I've got a remington 742 that i have had for 22 years. i bought it when i was 15 y/o. it's kind of retired cause my tast in guns has changed. but i know it would kill a deer in a heartbeat. the gun looks like it just came out of the box.thats rare with 742's.
it has put a lot of deer on the table and i couldnt part with it.
i hope to give it to one of my kids someday. the 742 and 7400 are almost exactly alike. the difference is the locking lugs. the 742 had more lugs but the 7400 had beefier ones.
i cant say anything bad about mine. the key to them functioning right is keep them clean.