting. As pointed out the barrel heats up fast and you would not want to shoot ten rounds rapid fire. Useful barrel life is in the 3-4K range. For the price it is very hard to beat the 742 for a mid range rifle. Accuarcy out to 500 meters is very good.

If you want a higher capacity rifle that won't heat up nearly as bad stick with the Garand. But I would not modify it. The Clip works well and is very reliable.

 

[MagnumDweeb]

If the barrel needs to cool down after four or five shots then doing the weld job on the mags isn't worth it. I might get a 742 anyways as a deer rifle, but then again I'm already reloading .308Win so I think I'll just hunt up a bolt action in .308 like Rem 700. Thanks a lot guys. Glad to know there are plenty of folks here with the wisdom to keep my life a little less expensive. I just got excited about rapid firing a .30-06 on rare occassion and having a rifle to shoot targets at 200 yards.

 

[1stTankerSki]

There is a 10 rd. magazine conversion for the Rem. 742 already.
It's either in Midways or Brownells catalog.

Replacement barrels are listed also!

Ski

 

[jordan1948]

210 volt arc welder

I'm not saying it can't be done but if I were to weld 2 magazines together I would much rather have a MIG welder due to the extremely thin metal (compared to the thickness of most ARC welding applications) but like I said I'm not saying it can't be done it'll just be hard not to burn some major holes and you might go through several mags before you get it down.

 

[RonE]

Why do you think that the 740/742/7400 Remington rifles are so inexpensive? One of the reasons is that they don't stand up to a lot of abuse and are some of the few rifles that actually wear out. If you want a deer rifle, they are just fine, if you want to play Rambo, get an M-60.

 

[MagnumDweeb]

A 210 Arc Welder is all I have, I'm 24, in law school, living in the master bedroom of the house I rent at fortunately, and my little Ryobi drill press, and Ryobi band saw take up a bit of room on a clothes dresser I found in front of a driveway two hours before morning trash pickup. I do my arc welding outside on the acre and a half in the back and I have a few buckets of sand around me in case of a fire because water and arc welders don't mix. I've used it for rewelding torch cut receivers and working on Sterlings and Stens with my Uncle(he's a fan of sterlings and stens but I don't feel like filing for an SBR at this time, my little PPSH43 pistol is plenty good for me).

The metal is thin but I was thinking of using some spare 4140 spare flats I have lying around to do a weld over link. Cut a half inch long enough to go around the outside of the magazines and seat them togther. Use some JB weld epoxy to hold it in place(yes the epoxy will cook off once I start welding but that's why I'd have a vice and rig up something to keep the mags balanced on the horizontal. I was going to hand cut the obstacle parts of the mags with hand files, long and tedious I know, but few things can accomplish such great precision as hand precision, plus when cooking a steak you can always cook to rare and then keep on cooking it longer if you want but once it's well-done you're stuck throwing it to the dogs. I'll look into the spare barrels. If they add any performance then I'll think about. The ten round mags I think would suit my purposes, but it would just be plain fun to have a couple 16rnd or 20rd mags sitting around.

But I really just think I'm done with it at this time. For every ten or so project ideas I only follow through with one or two.

 

[Garndawg]

I've got four of those steel aftermarket 10rounds, and I've found that they're a much better 8-round magazine than a 10. Once you put that ninth shell in there, they'll bind, jump out, and generally misbehave. Pretty dependable with 8 rounds or less, though...

My experience...

 

[rocinante]

Is a better heavier barrel available for the rifle? I have looked at them too and thought they would be a good way to get into a large bore semi auto for not too much money.

 

[hamourkiller]

To me the 742 or 7400 makes a great night or day time hog rifle, the shots are relatively close and 3 to 4 shots is not un heard of. Easily scoped.

It is not a target or military grade weapon, but a great animal killing machine.

Pick a standard M1 Garand load, 4895 or 4064, 165 gr bullet and have at it.

 

[lefteyedom]

740/742/7400 are deer rifles. Tring to make them in to an poor mans M1/M14 is asking for heart ache. They are simple not built for high round count shooting. Great 1/2 box a year deer hunting rifle. This is not a bad thing, they are not $1500 rifles they are what they are enjoy them as such. Save your money and by a M1A and you will be much happier.

 

[Heck]

My 7400 is not a tack driver but it is a deer slayer. It is my favorite hunting rifle