Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing 740 Woodsmaster

First off I would like to say hello from Texas, seeing as how the is my first post on the forum and I have really enjoyed the time I have spent here thus far.

I recently bought a 740 in 30-06 to help thin the feral swine population at our place. I have really enjoyed this handy little rifle and have been doing a little research online and such. During my research I came across a few post about an aluminum spacer that went on the forearm screw & between the metal forearm liner & the gas nozzle block, making the forearm float at the rear. I have been trying to locate this spacer and cannot seem to find it mostly due to 2 recurring problems.... first being that some of the sites are set up in such a way that it hard to find without looking over every single part that has ever been made for the Woodsmaster line, second I am not sure of the correct name for said spacer. If anyone could let me know were I could find this spacer or the correct name for it I would greatly appreciate it. I have heard that Numrich used to makes these as well as Williams Gunsite Co... thanks in advance.

Hmmm. First time I've heard of it - and I've been working these rifles for 11 years..

Maybe Malm or Hubert will jump in here...

Well... that seemed to be the general consensus, although my father said he had seen them as well and you could get them through Numrich, but it was a little while back. He gave me a little more confidence to continue the search... oh well, at least I can take it as an opportunity to find more info about my rifle.

Rusty,

On pg 263 of the Stoeger 1958 Shooter's Bible is a picture of what you seek. It is called the 'Williams Accuracy Block'. MSRP then was $1.25. However, I suspect that finding a 1958 Stoeger Shooter's Bible may be as difficult as finding the Williams Accuracy Block though.

As you have surmised, it is just a spacer that displaces the fore arm away from the receiver. While you are trying to locate the Williams version, you can make your own version. Go to your nearest ACE Hardware and look for a small bronze electric motor bearing that the fore end bolt just fits through. It is a short cylinder with one flanged end. The flanged end will be slightly too large to fit squarely against the metal liner of the fore end. Flatten a side of the bearing flange with a file so that the flanged side will fit squarely against the fore end. File the other end of the bearing (that will abut against the gas block) until you have 3/16" clearance between the rear of the fore end and the receiver with the fore end bolt tighten fairly snug. I don't remember how much I had to remove but it was less than a 1/4". The bronze is soft and it took only a few minutes. Check for at least 1/8" clearance after shooting the barrel hot because the original 3/16" clearance will change as the barrel warms up. I used the bronze bearing version for several years before I found a Williams. Both versions worked the same.

Redneck,

11 years ain't quite long enough in the business to remember this Williams product. Even the guys at Williams hardly remembered it when I called about it 10 years ago.

I would telephone the Williams Gun Sight Co's customer service, and ask if they have an old accuracy block in a back room somewhere (NOS) - what do you have to lose ?

1958??? WOW.. I wuz a yound lad of 10 at that time and just got my first shotgun; a Win. M37 in .410.

Still have it too..

Somewhere in the old parts cabinet, I have a couple of these.
Haven't seen them in a few years. Will look for them and if located will get back on here in a day or two. Probably take that long to find them. I think they even had the instructions in the plastic pack.

Some more info on the William's Accuracy Block. In Eugene Myszkowski's book, 'Remington Autoloading & Pump-Action Rifles', the William's Accuracy Block came in two forms. The model "S" are for M740s under SN 159058. The model "L" are for those over.

Found one. If you want it, send me a name and address and I'll mail it to you. You can have it. Dave

I apologize, I hope no one thinks I'm rude or that I'm not appreciative because it took so long for me to respond. Just had a tough week, with very little down time. Sure am excited to get back on here and see these very helpful responses!

Carbon12: Thanks a load for all the info, I was just about to start burying my nose in piles of old catalogs out of pure frustration. That bronze motor bearing is a wonderful idea. I never even thought to fabricate my own.

BT99: Thanks for your generosity and I will gladly take it... I'll send you a PM.

Rusty,
You got any kin from Marathon or Sanderson, Tex.

not that I am aware of but i do have a pretty big family...

Rusty,

Good luck with your pig shooting M740.

Post news regarding your exploits with it. I'd be interested in reading about them.

Thanks Carbon 12, I will. Actually... I just benched it yesterday and got a pretty impressive group as far as a woodsmaster is concerned. I'll post some pics of it I took with my phone in a few.

This is a 5 shot group I shot yesterday at 100 yards using factory Remington corelokt 150 gr. psp's. The hole I circled was the last shot from a previous group while I was attempting to zero it. I then let the bore cool down till it was actually cool to the touch and fired the shot labeled 1 at the top of the pic. The following 4 shots that I labeled were the order that they hit without letting the barrel cool (about 30 second for all 5 shots). I knew that these rifles tend to string when the barrel heats up but I was under the impression that shots would rise. This totally contradicts that, the first shot was the highest and then it dropped and they started stringing to the right with very minimal rise. It shoots better groups than my fathers 740 .308 and way better than many other stories I have heard... needless to say, I am tickled. If I roll my own and add that accuracy block it should be a pretty durn good shooter.



sorry... evidently I deleted it, I'll repost it!