Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What kind of experience have ya'll had with the model 7600 pumps?

The model 742 thread got me to thinking about my still unfired 35 Whelen 7600 pump gun in the safe. I have long been jonesing for a 35 whelen and the fact that I can get this rifle from safe and legal on a vehicle to firin and flingin quickly was a factor in my decision since I now have completed the proper paperwork and have the bright orange placard to hunt from my truck or ATV, but not with the rifle being loaded while it is being transported on said "motorized vehicle" in this state.

I have read about the exploits of the Benoit family who use these rifles religiously in pretty bad weather for many years so I thought them to be likely pretty reliable.

Never fired one or owned one, probably going to shoot this one in the next couple of days, what do I need to know about it going forward?

Yeah, hell must be a little cooler today, as a push feed plunger ejector spring clip extractor rifle sitting in an aftermarket synthetic stock and a cerrakoted finish has now found its way into my safe And its cartridge, with appropriate booleetz will never get anywhere near 3,000 fps! As if that were not enough, I have purchased some plain jane Hornaday cup and core 250gr slugs for it, sigh.... Early Alzheimers perhaps? What could have bedeviled me so!

FWIW, I am topping it with a Burris 1.5-6 30mm tube scope. German No 4 Plex heavy reticle in Warne QD 30mm steel rings, four screws per ring set up.

If I like this rifle very much, I am going to have to change my signature line!

They are generally more accurate than most people give them credit for. The triggers are not great, and there isn't much that can be done about them (please don't try to home 'smith it), but they are serviceable.

The actions are very tough, very reliable, and fast.

The Whelen will kill anything you kill well with it out as far as you probably ought to be shooting.

I think John Barsness Haviland did a write up on them several years back in Rifle. It's worth a read.

I remember I got my first and worst scope cut sighting one in. .30-06 w/180gr bullets.

Out of 6-10 that I have owned over the years, the worst any of them shot was inch and a half with decent hand loads.

Never had one fail. Never a jam, never a failure to eject, and no magazine issues. I replaced a dust cover on one.

That wouldn't have been at sight in days at Snake River Sportsman range in Vale, OR, would it?

We had an old timer come out to sight in days with an older 760 with the ribbed forend in .30-06 and a Bushnell scope. Don't know what ammo he had but either it kicked a lot, his scope was mounted too far back or both.

First shot nicked his eyebrow, not too bad. Fired a couple more for a group and opened it up worse. The group was nowhere close to desired POI. He tried to adjust the scope and fired another group, which still wasn't close to the desired POI. This went on for about three or four repetitions with each "group" spreading out wider and wider. After the fourth attempt at a group his eyebrow looked like someone had gone after him with a knife. The blood was steadily dripping down off his face onto the bench. You could see he had a flinch that would almost make him jump off the seat with each shot.

I had to go attend to other duties so never did see whether he got it sighted in or not.

Wasn't in Vale,OR but it was a Bushnell scope. LOL

Guy said he couldn't get it on paper at 100yds. So,although I had a 100yd range,I checked the rifle/scope/mounts over and decided to shoot at 50yds. Didn't use a rest. Just laid on the ground to shoot it. Bad mistake.

A now since deceased friend told me these were bad kickers, but the replacement stock is wider at the butt than original and has a good recoil pad. As to scope cuts, this Burris has about 5 inches of eye relief much like the Burris 1.75-5 I have had on my 416 Rigby for a couple of decades so I am not expecting any scope to flesh contact.

Nice to hear some positive reports on them so far.

My cleaning method will probably Carb cleaner followed by compressed air and then some light gun oil with teflon (maybe Break Free CLP) spray in and around the action, and bore foam with then bore snake followed by a touch of that same light gun oil lightly spread through the bore if it is to be stored for any length of time.

Initial zeroing will be done with a lead sled, but final zeroing will be from soft bags and a steady hand hold, again like I do with my 340 and 416 Rigby.

Some of them have magazine issues. Some will "stick" and be a SOB to remove, but it's a peoblem easily fixed with some judicious sanding

The narrow butt was the first thing I noticed about it. No recoil pad if I remember right. My first post was meant to be a tongue in cheek comment. Of course the cut was my fault. Got in a rush with half an attitude. I've got 100yd range with a benchrest so why do people have to wait until the weekend before(some the day before)season to sight in.

The one magazine I have is kinda like that. Where does one need to sand (Carefully and slowly!) or polish a bit to clean that up?

Where are extra magazines avilable for $25-30? I have seen a few mags for sale, but generally the prices were higher.

