RE: the story on the remington 742
I have a 742 that my mom bought for my dad years ago when they were new. I have never seen this gun jam. I do not hunt with it anymore but I do keep it sigthed in and ready to go as a back up. Dad was always meticulous about keeping that rifle clean. Maybe that is why it has been problem free over the years.
I think they replaced/updated the 742 with the 7400.