Remington model 742 30.06

[big rifle man]

OK everyone, I recently picked up, at a fantastic price a Remington model 742 in 30.06. A friend of mine's father passed away and left a number of rifles/shotguns/handguns. I sold a lot of the firearms for him and because I was always interested in a 742 we worked out a great deal. It's got a 22 inch barrel and is in excellent condition. Has anyone had any experience with the 742? I'm aware of the little issues with the proper use of the magazine but need some thoughts on reliability and general accuracy. It's an early model but does not have a scratch on it. I'm figuring it would make an excellent eastern woods deer rifle. Just to grind your teeth a little bit I sold a Browning Safari grade in 7MM mag for him for $450.00 in excellent cond. He's also got a squareback browning in 12 guage with a 30 inch vent rib barrel for sale. ex. cond.

 

[Divernhunter]

I have expierence with several that friends have(I have a 30-06 rem 760 pump) and they can be very accurate and trouble free. We shot handloads with 130/150/165/180gr bullets in them. Mostly 130 and 150gr bullets with Win 760 powder. I always used small base dies but my one friend used reg dies without trouble. I also use only new brass for the rounds I take hunting in any rifle/pistol I use but others have used fired brass ok.
We found the carbine lenght barrel to be faster handling so much I had my 22" barrel shortened to 18.5". I really like the difference and no game animal has complained about dying with the shorter barrel. Mount a good scope(we prefer Leupold) low to the barrel. I have a 3X9X40 which you can just get a business card between it and the barrel. A 2X7 or 3.5X10 with a non-AO lens works out to be a fast handling accurate rifle. I have shot game from about 3-5yards out to over 300yards with mine.
Some people badmouth them but I have no regrets about mine or my buddies which still have them. Especially when I outshoot the detractors at the range.

 

[jtoews80]

I had a friend with one. I seem to recall his was problematic until he started using the remylube oil or some remintong lube for semi's in it. That gun previously was somebodies wolf killer and had alot of rapid fire use as such. Kinda the pray and spray predator hunting method. hammer thro a clip or two and hope to hit'em.

JT.

 

[257 Ackley]

The older ones were better than the ones right before they went to the 7400. I bought one new in 1969. Shot a lot of deer in the woods of Northern Minnesota using 180 grain bullets with open sights. One of my brothers is still hunting with it. You need to keep it clean and oiled for the action to function properly, especially in colder weather.

 

[Divernhunter]

Spray cleaner(I use brake cleaner) really helps and not too much oil on the action. One thing I found that helped to keep them trouble free was to get a chamber brush and use it. Mine is a brush which cleans the 30-06/280 chamber size and is on a wire handle(like a bottle brush). I bent a zig-zag in the wire so it will go into the chamber completely to clean it. Really has solved some troubles with the semi or pumps for us. If a friend has trouble the brush is the first thing I do after the spray cleaner and cleaning the bore. Tetra gun oil or mil-tec is what I prefer for the action.

Also do not load ammo real long OAL and with some not super hot loads.

 

[1Shot]

Every time you shoot that rifle or take it out hunting CLEAN THE CHAMBER. My buddy is a gunsmith. Most of the Rem 742's that are brought into him with problems other than broken parts are because the chambers are rusted or scratched of just dirty. One thing to know is if you break a part on a Rem 742 unless you can find another parts rifle it becomes a wall hanger. You can not get most or any of the parts for them any more. Most gun people, shops, I know will not even take one in for trade. They are good semi auto rifles but like everything else they need to treated with respect and in time they will wear out.
Get you some 150 gr blue box federal ammo and try it. I help do a lot of scope sight in for my buddy's shop and this stuff is very accurate for store bought ammo. It kills deer well also.

 

[JD338]

I had a M742 Carbine 30-06 that I bought new in the mid 80's. It would shoot 150 gr and 180 gr hand loads under MOA. I had a Leupold Vari X III 1.5x5 on it. I never had any problems with it, it always cycled and shot well. I sold it to a hunting buddy because I'm a bolt action fan.

