I’ve got a question regarding the lifespan of the 7600 action. I’ve got a 1990 vintage 30-06 that I bought as new old stock around 2003. I haven’t shot all that many rounds through it, as my handloading has been for only my bolt rifles, but it is more often than not the rifle I reach for during deer season.

My gunsmith told me that these rifles are good for “maybe 300 rounds” before the action is shot as they were really designed as a “throwaway” gun for the few rounds a year shooter. So, just how durable is the action on these? I ask because I am looking at developing some handloads for it, as I have plenty of components and factory ammo availability is spotty at best.

And does he just "happen" to have exactly the rifle you need & SUCH A DEAL! Maybe he'll even take your Rem without the usual EPA Toxic Waste disposal fees! Some business folks are just so helpful! Gosh!

Best!
John

Time for a new gunsmith. I expect my 7600 (and no doubt someone's 760s) will be around and still shooting in 2121, although someone else might own it.

Man, I’d say he’s full of baloney. I’m not sure what would make them not last. Steel receiver, multiple bolt lugs, etc.

There are plenty of 760s in use that were made in the 50s. I cal BS on your gunsmith.

They are fine. Keep them clean and a light amount of lube on mating surfaces in the reciever and the action bars. The big offender of battered action are the semi auto 7400 series. Theyre inferior in every way to your 7600. Maybe your guy got the two confused. But yeah, the Remmy 7400 series has a less stellar reputation.

Gunsmith is an idiot...even the 742's had a lifespan greater than 300 rds.

I have several thousand rds through a 1990ish 7600.

Glad I didn't get one of them bad ones.

Your gunsmith is a complete idiot

I have an uncle who is the proverbial "one rifle" guy. His one rifle is a synthetic 7600 in .243. He uses it for deer, coyotes, target practice, and hell, probably self defense.

300 rds??

Yeah that was probably shot the first month he owned it.

YES, Indeed and All the other guys responding are correct.

I have my 1st Rem M Six in 270 W and it has HUNDREDS of rounds of full throttle loads thru it.
My son owns it now and killed deer with it this past 2020 Season.

Find another g s before this one does you wrong! Run, Don't walk.


Jerry

To be fair, my gunsmith has done a great job of repairing or customizing a number of firearms that I've brought to him. He apparently just does not know a lot about the Remington 7600. Thanks for the replies, especially the anecdotes regarding rounds though these rifles. I figured his opinion was likely way off.

Verify, Verify, Verify, Verify


Jerry

Develop your loads, shoot it, hunt it, and enjoy it. Once you’re hooked there’s nothing like them.

Probably good for 200 rounds.

Go ahead and send it this way, I will pay shipping.

Just to pile on I have a760 made in 1972 and 7600 from 1990 or so. Both have over 1000 rounds through them and they still shoot 1moa or thereabouts. Maybe he was confusing it with the old 740.

Your "smith"sound like a con man or a washing machine repair man. I'd go else were for my gunsmith needs.

Where do folks dream this shiit up??? Just wow!! Haha 😂

One of the guys in camp has been hunting his 760 hard since the early 90s. Way past 300 rounds...

Exactly…..

I have a 7600 in .30-06 that went 18,000 + rds of LC Match and M2 ball before rebarrelling. I bought it new from the FT Bragg PX for $115.00. At the time I was assigned special duty to train 82nd Abn unit/company snipers with M1 Garands and Weaver K-4 scopes. We literally had a tractor-trailer full of ammo for training. Every afternoon, after issued weapons were cleaned and turned in, we (instructors) shot our own guns with free ammo. I liked shooting 5-shot strings at 200 meters for fun. I rarely cleaned my rifle more than bi-weekly. I kept an accurate journal of rounds fired. Accuracy started falling off dramatically after 10,000 rds, to the point of my rifle shooting 4" (or worse) groups at 100 meters. The stock started cracking in the pistol grip area and the hammer didn't want to stay cocked about 50% of the time at just over 17,000 rds. I wrote Remington, told them about my rifle and asked how much a re-barrel would be. Remington told me to send it in; they wanted to see it. They completely rebuilt it, tuned the trigger, checked the lugs, rebarreled it, re-stocked it and reversed the safety for me (I'm a lefty) for free. At the time Remington said that I held the record for number of rounds fired in a Remington pump rifle. Since rebarrelling I've put less than 500 rds down the tube; Remington probably wouldn't go for another free rebuild. It's a GOOD rifle.
Bob

I would’ve loved to see pictures of that old barrels innards! Wow, that’s pretty danged cool.

Now that’s an amazing testament to its longevity. I’m sending that post to my gunsmith.

Wow! Thanks for sharing

What a nice guy!

That's a great story. Thanks for sharing that with us.

Agreed!

Do not let this smith work on your firearms.

Your 'gunsmith' might need to get a bit more education re: the 7600... 300 rounds??? LMAO..

Those are pretty good rifles - even for Remington - and can last a lifetime if you take care of it..

your gunsmith is an idiot, and you should tell us his name so noone contributes to such a moron's caeer advancement

Yeah, I thought it was a pretty ridiculous statement, but not knowing enough about the design of the action, had no way of countering him. RGK really gave me the “mic dropping” response to him. As I said, he’s done a very fine job on the firearms I’ve brought to him and I just wanted to educate him, not fire him.

If that is his personal/professional experience with 7600s, it should be qualified as such, along with the extent of said experience. Whenever someone of supposed expertise pontificates what's going to happen (in my experience) I generally don't pay attention anymore.
Had a carpenter tell me I'd never have to replace 2 braces on my deck..............been replaced twice. Doctors telling people I know such and such won't last more than 6 months........5 years later. You'll get at least 60,000 miles out of this car part...........20,000 miles later and so on and so on and so on.
I trust my own experience, but you can put in your 2 cents if you like.

