Remington 742 Woodsmaster

[Jessie]

I recently picked one up at the LGS.
Priced right and I've always liked the lines of the older Remington semi-autos.
It's got nice wood and about all the blueing still. Only a little shine at the muzzle.
Plus it's in 30-06.
I prefer it open sighted for the woods, but also bought it to arm out of state friends who may fly in for deer season. The one most likely really likes a scope, so I threw a 3x9 on it I already had.
It was one of those ' Dont need it but, darn it, I want it!'

 

[Drm50]

742 Rem

742 Rems, the older models from 60s are good meat guns. When
I was younger it was my main deer rifle when involved in drive
and stand type hunting in mountains of Va and WVa. There were
no plastic parts in these models. Mine was a 742 Bdl carbine. It
wasn't a target rifle but was all you needed for this type of deer
hunting. Never had any trouble with mine but guys in our gang
had a lot of trouble with newer models. Best mine would do was
2 3/4" / 100yds with Rem factory 180rn Core- locs. Did slightly
better with Sierra 180Rn, loaded approx 2600fps, IMR 4350. I
traded mine original one off, the only one I bought new. Have
had several since. Right now I have 760 that I picked up in trade.
They shoot same as 742.

 

[mauser9]

Always liked em myself. Especially the ones with the basketweave checkering. Don't have a 742 but bought the Model Four back in 81 which is not bad for accuracy. Gets about 2 inch groups at 100 with 150 Core-Lokts. Have not had any jamming issues luckily but it does not get a ton of use as I have to travel to use centerfire. Good luck with your 742

 

[DocB]

I bought a new one back in the early 1970's to hunt with. They are famous for "stringing" the shots vertically because of the way the barrel and action is fit into the stock. Sure enough, mine did. At 100 yards my shots with a scope would string out to about 5 inches vertically. That's really not that bad for killing deer in the South. . .all the shots are close range and it's not a problem. Sold the gun later. About 10 years ago I found one at my LGS for $85 and bought it quickly. I always did like the gun. Both mine were 30-06 too.

 

[Jessie]

$85 ?? Heck yes. I guess I didn't get such a good price after all!
The one thing I learned about the 742 is the bolt and rails it rides on tend to wear out. Something about it slamming on recoil. That was corrected with the later models.
It's not really a problem if it hasn't been shot ALOT and you check it out before hand.
The wear pattern is easily seen if you know what you're looking for.
BTW, I'd love a carbine in .308 but they're kind of pricey now and not real common in good shape.

 

[litenlarry]

I have a 742 carbine..Nice shooter..Inherited from my Uncle..

 

[Engineer1911]

^^^^^^ THE STOCK ! ! ! ! ! ^^^^^^

 

[litenlarry]

^^^^^^ THE STOCK ! ! ! ! ! ^^^^^^

Thanks , yes the BDL models had some beautiful "furniture"..Another shot of the 742..

 

[Jessie]

I have a 742 carbine..Nice shooter..Inherited from my Uncle..

That's what I'm talking about. That is a fine looking rifle with an amazing stock!

I was going to take a pic of mine and post it.....Not Now! Ha ha

 

[505Gibbs]

In regards to stringing or other grouping maladies - be sure that the large slotted screw at the end of the forearm is really tight.
It holds everything together so to speak and if its loose - you'll be wasting ammo trying to get it to group.

 

[Jst1mr]

Notorious for jamming and ejection issues in addition to the accuracy shortfalls. Remington turned their back on this model long ago and will not provide repair or parts (or hardly even admit they manufactured it). Check your chamber for rust - pitted chambers caused ejection issues up to and including tearing rims off the cartridge. Rusty chambers resulted from owners doing all their "cleaning" from the muzzle end and neglecting to clean the chamber.
The follow up gun, the 7400, has much better reliability but still minute-of-pie plate accuracy.

