There has been a vast number of hits at this weblog regarding the Remington 742, so much so that I feel compelled to write about it. It was 2004 when I put the 742 onto the rack, never to hunt with it again. It had served me well for over 20 seasons. I put it up on the rack on a dark evening towards the end of deer season, and went into the house to crawl out of my hunting clothes. There was a gust of wind and I heard a terrible racket out on the front porch. Somehow the wind had knocked the 742 out of the rack and bounced off the concrete porch floor. The scope was trash. The gun would no longer cycle ammunition. I took it to the gunsmith in the off-season and he refused to work on it. I was not bitter, but I had had enough of the 742. My next rifle was a Remington 7600, and I was happy with the switch.

It is hard to put away your first deer rifle. I got it way back in the early 80’s from a buddy of mine. Jerry gave me the choice of a 760 or a 742 in 30-06. I got the 742, because I liked the idea of a semi-auto. It was a well-used gun even then. I put a lot of love into it– well, I guess you could call it that.

First off, I had a terrible time getting it to group. That was probably a lot of me. I fought with it that first Fall, trying to get it to get better than a 4 inch pattern. I finally got the best results with Remington 180 grain SPCL’s. Also, someone besides Jerry had the rifle before me. They had put gobs of lubricant in the gun and let it lacquer up. When I got to Tenessee with the rifle, I took it out for a quick sight-in and got zip. The night before I went hunting for the first time , I had to pull the trigger group, clean it with Coleman fuel (only thing that would cut the lacquer) and reassemble it by lantern light, armed with only my Swiss Army Knife, and my toothbrush. Luckily I had a spare with me.

I took a boar with it that year. After Jerry and I got back from the boar hunt. I told Jerry I was hooked on hunting, and we starting looking around for what else you could shoot. Deer was in season, but Ohio did not allow centerfire rifle, just shotguns. I bought a bow and went out. The rest is a very long story.

It was not until a few years later that I got an invite to hunt Kentucky’s rifle season. I had been using the 742 in the interim for grounhogs. GROUNDHOGS??? Yep, I found the 742 shot Rem 30-06 Accellerators very well; it literally vaporized chucks. Again, I went through a bunch of ammo looking for a good load for deer. I finally found that a lot of Musgrave (South African) 180 grain roundnoses grouped well out of the 742 and also were very cheap. I went back to the store and bought as much of that lot as I could. I bagged a deer that year. I was happy.

A bunch of deer, several years and a lot of Musgrave ammo later, I put the 742 up on a doe at 20 yards on the KY Opener and heard nothing. The gun had jammed up a little and the bolt had not fully closed. That was my first indication that there might be real trouble with the rifle, but I did not think anything about it. I had gotten used to the idea that it needed to be pulled apart every couple of boxes of ammo and cleaned and lubed regularly. Brake cleaner became a regular part of my kit. You spritzed up into the gas port and then used a pipe cleaner on it. It also seemed to be lightly greased with Lubriplate– same as a Garand.

What had been happening was that over time the rails on which the bolt assembly rode were becoming eroded. Over time it had built up a problem called chattering by the 742 afficionado. Eventually the uneven erosion gets bad enough that the rifle fails to cycle consitently. Mine was a pretty advanced case, but I was blythly ignorant. Jerry was a gunsmith, but he was now dead from cancer. The rifle, for all its problems, reminded me of my best hunting buddy. I was blind. To me, it was still my GOTO deer gun, even though it was dying a slow death.

I continued to take deer with it until that night in 2004. Along the way, it helped me hit a bunch of milestones. It took my first deer. It took my first buck with a rifle. When I bought the farm, it was the first gun out, and it bagged my first two deer. My son got to see his first deer shot with that rifle. I really have no complaints.

My 742 will eventually get put up on a wall. I just have not found the right piece of wall. I have thought about sending it off to Nonneman and getting it turned into a pump, but that would now run me about $400 and for that I can buy a Remington 760. I would probably not shy away from a 7400 or a 750 or any other Remington semi if it were handed to me. The chattering problem with the 742 got fixed way back in 1984. Current Remington models do not have the problem.

What else can I say? Here are some brief thoughts:

1) The Magazine: Now that I have had two rifles that use the same exact magazines, I can safely opine that the Remington magazines stink. It is the worst part of the design. They are hard to attach to the rifle. I have had mags fall out while I was hunting. I have had ammo fail to cyle ammo even though they were firmly attached. They are a constant source of concern. Remington has too much invested in the current design to ever admit the made a lemon and change the design. Probably just using a stiffer steel would help, but for now, and into the forseeable future the mags will remain the one remaining hitch on an otherwise excellent design. To minimize trouble, make sure all surfaces of all parts related to the attachment of the magazine to the rifle remain spotlessly clean. If you experience trouble, clean these first. Next, buy a new magazine. If that does not fix the problem, you probably missed something when you were cleaning. Eventually you may have to start bending magazines. A little this and that with a screwdriver bends the mag to where it will fit. On the 7600, I had 5 total magazines, most left over from the 742. All of a sudden 4 of 5 mags stopped seating. Cleaning got me 3 of the 5 back. I had to bend the fourth a little. The fifth never worked again.

2) Accuracy: After I found the right ammo the 742 worked as well as any of my rifles. This was a hard rifle for a rank beginner to figure out how to dial in, but as I got older and wiser the 742 managed to meet my demands.

3) Semi-Auto: Compared other rifles I own, I really enjoyed hunting with a semi-auto. I did not ever have to think about reloading. I believe that you should always be ready for a second or third shot– whatever it takes. This doesn’t give a guy a license to blast away indiscriminantly, but it does give you a bit of an edge if you know how to use it. I will also say I hear a lot of 3, 4 and5 shot strings on the surrounding ridges over the KY Rifle Opener. A lot of guys don’t get what I am saying.

4) Other Foibles: The plastic bolt shroud shattered about 3 years into my ownership of the rifle. It is another notorious part of the design, but it is largely a useless part. Yes, it did keep gunk out of the action, but I ran mine for years without it.

Conclusion: Even with the chattering already begun, I was able to put 20 years into this rifle. I did not fire it much in the off-season and generally put only a few through it before season. If someone handed you a 742 tomorrow and you kept it clean and well taken care of, you might get 20 years out of yours. Probably not, but you might. Also, if you already have one, there is no reason to dump the gun on my say so. Treat it right, and you will be fine.

This post has already been read 306 times!

Views: 0

Related posts:

Requiem for a Remington 742 Which is More? (a Rem 742 or a 30-06) First Loads with the Remington 7600 Hello, Jerry? Again Why a 30-06? The 4 MOA Deer Rifle On Rifle Selection What is my "goto" gun for Deer?