Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Any Remington 742 owners?

My grandfather had passed a few years back and the family was going through the long process of diving up items and they ran across his hunting things. I was the only grand kid who did anything hunting related so they passed it down to me. Never owned a auto rifle, only bolt action, so this is new. Went online and the first thing that popped up is "JAM-O-MATIC". read several things on how they constantly jam when ejecting shells and such. I hunted with my grandfather for many years and have never heard of him having problems with ejection. But anyway, I decided to break it down and give it a good cleaning. There was some dried grease and some dirt, but all in all, it wasn't bad. Put a thin layer of oil and wiped everything down. The action will cycle very strong and smooth. Its almost like the auto action on my older Rem 1100 12 ga, when it closes, its a stout feeling. There is one thing that I noticed, there is a small clip release that may be slightly bent and it hard to drop the mag. But all in all, it's in good condition and is chambered in 30-06. i'm not sure how old it, but he had it a long time. Well, I'm 467 and have lots of guns, but this one is somewhat unique. It also had a redfield 3-9 i believe (still have it) that had the somewhat rectangle objective.

I'd like to check it out and see how accurate it is at 100 yards and less. Is there anything that I need to check out or be aware of before start popping caps? He also took off the iron sights, to mount the redfield. If I can get this thing shooting somewhat decent groups at 100 yards and under, I could use this as a get brush gun and not tear up some of my high end rifles.

Good use for it, or for pup- tent stake, dog chain stakes, propping open doors, buried corner marker on the lot line, etc....

My opinion is worth what you paid for it, and I am aware that others' may vary......

My brother had one for an elk rifle before I put a custom stock on a RU77 in .270 for him. It would shoot the first round one place, then all subsequent ones 6 inches lower and off to one side. It also had a trigger pull in excess of 17 lbs (as high as my weights would go). I got the pull weight down to 6 lbs, never could fix the other problem.

I called Remington and they said " Yes, we get that problem in and sometimes a new barrel fixes it. Sometimes not. If you figure it out, give us a call, will you?"

Good luck, and happy hunting

When, not if, the guide rails get damaged the Remington 740/742 series rifles will have cycling failures.

Ahlman's in Morristown, MN, converts 740/742 series semi-automatic rifles into 760 pump guns. Some people do this when they want to keep a rifle in service that has sentimental value, like your grandfather's rifle might have for you.

Like many other autos, it puts the first round(hand cycled) to a different point of impact than those rounds automaticly cycled as the gun is fired. Site in with rounds automaticly cycled and don't unload the gun until hunting season is over. Next season repeat. Just my $ 0.02 worth.

I just sold a BDL deluxe with the square forearm and basket weave checkering.
I bought it about 5 years ago because when I was a kid that was the gun to have and it brought back old time memory's.
I was surprised at it had a set of see thru mounts and a Tasco 3x9 on it that it turned in 1.25" groups at 100 yards with factory Federal ammo.

Please don’t tell the millions of deer killed with these about them not working. Or the moose. They will get very upset knowing they should still be alive. Ed k

Contact Redneck here on the forum. He dies a lot of 742 work. Even some full colustom builds on them great guy to deal with

While it's not the best design, it'll work for hunting deer and whatnot. They were popular here in the south where we don't have long ranges to shoot besides power lines, pipe lines, and farm fields.

Keep it clean and lubricated.

I have one in .243 Winchester. It was my father's only deer rifle. As mentioned, keep is clean and I say lightly lubricated, as I have found a heavy lubrication causes issues as it traps dirt and dust. Also, be careful with the magazines, as if the lips on them get bent they can cause issues as well. I just recently put a new trigger spring in mine, and the trigger pull is not under 4lbs. I need to get out and shoot it when I get home next month.

They were/stil are, very popular in East, Tx from the Model 740 through 7400. Probaly several Model 750s down there right now! As mentioned, the design tends to gall up or gouge up the inside of the receiver somehow. I would give Redneck ( the gunsmith) a call and see what kind of work he does, and/or suggests. Since it is an heirloom, may as well keep it running right and a long time! Hunt that thing pard! I had a bona fide "jammomatic" 30-06, but I killed everything with the first shot, so big deal, ha. The Mod 742 in 6mm Remington was the "Ne Plus Ultra" in the 70s-80s down there.

Thanks for all the quick responses. As I thought, plenty different opinions. But for its intended purpose, I bet shots won't get to 100, probably closer to 75 and under. I have my 7 mag, .308 and others for my tower stands. I just hate to put it in the safe a's a keep sake. But yall are correct, lots of animals dropped with me. No targets, just meat slaying.

A friend has one, his doesn’t jam, at least he hasn’t complained about that.

Growing up in South Arkansas in the 60s and 70s it seemed like everyone had a 740 or 742, mostly in 30-06. I had one and have my father's in the safe. Killed a lot of deer with both.

I saw the same thing in Michigan and West Virginia. Dad, granddad, uncles....they all killed critters with them. To be fair, a box of ammo would last these guys 5-10 years, so they didn't wear them out.

I have fooled around with dad's 740 and it would shoot 1.25" three shot groups, then open up to over 2" as it heated up.

Remember to clean the chamber!!

405wcf

You are right.... opinions are like belly buttons ( to be polite )




In decades past I was around several 742s. NONE of them were "jam a matics".

I'm NOT a semi auto fan but have had plenty exposure to them.

Jerry

Like others have said keep the chamber clean and shoot it. I would suggest factory ammo only. You might be surprised how well it shoots. I had one for years and killed truckloads of hogs and deer with it. Mine never jammed once.

I sold it cheap to a buddy who wanted it. He has killed a pile of animals with it. He had some jams and I took a look at it. Cleaned it well and ran a box of factory ammo through it with no jams. Turns out he was using some "special " handloads someone made him with flat nose 170 grain 30-30 bullets. They did not feed well and they were causing the jams. Since he has gone back to factory loads he has not had any more jams.

Two friends have them -or 740 series of some vintage. One flawless 280 ( might have been labled 7mm Express) . Other friend bought a used 30-06 but it never could cycle a full mag and asked me to look at it. Cleaned and lubed it of course but it didn't seem particularly neglected. I looked at the spent casing and saw they had some scratches across the body. I felt the feed lips on the mag and they seemed ragged underneath so I took a stone to them until they felt slicker. Then I ever so slightly spread them open a bit more. First clip after was bam bam bam bam. Loaded another and handed to my buddy. Same thing. High fives and smiles after that. No jams since as far as I am aware and I have asked a few times.

The only one that I was ever around was a 742 in 280, and it was a jam-o-matic. But, to be fair about it, the owner was pretty rough on it, and from what I could tell, never cleaned it. I suspect it jammed more from that, than from anything else.

At one time i had 4 of them, all 30-06, down to 2 now. One is full length 742 that my father bought new in 1966 or 1967. Dad didnt shoot much so a box of Remington Corelocts lasted him a long time.
The other is a 742 carbine that I bought 40 years ago. I have always loved to shoot and have shot that rifle thousands of times and have killed eveything from bears to partridge with it. There has never been an issue with either rifle, keep them clean and well oiled. We also only use remington 180 grain round nose ammunition in them. Good luck with your rifle and enjoy it.

If they are maintained properly and shot infrequently they are fine. , I have owned 1(1985) and it was a 7400 ejector broke within 20 rounds , WALMART replaced it and then I sold it after I took it hunting. They are made for the one box a year shooter. If you want something that will hold up buy a BAR or Benelli R1 or a 760 or 7600.