Good gunsmiths are like chicken lips.

After learning of that naivete, I'd have a hard time trusting that smith to put a sling swivel stud in a stock.

I've got a Rem 742 that I had to retire; it developed a bad case of the chatters. The pump versions never had that problem. I personally would not be too hard on the 'smith. It's a rumor that's been floating around for years, probably due to the bad design of the 742.

I've seen a few 760s that were pretty beat but nothing that couldn't be fixed or simply lived with

The 742 in .3006 using heavy bullets ( 200s ) would chew rhe bolt/ rail and they indeed have a limited life span.

The 760 doesnt suffer those issues and lasts.

Your gunsmith must have been thinking 742.

Way greater. I've been putting 40 rounds or so through mine every year since '73 without a stutter. The same for my dad's since '76. We've always kept them impeccably clean and run them bone dry.

Back to the 760/7600, my dad's and grandad's 5 diamond 760s are still going strong also.

OP, I'd find a new smith.

He's been advised to do that multiple times.


Jerry

The trouble is gunsmiths are given credit for being knowledgeable about all types of firearms and that's just an impossibility. But it is the Smith's responsibility to tell a customer when he doesn't know something so as not to lead people astray

Oh, good. And now, once more.

When I read these internet posts about the
Remington pumps and semi autos being made
out of silly putty, I just laugh.
The people that have that experience ( as opposed
to reading about it somewhere) would probably
tear up a tool steel crowbar.
I'm always reminded of a man I bought a gun from
that threw in all his boxes of loaded ammo.
First time I went to the range with it, it would blow
a fireball waaaaay out there, and the recoil and
report was way out of character. Even the range
owner came out and asked what the hey?
I called the guy and asked what the load was
and he sez " whatever max is in the book plus
a couple of grains. It'll take it "

JMHO- I have a 742 and a 7400 sitting right here
that both have many many rounds through both,
and they'll be useable for many more years than
any of us will be around
FWIW the 7400 was filthy inside and out when
I bought it, and probably accounted for several
of the turd paperweight stories. Whole pack of
patches to clean the innards up. Nary a hiccup
since I've had it

i would not trust your "gunsmith" to polish my shoes if he thinks a 7600 is only good for 300 rounds. my whelen 7600 carbine has several hundred rounds through it and it looks almost new and shoots MOA. the action actually gets smoother after a couple hundred rounds. i have a bunch of 760's that have countless hundreds through them and some are over 60 years old.

Oh come on now. Certainly he's still good enough to shine shoes.

If he was really serious and actually believes that a 760/7600 series rifle is only good for 300 rounds, you should find a new 'smith.

I've seen 760s with the finish completely worn off the metal and wood that were still fully functional and are being used annually by their owners to punch tags.

One of the instructors in the gunsmithing program at Trinidad when I was there in the 80’s talked of being the armorer for the US Olympic team that used Remington 760s in .222 for the “running boar” event. I remember him discussing thousands of rounds being used for practice and rebarreling them “often”……don’t know what the round counts was but if I was a betting man I say it was more than 300 rounds?!

If he’s a young gunsmith 760s might be like a muzzleloading long rifle to him😉

PennDog

BMR, by chance did the gun smith offer to buy it off of you after he told you it was worthless?

No, he seemed pretty genuine in his belief. I did, however, send RGK's post to him, just telling him I found it online and not mentioning it was a response to my question. He responded that he was quite impressed with that and glad to "learn something new every day." Thanks to all who provided constructive posts regarding Remington 7600s.

I have seen 742s w bad bolt rail chew.
Some folks think deer are armor plated or they need 200 gr or 220gr .30-06 for whitetails.....to bust through brush.
Seems to be something in regional waters.

Be nice to see a test. Two minty 742 one shooting 150s and one shooting 200s.....see at what point damage affects function.

Everything Ive seen ( some ) and read, the .3006 heavies are what shortens the 742 life cycle.

<LOL> ...... Top 10 gunsmith quote of the year. That rifle action will last decades and longer. He just plain doesn't like pump guns without cause.



I have handloaded for lots of 760/7600s and they will take surprisingly heavy load w/o any trouble at all. Book max has never been an issue. Small base dies are not required but FLR is. Have fun.

I've heard this myself once, but no idea why they felt it was true. I guess it's one of those gun store things people repeat

My 760 Carbine was made in 1960. Between my Grandfather's buddy who was the original owner, My Dad, My Mom and myself, It wouldn't be a stretch to say there have been around 3000 rounds through that rifle. For some reason, it really likes Remington 165 gr. Core-lokt spire points.....It will hold 7/8 of an inch at 100 yards if I'm on my game that particular day.

It's getting to look a little worn....It rattles some. But the darn thing just keeps stacking them up.

I had a 1958 760 Gamemaster in 30-06 I hunted with through the 90's and 2000's. That rifle was a whitetail killing machine!!

I don't know about all 760/7600 Remington pump rifles but mine was super accurate with either factory or reloads. Never knew it's round count when I bought it from a neighbor for a $100.00, but in the two decades I had it, it easily got 5-600 rounds put through it at the range from just reloading, trying different combinations of 30 cal bullets and powders. That doesn't even count all the cheap factory ammo (compared to today's prices) I sent through it.

My 80 y/o Dad bought his 06 760 when he was 14. He's killed 2 or 3 truck loads of deer, 2 Pa Black bears, a Labrador caribou, and lots of groundhogs with it. Myself and my brother both killed numerous deer with it too. He has loaded from 110gr to 220gr in it. With its favorite 165gr load, still cuts holes off the bench. I'd wager its had in excess of 2,000 rounds through it.