JD338

 

[.405]

I killed the largest whitetail buck that I have ever killed with a 742 30/06 when I was sixteen.I always had good luck with the rifle.It shot good for me, but I traded it on a Colt SSA some years later.Darn ,I wish I still had that Colt. I traded it for a Colt Lightning.Then I traded that for and old 86 Win in .45/90. Now that is the one I wish I had back. :shock:

 

[tjRoberts]

I have loaded for 2 of them and on of the pumps.
I recomend using freash factory brass for your hunting loads.
resized stuff is fine for practice though...tj3006

 

[Divernhunter]

+1 for new brass for hunting loads. Actually I use new brass for any of my big game hunting loads.

 

[big rifle man]

Thanks to everyone for the input. Although I have variable power scopes on all my rifles I was thinking of going with a fixed 4 power on this rifle. I haven't used a fixed power scope since the old days of a 4 power weaver on a 336 Marlin. Anyone have any experience with the various brands? I was kind of leaning towards a Zeiss 4 power but I'm open to any suggestions.

 

[YoteSmoker]

I use 1-3x fired brass shot in the same rifle for big game hunting as I know it was shot in my rifle and the dents and dings have been removed. Why do you recommend using only new brass for hunting. Thanks!

 

[Divernhunter]

I do not want to have any feeding trouble. IF a brass was not sized correctly or there was too much base expansion then I could have a feeding problem or the gun not lock in battery. The bolt(on a boly action) could get sticky also. Regular sizing dies(I use small base dies for my pump/auto rifles) do not size all the way back to factory deminsions(sp) and cannot resize right at the base area.

I have friends that use fired brass without trouble usually. It makes me feel better and the cost is not much. It is a peace-of-mind kind of thing for me. Kind of like using better quality bullets than needed as long as they are suitable for the game. This is especially true when I travel out of state that the additional cost is quite small compared to the cost of the hunt.

 

[TBASTIAN]

I'm using a specific solvent made by Hoppe's for Semi-Autos. It's cleaner and leaves less residue. So far, it's been great in both of my Browning BAR's.

 

[Bull oiler]

Hi, for your handloads I recomend using powder in the IMR4064- IMR 4895 burning range. This will assure your rifle will cycle properly and not damage your action. I also use small base dies to size the brass of unknow origins(ie) used or range brass. I load 48 grains of IMR 4064 with a 165 sierra spitzer boat tail and the load is sub MOA for my buddys 742. The other thing that is critical besides the chamber cleaning mentioned in a previous post is to only load the rifle with no more than 4 rounds in the weapon. You can load 4 in the clip and one in the chamber but in my buddys 742 after the first shot the weapon, without fail will jam on the second round.
We were on an antelope hunt in Montana and while we were shooting to be sure our guns were zeroed at a small range before the hunt one of the locals there could not believe that a Remington semi-automatic could shoot that good. I gave the guy the "recipe" but I am sure he "helped himself" to a few of the loaded rounds to dissasemble himself.
Good luck with the 742

 

[big rifle man]

Guys, you are going to love this one. Yesterday was my first opportunity to go to the range with the 742. I mounted a 1.75X6 Leupold and used 47 grains of 4064, a WLR primer and a 165 grain Sierra gameking. My first shot at 25 yards was lucky and at three o'clock six inches from the bull. Made the correction and shot at 100. Took two shots to dial it into the bull. The next three shots were a one inch group. As I had doubts I was going to be able to do this again I fired three more rounds and got another one inch group. To say I'm pleased is putting it mildly. The gun was built in 1963 and is in excellent condition. I'm leaving for Maine in two weeks and this rifle is going with me.

 

[JD338]

big rifle man

Thats great!
Like I said, the one I had shot under MOA with 150 gr and 180 gr hand loads.
They shoot!

JD338