Information about the Remington 740, 742, and 7400
The 7400 was made right up until 2006. The new one is a 750. Before the 7400 it was the 742 and before the 742 was the 740 which was made in the 50's. See manufactures dates below.
All three guns (740, 742, and 7400 were faulty and definately not one of Remingtons premier performers. I have had them and they are know to have issues with the action, functioning properly, jamming, and accuracy. Parts are unavailable to repair the 740 and 742 now and I would guess you'll have parts issues with the 7400's in the future. The web link below gives good back ground on this line of weapons. Have a friend who has a very nice looking 742 in .243 with a broken firing pin and replacement firing pins are not available. The gun isn't worth sending it out to a gunsmith to have a custom made firing pin made, fitted and machined to function properly by a gun smith. It's a wall hanger now.
Model 740 - 1955-1959
Model 742 - 1959-1981
Model 7400 - 1981-2006
Model 750 - 2006-Present
http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_info/Remington_7407427400.htm
My two cents. Some old timers love them but they have had to do a bunch of work to get them to shoot well. Very few 740's, 742's, and 7400's shot well new out of the box. There will probably be some debate about this, but it's an opinion based upon some pretty good facts.
My dad had a 742 (passed on down to me after he died), and he got me a 7400 when I turned 14. Both in 30-06. Ive still got both of them, and will drag them out from time to time for a little nostalgia. We both have them set up with see thru scope mounts. They are a great dog hunting rifle set up that way. My dads rifle probably killed over 100 animals, on the low estimation, and I killed probably 20 deer with mine and 100+ hogs with it. I will tell you that neither gun has ever failed us. The trick to these guns is keeping the actions clean. A lot of folks will wipe them off, and spray oil up in the action. They need to be disassembled, cleaned properly, re-oiled, and put back together. The only problem I ever encountered is with the magazines. They have little ears on them that hold it in place. After a while they wear down and the mag will fall out. Also i got some after market mags at a gun show and they never seem to lock in place correctly
I had a 742 bought at Woolco dept store back in the early 70s , I was a dept manager over sporting goods and we had the gun for $119.00. It would jam every 3 rd shot with Remington shells , went to Federals and never jammed again. Remington shells seemed to swell after I shot them. I keep the gun till late 90s when a friend of mine was reloading for me called and said that the primers where backing out after I shot the 742. We put a bore light in and found three hair line cracks just in side where the shell set in. Well it was time to get rid of her, traded it at a gun show, I told the guy about the cracks and he said no problem. I traded for a new Howa 30-06 bolt action, he had it priced at $475. Later saw a guy with my old gun over his shoulder walking out of the show, he said he had bought it for $425. I should have told him about the gun but I didn't. :sailor
my Dad gave me his 742 in '06 he bought in 50's. I have a nice 6x6 elk rack to to attest to the accuracy-276 yards-and reliability-new mexico snow storm-of this classic. I have since given it to my son on the condition I get to hunt with it if need be. weighed too damn much though/with a scope.
2 for 2.... It will be interesting to see if anyone else has had any experience with these weapons...
