Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Remington 742 woodmaster 6mm

Saw a real nice original specimen ~95+% today while burning time (wife in the mall!). They were asking $320.00 for it. I don't know much about the 742, ie. accuracy, reliability, jamming say compared to a Browning Belgian BAR for example. I do know that I like 6mm/.244's though!!! Don't see as many anymore either it seems. It looked like a pretty early gun by the sights it had on it. Any thoughts on the 742... good or bad?
Thanks, Lundtroller

Lundtroller.
I've been thinking about, just what you were looking at, for coyote hunting here in Maine. A M742 in .243 Winchester. 742's have been around for more than 50 years I've shot some one inch groups with factory ammo (.3/06) with one that belonged to a freind who had a moose tag and needed it to be sighted in. Another freind had one in .30/06 that sometimes would fail to chamber the last round in the magazine, but never jammed other wise. Two brothers that I hunted with had the carbine versions in .308 WCF and they had no issues at all. So, I wouldn't hesitate to try one in .243.
John

I had a 742 in 308 Win. & it was quite accurate. After several thousand rounds, the bolt rails failed. My understanding is that the rails are the weak point of this rifle. I would not buy one because of the rail problem.

They are somewhat prone to jamming, and as mentioned in the previous post, the rails are problematic. We have a large gunshop up here (Ahlman's in Morristown, Minnesota which converts these disabled guns to pumps. I would pass on the 742 because of the potential issues.

I have several 742 rifles and one in 6mm rem,, it is pretty accurate for an autoloader,, I bought several hundred rounds of the old Federal red box factory at a gun store closing,, they seem to shoot factory fodder as well if not better than handloads,, I would buy that rifle if I was you , But I handload,, 6mm rem ammo is hard to find nowadays,, that would be a drawback in that caliber,, of course a .243 would be much easier to feed

Get a pump action 7600 and save yourself the headaches. The 7600 pump rifle is so darned good I don't know why Remington even makes the problematic semi-auto 7400 series rifles.

Couldn't agree more...

Grumulkin: you got several THOUSAND rounds from a 742??? WOW.. Must be a record.. Seriously.

Hey guys,
Thanks for the honest advice. I think I'm going to pass on this one!
Lundtroller

Gunsmith buddy of mine loves them. Says he's made enough money to feed a small family off fixin em.

LMAO... I can relate..