What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

Maybe some of you gun guru's could explaine why the 7400 is so inaccurate and the 7600 a shooter.

I now have a 7400 in 270 win and my old 7600 30-06.I have not shot the 270 yet and was wondering if there was something I could do to make it more accurate.
How bad is bad,2-3 inch groups at 100 tards out of the 7400 or is it worse?
The desing is about the same,but ones a pump and one a auto.
Info please.
BBJ

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

I don't know. I have an old 742 in 30-06 that shoots 1 1/2" 3 shot groups at 100 yds. While my Sako L691 shoots 1/2" groups at 100 yds, the groups with the 742 are more than adequate out to 200 yards, which most of my shots are within. I haven't ever shot a 760 or 7600 so I don't know how that compares. If you want groups less than 1" at 100 yds, get a bolt action or single shot, not a semi-auto.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

I never knew they were so inaccurate. Where did you see that? I have one in a 270win. I had POI changes. It would shoot an honest 1.5MOA but my complain was POI changes. I finally figured out what it was. The new forearm I put on it was a tad too long. Which forced the pressure up on the barrel when the screw was tightened. I took a shim and put on the end of the gas tube to make sure the forearm wasn't touching the action. Then all was good. I never have, but plan on taking a dremel to it and taking off some of the forarm instead of the shim.

I bet I have over 500 rounds thru the gun. I have had it since 1988 relatively trouble free. Can't complain. Only issue was building a load for it. I had to pick my powder to make it cycle correctly. But also had to do the same for a Browning semi. I tried all the 4064 and vargets (fast burners Sierra recommends), and wouldn't cycle good, so tried 54gr of IMR4350 with 130gr gameking and shoots and cycles great.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

Big Country,
I had just read alot of stuff about the 7400 as being in accurate.If i can get 1-1/2 groups with it thats would be great.I was a fraid of shooting it and not being able to hit the target.I have heard they sometimes don't group under 3-4 inches at a 100 yds.
Another question for you BC that front screw needs to be tight right?It was loose so I tightend it up,I don't have a manule for it so I'm winging it till I do.

Grizz,
I have many guns this is just the first 7400 I ever owned and I was just going to plink with it,or shoot coyotes and maybe some deer and antelope.This not going to be a primary gun,I plan on giving it to a nephew.
I just found it funny that I can get 1" groups with my 30-06 7600 and would not be able to obtain that with a 7400.
Thanks guys
BBJ

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

Whether the front screw is real tight or loose shouldn't affect POI.

One way to see if you are putting varible pressure on the barrel is to put the forarm piece on. Now without the screw in, are you able to move the front of the forearm off the gas port (peice you are screwing into). All the pressure (or most of it ) should be on the gas port. The rear of the forearm should be just barely touching the action. There should be pieces of metal there near the action that holds the forearm on. Let me know if this helped you.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

No the forarm is not touching the action,I see what you are talking about the 2 little clipps that are bent funny (just under the action bars)hold the forarm in place till the screw secures it,the barrel is basicaly floating.
So now I geuss I have to get some shells and light'er up.
Thanks
BBJ

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

First off every 7400 I have shot sucks with coreloks. I had decent groups with winchester power points when I shot factory. Got great groups with 130gr gamekings federal factory.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

I had no real luck with the corelockts either. The best for me was federal 130 noslers. At 100 yards you could keep under 2 real easy. At 200 it was finicky with anything but federals. CHoose ammo wisely! EJ

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

Ok thanks,I WAS going to go buy some el'cheapo core-loks,wellI geussI will try the federal classics 130 and the 130 BT Premiums.
BBJ

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

Haven't had one yet that was inaccurate and the same goes for the 760/7600 rifle. I had some bad luck with ones extractor but that happened right out of the box and it was repaired.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

my 742 in 308 is awesome accurate and the 7600 in 30-06 is near tack.;)

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

I don't know about inaccurate. Most of them should hold less than a 2" group at 100 yards and many will shoot less than that.

However, simply by shooting them you are tearing them up. It's just the way that they are built. The 740's & 742's were real bad about this. The 7400's are much better but they still beat themselves up when the action cycles. I have seen a couple of 7400's and many more 740's and 742's that were real bad. The bolt head had beaten itself into the slide rails so badly that they looked like a serrated steak knife.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

I've got an older 742 Woodsmaster .30-06 and it shoots 1 1/4" groups at 100 yards with 180 gr. Failsafe bullets. That's plenty accurate for anything I would want one for.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

To answer your question the 7600's advantage over the 7400 is that the barrel is free floating on the 7600 and this aids in consistency. I had a 7600 a few years ago that was a real tack driver. It loved the old Remington load of a 120 gr. HP in the 280 Rem. This load has long been discontinued and the rifle was a decent shooter with 140 gr. Power Points but this load has also been discontinued. I traded the rifle for a bolt gun. I'm not a big fan of pumps.

I think alot of the inaccuracy reports of the 7400 are due to the poor triggers that come on this gun and most people that I know buy a couple of different boxes of ammo and go and shoot a group. If they can't cover 3 shots with a nickel they begin bad mouthing the gun. I had an uncle that had a 740 in 308 that would hold its own with about anything firing his handloads. He used the rifle for nearly 20 years until his death with no problems. He owned a number of bolt guns but for deer he usually picked up the old 308.

