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

It's all relative, I guess. I think I would shoot better with lighter and preferably narrower bullets.

I would look for a good 742 6mm. And keep the 30/06. The receivers wear out because the action cycles to fast and the bolt over rotates and the lugs bite into the frame rail which is alloy. You can hone the chatter marks out about one time. I have shot thousands of rounds through my 6mm. It is very accurate for many years it was the only rifle I had. Used it for P-dogs to Elk. I have replaced the receiver with one from a 30/06. If you pull out the trigger group you can see the condition of the rails.

The trigger............proly uses same adj sear you can buy for 870/1100 (Timney ?)

If not

http://www.remington7400.com/Gunsmith.php#trigger-job

They do rebarrel 7400's.

http://www.remington7400.com/index.php

Might make enough improvement just changing sear spring (or clip original).

The rails get chewed on the -30-06 models because the bolt over rotates (design flaw) . Reportedly an issue when running 180 gr and heavier loads.
The bolt lugs are small.....even with more of them (742), the load enough to damage.. The 7400 series uses bigger lugs (less number too) so the force is over a larger area. May be other differences as well.

Instead of turning the ones with chewed up rails into pumps, I always thought that somebody ought to turn them into straight pull bolt actions with a spring assisted return. They would be really fast and and a lot like that Browning that is sold in Europe.

Find a nice BAR at a gunshop and convert the remington into trading fodder.

Holy crap. I've never seen anybody that wanted to use a 742 so bad in my life. Remington used to make a 55gr in a sabot for a 30-06. You could see if you want to find some of those. Or go buy a Ruger American in .223 for $350, which will be a lot cheaper than monkeying around with the 742. You'll be able to blast crap at 300 all day long.

I also have one that I inherited from my father. He had a Stevens bolt action 340 in .30-30 that he used for years and killed a bunch of deer with. He bought a used 742 in .30-06 and was apparently very proud of his new rifle. After he passed away I got it. I used it a couple years and shot my first buck with it. Was never super impressed with it, it seemed somewhat clubby. Once when hunting with it in very cold weather the action froze shut on a live round and I had to transport it home in that condition, which soured me on it. Still have it, and actually took it out and shot it this year just because. Still shot to point of aim at 100 yards after 30 years or so.

In your case if wanting to use it for coyotes I think I would buy some of the 110 grain ammo available for .30-06 and see how it shoots them. Hopefully it will surprise you, and you won't be investing too much time or money into what may be a futile effort.

I'm not aware of any Ruger Americans that are semi-auto. It's not that I want to use the 742, What I want is a flat-shooting, low-recoiling, semi-auto, 300 yd coyote gun. If two coyotes come in to the call and I shoot one, then a few quick shots might also get the one that's running away. The sabots are available for reloading a .224 bullet in a .30-06 and if that doesn't cycle the action, then I'm only out about $40 and I can use them in a bolt action Ruger American .308.

They make lighter bullets for the 30-06.

What's great about the 30-06 is that it's so flexible.

I had good results with the Speer 130 HP bullet, and they are more accurate than I expected them to be. They shoot like a stubby match bullet. They work great on deer too, and with very light recoil. That's a very light recoiling 300 yard coyote load right there.

A box of Nosler 125 BT would be fine and a lot better choice than messing around with sabots or switching barrels.

My 30-06 when loaded with 155 Scenars does well on coyotes at nearly 4x the range you are looking at.

But anyway, if what you want is a flat-shooting, low-recoiling, semi-auto, 300 yd coyote gun, personally, I'd just grab an AR before I put money into the 742.

I can just grab one? I don't have to buy it? Who knew?

Rem 742 at $0.00 vs. AR-15 at $???.?? Not a tough choice.

Long-for-caliber lighter bullet vs. short for caliber heavier bullet. Not a tough choice.

A gunsmith near me always referred to them as the "Jam-a-matic". He would hate to see one come in the door.

I think his main problem wasn't with the rifle, but the owners. Most people don't clean their guns. As time goes by it get's rusty inside and guess what it won't work.

You realize that 300 yards is spitting distance for just about any 30-06 load don’t you?

It's not the distance that concerns me. It's the minutes of coyote at that distance. I know that I can't expect bolt-action accuracy or bolt-action velocity consistency.

Well, I was speaking personally when I said that "I" would just grab an AR...I already own a few.

But the point was that the 742 in 30 cal will be fine at 300 yards and a lot farther out than that with a good bullet choice.

I think the key to these rifles is ammo selection. They tend to do better with midrange loads, and I recommend using loads that would be appropriate for a Garand or M1-A. Also, be careful of powder selection so as to not create excessive gas port pressure. Fed GMM or equivalent would work well.

But it's your money and your project so do whatever you think works best for you.

With Remington going bankrupt maybe some replacement barrels will shake out.

my brother in law gave me a 1976 edition. It has been a great shooter ever since. I love mine.

Is this the point where we start “Hearing the President Crying” from being held so tight your knuckles turn white? I think your words? 🤣

I'm all for saving a dollar, .........

But I don't hunt yotes out my back door.
So there's not going to work (lost OT) and burning gas........

Not gonna half arse it.

Varmint hunt...........w varmint cartridges.
In rigs that shoot decent.

If one has an auto that does such, run it

I guess I just don’t get it. If the size of the holes does not matter, I don’t see anything that any of the varmint rounds do that a 30-06 won’t within the range of 300 yards. At that limited range, a 150 at 2700 to 2900 FPS May as well be a laser beam and the recoil is light. Obviously, a 30-06 wouldn’t be my first choice for coyotes, but if I wanted to use a particular rifle in that caliber it wouldn’t be a handicap either.

I do know this, that unless one can do all the work himself, any attempt to rebarrel the 742 will cost more and get worse results than just going out and buying a cheap AR.

They are still real popular in the Midwest, but Remington designed them for the once a year deer hunter like my dad who sighted in on a cardboard box leaning over the hood of the car. Good enough. We had a BAR, 100 and an early 60's 742 carbine and I liked the 742 the best. A buddy sold a nice condition 742 for $500. though the scope was worth more than the rifle imo. I'd find an uninformed once a year deer hunter and sell it or trade it to buy a Ruger Mini-14 maybe in that 7.62x39 to double as a deer rifle that hits about like a .30-30. I sold off all the junk in the gun safe years ago and that old 742 made the list.

if its dad's or grandpa's and the history is good let it be, years down the road you dodn't want to say to a son or daughter, I had my dad's rifle so I got rid of it or do you want to say wait a minute and give them some history with an old rifle and some ammo and see there face glow!!!!!!!!!!!!