MoNoFletch

I had a problem with my 742. Shot and it wouldn't fire again no matter what I did. Just picked it up from the gunsmith. He said 2 pins broke loose and caused it to not function properly. Anyway I asked him if I should scrap it or continue to use it...he said he wouldn't target shoot with it every weekend, but for hunting only it will last 20-30 more years.

Well $85 later I have a gun I am not super confident in.

Any opinions?

VAhuntr

I understand what you mean about the confidence part. If you don't practice with it enough then how can you build your confidence back? I have a 742 that was my dad's that still shoots pretty good. I have it zeroed and use it maybe once a season. It has been a reliable hunting rifle its entire life.

There is one option you could explore though. There is a company that will convert 742's into pump action rifles. I am not endorsing this company nor have I seen a rifle that has had this conversion, however they area Remington Premier Field Service Center. This may or may not matter given the age of the 742. Here is the link, scroll down the page near the bottom:

http://www.ahlmans.com/riflework.html

bronko22000

Mono, you may want to ask the gunsmith to clarify that statement for you. Seems like a silly statement to make. Either the rifle is functional or not. If he was a authorized Remington gunsmith it should be properly fixed and you should have no problems with it.

DM

It didn't seem like a silly statement to me. The 742's do wear out, and when the receiver is shot, it can't be fixed...at least not easily or at Remington.

I have an old 742, it shoots really good and is totally reliable, it's put a LOT of meat in my freezer. I don't target practise with it because i don't want to wear it out. For hunting use, it will more than likely last a couple more lifetimes..

I'd shoot that 742 to make sure it's sighted in with the ammo you use, and if it works well, take it hunting and don't worry about it..

DM

MoNoFletch

I used it last year.... It was zero'ed when I was about 10 and has NEVER needed adjusted since!! I shot some Fusion ammo and it was right on, so I assumed all was good.
I had the BIGGEST deer of my life 75 yards in front of me and it would NOT fire a round!!! I watched as the deer turned toward me and walked right past me!! I was p*ssed!!

The smith's comment was more that the older 742's will NOT take the abuse of EVERYDAY shooting. Hunting situations it will last along time!

bigbulls

Every time you fire a 742 you it is breaking itself.

What happens is the bolt head over rotates at the rear most pointin the cycling process and the bolt lugs slam into the bolts raceways. Over time the raceways get dented enough from the bolts lugs slamming into them that the bolt will literally freeze in the open position. Once this happens you can have a gunsmith stone down the dents but it is only a matter of time before it is completely inoperable.

Do as that gunsmith told you and only take a couple of shots before each season just to verify POI and continue to kill deer with it.

stubblejumper

So did it fire once at the deer,then not cycle,or did it not fire at all?

Champlain Islander

I had one back in the 70's and it jammed on occasion. I finally got sick of it and got rid of it.

skybuster20ga

hahaha did you hvae the saftey off?? i mean i dunno if it was that big of a deer maybe you werent thinking clearly?? lol

we have a couple 742's and they hahve never had an issue but we have also had a couple in the collection that did and a while back you could send it to remington and a small amount of $ and they would send you a brand new 7400/7600 your choice of caliber. that deal is obviously non existant now. you can tell usually how hard the 742s have been shot by looking in the reciever behind the bolt. there will be 5 little divets. they all do it some worse then others

DM

He gave you good advice, but a box of ammo a year will not wear it out anytime soon!! We've had several of them here, and only one actually got close to being wore out. That was the one dad fired nearly every day for practise, and it had at leastcouple thousand rounds through it, most of wich were handloads. I also suspect they were "heavy" loads too...

DM