Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Inheriting a Rem 742 Woodsmaster 30-06 ...

Amazing that a rifle that has probably killed more deer east of the Mississippi than anything other than a 30-30 is suddenly not fit for deer hunting. In the 70s’and 80s everyone in my deer camp except for the old guy with arthritis and another older guy carried 742/7400 in 30-06. The guy with arthritis had his 742 in .243 and the other had a 30-30. Bolt actions were seen as being archaic and anachronistic.

The problems I’ve seen with them over the years can usually be traced to a bad magazine.

Was that a .243 Win or some wildcat? I've just never heard of cycling a short cartridge through a long semi-auto action, so I don't know whether it's as simple as adding a .243 Win barrel and magazine.

This ^^

I admit to having a soft spot for the 742 though as it was my first center fire rifle, a 16th b-day gift from my father. A 1967 vintage .308 that I killed my first buck with plus several more. It never jammed or misfired and shot 165 gr Hornadys very well. I do not recall ever missing a deer with it. After I became "smart" by reading all those magazine experts that said it was a POS, I moved on to other rifles. My father traded me his old M70 for it and it accounted for many more deer in his hands. I have it back now that he's gone, and thinking it over, it needs to hunt again.

What are you talking about? They made the 742/7400 in .243, .308, and even 6mm Remington.

If I had one given to me by someone that meant something to me, I'd wipe it down and hang it on the wall. I've seen a couple die at my club's annual sight-in days and fail all resuscitation attempts. Turns out the receivers tend to warp.

Had three 742's in .30-06.
The first was a minty carbine.
First shot was set for 1" high at 100yds.
Cold bbl of course.
The following shots would group about an inch.......7" below the first.
Let it cool down and ..........yup...........1" high again.

Figured out why the gun was like new LOL.
The gun was scoped.........so IMHO the problem was proly "mini 14 itis".

The other two I got cheap, were rough looking and shot 1.5" groups with no cold to hot bbl shift, they were not carbines either (should have been worse).

The problem with 742's..............bolt rail chew of receiver (.30-06 heavy bullet loads reportedly make this worse).
And rust in chambers.

Some bolt rail chew won't affect it. But it's only gonna get worse (and faster if using 180 or heavier loads).

Dunno how other cartridges fared in 742s.............bolt rail chew wise.


Sold one to a fat guy, ran 150's. He said it jammed on him constantly. Met him at range, got rifle and bam bam bam.............no probs.

I aint fat.

He was......so was "limp shouldering it".

Wonder how many other jams were the result of people's puffy coats and or shoulders.

7400 has bigger bolt lugs so is supposed to not have the prob. Dunno if they also have a bolt over rotation stop as well.

I like the damn things.

Keep looking for a 7400 carbine.

If it's screwed up and you want to run it............check Ahlman's. They convert them to pump.

https://www.ahlmans.com/remington-742-tech-info.html

I have one I got from my Uncle last fall. It was my Grandpa's rifle. It's in fantastic shape. I'm going to shoot a deer with it. Then put it away for my son to give to his son.

I have one that I bought for a SMOKIN deal. $150.00 It was missing the magazine.

Dennisinaz had an extra magazine from years ago that he gave me. So I was in business.

It shoots darn good too. I looked it up. Was made in 1967.

What are you talking about? They also made them in .308.

You can also use a magazine from a 760/7600. You'll just have to take the mag out to close the action after the last shot.

I have one in 6mm Rem. Very accurate and has always been reliable

I found a guy in AK that was selling after market 10 round mag's. Bought two of them. They function perfectly.

Did they all use exactly the same parts in the action? There's at least one spring inside that I thought might need to be weaker to cycle successfully with a lower recoil cartridge.

Everything is the same except short actions had a different magazine.

I have replaced the receiver on my 6mm with one from a 30/06 you can change receivers. They are the same but you need to use the bolt that is head spaced to the barrel.

So there was a long magazine designed to hold short cartridges fitted into a long action receiver? So this project could involve just finding and installing a barrel and a magazine? That wouldn't be too bad.

Are you going for one of these?

Owned one for a short time before I knew much of anything about rifles or big game hunting. After a couple range trips it promptly went down the road. I farted around with my Grandpa's 740 in 30-06 trying to get it to shoot and never had any luck. It's shoot 1 good group inside an inch and the next day it'd be the size of a basketball or to a different POI. Grandpa sure killed a lot of deer with that gun, but either the accuracy went to [bleep] after I got it or he slung a lot of lead. My other grandpa and 2 uncles have 742s/7400s. Of the three of them I think they shoot minute of deer for the Michigan deer woods ranges but I then again none of them have killed a deer with a rifle in a decade.

Long and short of it is I wouldn't spend a dime on a 740/742/7400. Do as was suggested above and hang it on the wall.