Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Remington 742 disassembly

I just made a trade for a Remington 742 in 30-06 and would like to take it apart to clean it. I can't seem to find any instructions anywhere on the internet. I just contacted Remington for an owners manual, but would like to take a look inside soon. Also does anyone have any good experience with this rifle, all I found was bad stuff in my search, which was a surprise because when I was younger it seemed like everybodys dad had one of these.

A friend bought two 742s at an auction sale,one kept jamming and the other shot patterns.I was given a 742,I would use a band saw or a cutting torch to disassemble it.

apprentice,

A bunch of folks on this site will bad mouth the 742 and 97% of them will have never used one. Buy yourself a chamber brush from Brownells designed for the Remington 7400 and 7600 rifles and keep it clean and it will do a good job for you.

I see you've already contacted Remington and they will mail you a manual that is detailed on stripping it down.

I hunted with one for several seasons and shot a bunch of feral pigs and whitetails. A hunting buddy needed a rifle and wanted it so he has it now and it is still killing deer. My brother-in-law harvested 10 animals with it also before he got one of his own that was passed down from his dad. Mine would consistently shoot 1-1/2" groups with handloads. Mine never jammed once but I kept it clean. As always your milage may very.

+1

You will need a few special tools to completely disassemble it. One's a 1/16" tapered punch, a roll-pin punch, a small Allen wrench, a numbered drill set (to clean the gas port), a chamber brush (or brush wrapped with 0000 steel wool and driven by a fast 3/8" drill) and an open end wrench that you may have to modify to use. Probably a good reason for that.. LOL Yup. LOTS, but most not good.. Before you go to the trouble of obtaining the tools and attempting a full disassembly, take a good gander at the receiver rails inside and behind the bolt. Check for indented notches caused by over-rotation of the bolt after firing. IF you don't see much, you might have a rifle that will last a little longer. IF you see some deep dents, might as well save your time/energy since it will soon lock up and be unusable unless you spend the bux to convert to a 760.

Yeah, they were popular in the '70s but that's when they were fairly new and the associated problems with these things hadn't turned up yet.. They're turning up now in droves.. And spare parts are beginning to thin out...

What I would honestly suggest, since this rifle's disassembly can be complicated for the newbie (especially if you don't pay attention to the various springs and pins that can come out at the worst time, not to mention that a third hand is helpful on reassembly) is to take it to your local 'smith for a complete inspection and cleaning. Should be about $30 or so.. You'll be glad you did...

BTW, what did you trade for this rifle??

I traded it for a fairly worn Winchester 97 that I just couldn't get interested in. It had a bulged barrel, and was fairly worn, and was just sitting. I actually should have held out and bought a 760 in the carbine configuration. I just remembered so many of these around, and figured everybody couldn't have been wrong.

I did find these guys, http://www.ahlmans.com/ that convert these to a pump. I haven't shot it yet so don't know if it would even be worth it. I have a model 81 in 35 Rem, that I love. If it jams a lot I will just keep using it. The rails inside are beat up pretty bad, I found a thread that said JB weld worked really well for building the rails up, I might try that if it is a problem.

The Gun Digest Book Of Firearms Assembly /Disassembly Part IV: Centerfire Rifles Revised Edition page 234 is what you are looking for. I have a Rem. Mdl 742 Carbine 30-06 . Its not hard to take apart and clean if you have the book. A part called a disconnector was worn out on my carbine. I got a part for a Rem 7400 and reworked it so that it would fit the 742. Works as it should now.

First of all, I doubt the rifle needs to be disassembled but it's your rifle so go ahead with that aggravation if you want to. I think I did it once and did get it back together without pictures but it was a real pain. Just clean the barrel and chamber and you'll probably be OK.

I had a Rem. 742 in 308 Winchester for awhile and it was VERY accurate. In fact, I took it to a small time bench rest match once and took first place in "Heavy C" with it. My best 100 yard 5 shot group with it measured 0.555 inches.

In short, the 742 can be very accurate but the bolt rails are it's downfall. Mine malfunctioned after several thousand rounds. I sent it back to Remington and they fixed it free of charge but I doubt you'll get free repairs this many years after they stopped making them.

Costs about $160 to convert. Forget the JB Weld idea.. You'd have the same luck trying to float on a flood with a candy lifesaver..

Trouble is, to fully and properly clean the chamber, you do need to disassemble this firearm; one of the major PITAs of this rifle..

WOW.. That's like discovering a live Dodo bird in your back yard...

Remmy says they were built to last about 600.. YOU got a gem... Yeah, they dropped that hot potato some years ago..