 

[Jessie]

Notorious for jamming and ejection issues in addition to the accuracy shortfalls. Remington turned their back on this model long ago and will not provide repair or parts (or hardly even admit they manufactured it). Check your chamber for rust - pitted chambers caused ejection issues up to and including tearing rims off the cartridge. Rusty chambers resulted from owners doing all their "cleaning" from the muzzle end and neglecting to clean the chamber.
The follow up gun, the 7400, has much better reliability but still minute-of-pie plate accuracy.

Sounds more like operator error to me.
I know they had some issues, but heck, if you don't clean your gun properly you're going to have trouble.

 

[ken158]

The one and only 742 I ever had dropped magazines whenever it wanted... would shoot like a lightening bolt - as in never hit the same spot twice... sent it to Remington and they refused to return it and sent a voucher for $200 (as I recall) - called them and they said they wanted 742's back because of all the issues that had come to their attention.

 

[Jessie]

Ken, that's certainly not good. Wow, hard to imagine that they kept your gun and then arbitrarily determined its value.
What if that was an heirloom gun? Passed on by your father or such?
That stinks.
Anybody want to buy a nice 742 in 30-06?

 

[DWalt]

I have a 740 in .308, the predecessor to the 742. I made my own "Accuracy Block" for it to prevent vertical stringing. It doesn't group that well, typical 5 shot groups at 100 yards are 2"-3" depending on the load. But that's good enough for typical deer hunting. I have had no problems with it, as described by many, don't remember ever having any malfunctions. I also have a 7400 in .270, and it's a real tackdriver - as good as any bolt action. It likes light bullets especially 110 grain loads which give consistent 5-shot groups of less than 1" at 100 yards.

 

[mauser9]

I have a 740 in .308, the predecessor to the 742. I made my own "Accuracy Block" for it to prevent vertical stringing. It doesn't group that well, typical 5 shot groups at 100 yards are 2"-3" depending on the load. But that's good enough for typical deer hunting. I have had no problems with it, as described by many, don't remember ever having any malfunctions. I also have a 7400 in .270, and it's a real tackdriver - as good as any bolt action. It likes light bullets especially 110 grain loads which give consistent 5-shot groups of less than 1" at 100 yards.

Glad to hear some positive comments on your 7400. As I said above my Model Four which is like your 7400 has not let me down with jam problems but I do not use it often enough to give a fair summary. Different bolt lock up I know among other changes on our models. Listed for about $4-450 back in 81. Thanks for your comments

 

[2152hq]

I've only had one 742,,a 30-06 that liked to bite the case rims off upon ejection and leave the fired case in the chamber.
It was cheap, as it was a sell off from a local PD that had it in their 'arsenal' but had never shot it,,even to function fire and ring it out on the range. When they did one day after owning it for a year or more they discovered the problem. They were using Milsurp ammo.

I had better luck with commercial ammo but it would still tear a rim off now and them. I finally found that reloads with less than full loads would function the action nicely and not give the violent action that was eating the brass up.
It was never that accurate,, as far as placing 5 shots into an inch at 100yds,,it couldn't do it. But as a deer rifle,it would have done fine.

I sold it a few years later.
I didn't own any other till I got into the 'better' of the Remington Autoloaders,,the Model 8 and 81 !

 

[Highhawk1948]

Always wanted one but couldn't afford it.

 

[ken158]

Ken, that's certainly not good. Wow, hard to imagine that they kept your gun and then arbitrarily determined its value.
What if that was an heirloom gun? Passed on by your father or such?
That stinks.
Anybody want to buy a nice 742 in 30-06?

I knew before I sent it that might happen but it did not function to my expectations and I couldn't swap it off knowing the thing had so many faults. Remington was very candid about their desire to keep it unless it was a quick fix. If it was an heirloom I guess it would be hanging on the wall... Because I certainly was not spending any more time in the woods with it...

 

[tbgunner88]

My dad has used his 30-06 742 for the last 30 years as his deer rifle. Hasn't missed a season and I can't even begin to imagine the amount of meat that rifle has put on the table. It still has the original Redfield wide view scope he put on it when he bought the rifle and it has proved to be a reliable and deadly combination.