Do model 760 magazines work OK? Magazines for the 742 series of rifles interchangable?

The easiest way is to blacken the mag with coal oil, then insert it, remove it and see the marks where the blackening has been wiped away.

Then use a belt sander and gently sand some away, and repeat u til it fits


Mags around here run about 35-40 bucks. The newer ones work, but I prefer the older all steel ones just because they fit more flushly

To answer the question, my only experience was a brief one with a 6mm Remington 7600.

As noted, the trigger was mushy but not horrible, it only took about three pounds to pull through.

Accuracy was okay. Best group ever was three shots into just under 1/2" with the Hornady 87 V-Max, but that was exceptional. Most groups ran around an inch or more with some going to 2". Seating depth seemed more critical, I had a lot of two and one groups at .020" off the lands but seating them to .040" helped a lot - that 1/2" group was with the deeper seated bullets.

Function was fine with the OEM magazine - shoot, flick flick and another round is ready to go. I bought another one off the net, new in the packaging and made for the 6mm, but it didn't fit in correctly and would jam bullets trying to feed. It seemed to hang down too low in the mag well.

Got it off of gunbroker from someone in Pennsylvania and just sold it two weeks ago to another guy in PA.

My father has one in .270 Win. that shoots right at 3/4" with 150g WW Power Points at 100 yds. Yes, you can use the auto version magazines the only difference is the release on the auto versions.

I've owned several 760's and one 7600. They were all great rifles and the triggers are really easy to shoot accurately. They aren't stiff, just a bit spongy. 742, 760, 7600 mags all are interchangeable. These are really great guns and are commonly very accurate. Can't ever remember having a problem with one.

The auto magazines do have a bolt stop on them. It expedites reloading by stopping the bolt open on an empty mag. It will do the same to you while pumping it. That can be a pain but it beats closing the action on an empty chamber I guess.

Over the years, I have owned 3-270s, a 308 and an 06 carbine. The 308 was an absolute dog and a lemon right from the start. Not sure I could have hit the ground with it, feeding issues, magazine issues, jamming issues, and more than I care to think about. The 270s have been the most accurate by far and were nice rifles for what I used them for. My youngest son uses one of myhis 270s and is a great admirer. It is easily the best7600 I have owned and has performed flawlessly.

The 06 was new last September and the jury is out. I don't find recoi to be bad at all but it does bark. IMHO, the quality is no where near those of the older 7600s and the magazine is pure junk. This one went to Remington Customer service with feeding and trigger issues of which they replaced the trigger assembly and provided a new magazine. Accuracy is fair but I have not had the chance to really play with it. Federal Blue Box 150s shoot about 1.5 inches which is fine for right now.

What surprised me was the comment/questions I received when I called Customer service. First question was what type of ammo was I using? Second question was have I tried different magazines, and the third comment was we get a ton of these back and I bet it is a code 36 (not really the number) which is bad feeding ramps. He then went on to say that these are not the 760/7600 of years past.


7600s seem to come and go in my house and I have tried very hard to like them. Guess I am just a bolt person at heart.

When I was stationed in Kodiak, I bought one in 35 Whelen. It was a great gun for that job. The trigger was OK. Accuracy was good enough for the rifle's design intent. Functioning was flawless. I always wanted Remington to make that rifle with a stainless 20" barrel and a synthetic stock. "Guide Gun" style if you will. In 338 Federal or 35 Whelen, it'd be an ideal Alaska gun.

I bought a 760 in .300 Savage for my dad back in the early 90s, but it "disappeared" before he passed. I have an older 760 5 diamond in 308 that I havent even shot yet, bought it about 2 1/2 years ago.

I've had 760/7600s in 223, 270, 308, 30/06, 35Rem, 358Win (35Rem re-chambered) and 35Whelen. Many of those have been 2 or 3.

~Small base dies are not required.
~Pumps will take surprisingly hot loads but I didn't push it.
~They are accurate, handle well and dependable.
~Small scopes in low Weavers work best. I like a VXIII 1.5x5
~I've had two cut back to 20" and find this length best, but wouldn't do it to a Whelen as it would devalue it.
~The 16" twist in the factory 35cal bbl will handle 250s.

~All of the 4 35Whelens I had would pop open the action and eject the spent case on firing from the bench with heavy 250gr loads. This is common and has been reported from other owners. Fear not when this happens.

SuperCub, every 760 that I have shot on a bench will eject the empty brass when the fore end is resting on the sandbags, the recoil works the slide open.