Bought a 742 in the late 70's and it was a tack driver. Loved it. (Sadly I traded my nice Sav.99E for it....ugh!)
Around 1981 the action locked up and I had to drift the action back with a hammer and a 2x4 to get the live round out. The gunsmith said a pin in the top of the bolt that creates rotation of the bolt broke off and the bolt went forward but wouldn't rotate, so it jammed. He fixed it but warned me that it might happen again...it did a year later. Back to the gunsmith and then to the trading post. Traded for a new 7400 and have shot hundreds of flawless rounds through it...and tagged many deer with it. It also shoots nice 1.50" groups..which is better than I am
Neither of them ever developed the dreaded "chatter"..guess I've been lucky. A friend had a 742 that had chatter wear on the rails but seemed to function ok...until that day when it failed while trying to take a nice buck. He doesn't own it anymore. My point I guess is the above gents' advice is sound IMHO. You can dump some ill-spent dollars on the 742, and everyone I know that owns 760/7600 rifles swears by them...including my son...no complaints at all. Hard to do better than "no complaints." I personally have never loved them but I'm starting to cave in. (Although forends are a longer reach than I prefer, and some of the forends rattle while being carried. Just my .02) Fortunately I've just adopted another Savage 99 and that will get my attention for years to come.
Good luck with your decision.
