Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Pump Rifles and deer

Well here ya go........ I've had a 742 in .308 since '67 and, over the course of at least a thousand rounds of factory and handloads, it has never jammed. Only issue I've had is when I didn't take off the forend and clean and dry the spring and action tube after a very wet 10 day Ontario moose hunt in '73. A couple months later I took it out and when I pulled the bolt back, it stayed back. After that I always ran a clip through it at the end of a wet hunt to dry it out.

Well there's exceptions to every rule. I'd never own one, but that's just me. But then again I only handled over 100 of them over the years, so what do I know?

Thank you.

You have to realize where I'm coming from. In PA we aren't exposed to these rifles because you can't hunt with them. I've never fired one or been around anybody who was shooting one.

Mike,
Dad had a 742 in 280, a mid 70s rifle picked up used in the early 80s. When fed Remington's 165CL it was very reliable when the clean. When he tried the hotter 140 factory loads and started reloading with stuff like 4831 it's a jamomatic. He went to faster powders it works fine.

I see. I imagine they would be tough to reload for.

I responded earlier, but... I had a 760 for a number of years. Yes it killed deer, but mine didn't group for me at all, I hated the fat fore end, it rattled, kicked , and was too heavy.

I responded earlier, but... I had a 760 for a quite a few years. Yes it killed deer, but mine didn't group for me at all, the fore end was fat and clumsy, it rattled, kicked bad, and was too heavy.

Around my neck of the woods the 742 is known as the “guinea game getter”. Most of them come from downstate.

I had a 742 in 30-06 and it never jammed on me in the 8 years that used it. I kept it spotlessly clean. I eventually traded it for a Ruger M77 in .280. Many of the men in my family thought I was nuts for doing that. Bolt guns were not too highly valued at that time in the Adirondacks. My brother had a Win 100 .308 and that was the jam-o-matic in our family.

I own one now. My uncle gave it to me a 740 actually. It was my late grandpa's. It's in the best condition I've ever seen.

I'm going to pop one with that sucker!

Jam-o-matic haha. I have literally never heard it called that until this thread! But, its an accurate description. My dad had one in 243 that he accounted for a stack of deer with over his lifetime. I have it now and its a really pretty BDL model with a fine glossy stock. I always liked to "look at it" but never shot it because i figured its accuracy just HAD to be sub par to what id want.

Feeling nostalgic one day after the old mans passing, i pulled it, and his model 7 stainless 243 out , found 40 rounds of his favorite factory load (federal premium gold and blue box , 85gr sierra HPBT) , and went and set up some targets. (he was a handloader as well and taught me at an early age, but the boxes of handloaded 243 around the house were unlabeled as to load, so i passed.)

I like the model 7 alot, but the accuracy is truly ho-hum. It kills and ive taken some game with it since. So after shooting it i said what the heck this old auto is gonna be pretty lame...

200yrds, 3 rounds fired fast, 3/4 inch triangle. JAM AFTER EVER SHOT. reload. 3 rounds fired fast. 1 inch triangle, JAM AFTER EVERY SHOT. Dad was the type to "sight in " a rifle on the 25yd range in our back yard and call it good.... so i was surprised to say the least. It doesnt jam much in the back of the safe. I took two hogs at 230 ish yards on the trot across a open crop field with it and thats all the use ive had for it. had to monkey with it to get it to feed for the second shot that time as well.


I'd be glad to have a nice 30-06 pump wander into my life though.

jmd

Get a chamber brush, dip it in some bore cleaner and brush the heck out of that 243 chamber. A chamber brush has a flexible wire handle and makes the job very easy. Worth a try as a first step to see if it helps to elevate that old rifle above single shot status.

WN

I appreciate the advise WN. I'm sure ill get around to it at some point.
I had myself thinking that the lack of function i was experiencing had a bit to do with the particular load not cycling the action as it needed. That factory ammo sure shoots well , but in my mind id decided that it wasnt cycling the bolt at that "just right" rate, causing the missfeeding.

Dads notes for the handloads he was running through it were quite a few grains above book max ( he was cautious in that aspect and worked up slowly reading the brass), and i dont recall it ever jamming on him.

I have an old Remington pump in .300 savage, shoots ok,. But it's the coldest rifle I've ever carried. To much bare metal in freezing weather for me!

Once it's that cold I always have gloves on anyway.

[quote=jmd025]Jam-o-matic haha. I have literally never heard it called that until this thread! But, its an accurate description. My dad had one in 243 that he accounted for a stack of deer with over his lifetime. I have it now and its a really pretty BDL model with a fine glossy stock. I always liked to "look at it" but never shot it because i figured its accuracy just HAD to be sub par to what id want.

Feeling nostalgic one day after the old mans passing, i pulled it, and his model 7 stainless 243 out , found 40 rounds of his favorite factory load (federal premium gold and blue box , 85gr sierra HPBT) , and went and set up some targets. (he was a handloader as well and taught me at an early age, but the boxes of handloaded 243 around the house were unlabeled as to load, so i passed.)

I like the model 7 alot, but the accuracy is truly ho-hum. It kills and ive taken some game with it since. So after shooting it i said what the heck this old auto is gonna be pretty lame...

200yrds, 3 rounds fired fast, 3/4 inch triangle. JAM AFTER EVER SHOT. reload. 3 rounds fired fast. 1 inch triangle, JAM AFTER EVERY SHOT. Dad was the type to "sight in " a rifle on the 25yd range in our back yard and call it good.... so i was surprised to say the least. It doesnt jam much in the back of the safe. I took two hogs at 230 ish yards on the trot across a open crop field with it and thats all the use ive had for it. had to monkey with it to get it to feed for the second shot that time as well.


I'd be glad to have a nice 30-06 pump w

FWIW, Ahlman's in Morristown, MN, converts Remingtn 740/742/7400 series autoloaders into pump action 760s. If you want to hunt with your Father's 243, the Ahlman's conversion might be a viable option for you. www.ahlmans.com

Found an old 760 in .300 Savage today, in the OLD style, and he wants 400 for it, with a throwaway scope and see thrus.


What are the older 760 going for, these days?

rats

Typically old 760's around here run $300-$350 if in good shape. However, a 300 Savage has some 'cool factor' so $400 wouldn't be out of line, IF that's a caliber you want.

The 760 was only produced in 300 Savage from 1952-57. The most common one was the A-lo (low comb) with about 38,000 produced. Now, if that rifle would be an ADL or BDL version, only about 4000 of them were produced and would be worth a bit more.

Remington also produced some in 257R, 244 Rem, 222Rem,& 223rem back then. They tend to bring a premium on the used racks around here.

WN

It's a low-comb gun, with see-thrus, to make it thoroughly unuseable.


The very first thing I'd do, IF I buy it, is to lose those ringmounts and the wretched scope, then decide on whether to go with a Williams peep or Weaver base, and some low rings.

I like scopes but I want them to be useable. This is a pretty light and handy rifle. I think I'd like it as much as the 336SC I bought from that pawnshop last year. He comes up with some gems now and then.

I've been regressing the last few years, going back to handy guns as opposed to long-range stuff.

I guess I'm trying to put the fun back into hunting, as opposed to just shooting another deer.

Have you had this done or seen one of the modified guns? Might want to consider it for my dad's 740. Thanks.