Take your rifle out and shoot it and see for yourself. You may be very surprised if you can learn to manage the trigger well.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

Bigbulls, you and i have discussed this before. Could you point me where to check for damage on the rails? Can it be felt or seen by taking out the trigger assembly? I have felt around but never found any dents or cuts onthe rails that the bolt slides on. I have well over 500 rounds thru this gun and figure it would be a prime canidate for this damage. I figured I am not looking in the right place. The last 150 rounds has beenwarmhandloaded rounds also with slower powder like 4350 also.

One thing I warneveryone, both the triggers on the 7600 and 7400 really suck. And very hard toadjust. I have had myexperience with stoning triggers and learned its not my cup of tea on semi's. But my gunsmith wants over 100 dollars to adjust to a decent level.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

I have a 7400 in .243. I use Remington corelocks and get 2 inch groups at 100 yards.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

BC, on the older guns the rail that runs along the side of the receiver near the back at the point where the bolt head stops. At this point the bolt head will over rotate and dig into the rail. When its closed look through the slot that the bolt handle slides through. Or just take out the trigger assembly.

On the 7400's it takes many many many more rounds fired but look at the top of the receiver where the lugs slide through and also along the same rail as the older versions (it will be smaller).

At 500 rounds you will probably not see anything especially if you have a newer 7400. The older 740's and 742's are far worse with this problem.


The next one I have come in that is real bad I will hopefully remember to take a pic and post it for you.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

Well, when I used to use this gun every year, I was so broke, that going out twice a year was a treat. Then when I did get into some good money, I ended up buying bolt and other things. So it was rarely used over the last 16 years. I would say with all my other guns, it will last me a lifetime.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

It probably will last a lifetime seeing as how much you shoot it.

Just something to look out for.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

I've seen hundreds of these rifles and maybe a few of them out of the bunch that will hold its poi after 3 or 4 shots.

Let me explain....

Every year I work at a large gun club for a couple of weekends before deer season doing a deer rifle sight in clinic. In my neck of the woods, 7400s and 742 are probably the second if not first most popular rifle. What we do is have the customer take 3 shots, to get a rough idea where its shooting (I'd say 85% of those that show up are not good shooters, its not a criticism, just a fact) I help them adjust their scope or sights to zero it at 100 yards. The next shot will usually be close to being zeroed, then the next shot will invariably be 5 or 6 " away. At this point, if you don't let the rifle cool down for 10 minutes, the shooter and I will be chasing our tails as the rifle/shooter combination will go from a 3 moa combination to barely being able to shoot pie plate sized groups. You let the rifle cool down for 10 minutes and it settles back down. If the shooter is a good shot and puts his first 2 shots close to eachother, the sights can be adjusted and the next couple of shots will usually fall where they should.

The remington semiautos are decent hunting rifles- they will shoot to poa if sighted in correctly and are good for a couple of shots which is all you really need for hunting purposes, but shooting more than a few shots accurately can be an execise in frustration.Most pump and semiauto shotguns do the same thing, while the mossberg bolt action slug guns tend to be much more stabil. From the handful of BARs I've seen, Brownings don't seem to have this problem.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

Briman, check out my post on what I found with the forarm. Might help out your shooters some.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

WellI shot it last night to see how it would do.I was realy surprise whenI pulled up on a dirt clod at about a 100 yds out.At the recoil I could see dust as it blew up,picked a smaller one about 4 inches tall,BAM!! same thing.4 shot 4 dirt clods dead.
I will put in on paper tonight to see just how good it is.I was shooting out to 250 yds and I was realy surprised at the way it shot.
BBJ

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

Concerning my new Remington 7400 in 30-06:

Initially, the first 50 rounds produced jams every third round, so I went to work on it by bedding the action / stock / installing a LimbSaver Barrel De-Resonator / adjusting the trigger to 3 lbs., and dry-firing / working the action 1,000 times.

A major and very thorough cleaning of the action and chamber was performed. Did I say take your time and pay close attention to detail in cleaning the action / chamber / bolt?

Afterwards, the 7400 30-06 has not jammed in the last 200 rounds and is shooting groups that vary between 7/8" and 1 1/8" off a benchrest and 1 3/4" to 2" groups offhand - using 180-gr. Federal Solid Base rounds.

Speer Hot Core 165-gr. were slightly more accurate and shot the smaller groups, with the 180-gr.'s being the largest, but not my a large margin.

Will try some Nosler Ballistic Tips and AccuBonds next.

RE: What makes the 7400 SO in accurate?
 

in my opinion 2 inch gruops at 100yds is great out of a hunting rifle but, a match rifle is a different story,my dad has a remington woodsmaster edition 742 carbine thatll shoot circles around my 7mm or my dads 700 in 30-06. im talkin 1 or smaller groups at 100 and 200 yds with 150 grn in the 308 caliber and thats with a 18.5 in barrel..but it only has a small fixed 4x scope on it. it shoots great i dont no much bout the newer 7400's maybe cuz ther made cheaper or somethen but ill stik with my 7mm rem mag savage.