remington 742 308 cal

moneychanger · #1 12-24-2006, 07:29 AM

i wanted to clean my 742 by breaking it down and giving it a good clcleaning. well i did fine until the step to unscrew
the nut holding the barrel and action in place.

i've tried , but can't get the nut to break.

my next thought was to reassemle the what i took off, and i can't seem to compress thje spring that goes over the rod .

it seems there is a tool to compress the spring, and there
should be a socket or wrench to fit the aforementioned nut.

anyone out there have any tips or suggestions.

skeet · #2 12-24-2006, 10:37 PM

Don't go any farther. Try to get the darn thing together and leave it to a pro...especially the barrel. Headspace is uh..very important!! I hated taking those things apart.

buckhunter · #3 12-26-2006, 01:04 PM

Put the thing back together fast. Your looking for a lot of hurt. Take the forearm off and clean that the best you can. Do the same for the receiver and bolt. I use a gun scrubber or carborator cleaner to blow the crap out of my semi's. You can take the stock off which isn't a biggie.

With time and patients you can put the spring back on but would bet it flys across the room a few times.

I speak from experience, bad experience.

Brithunter · #4 12-27-2006, 05:59 AM

Oh dear I have yet to read a post on just about any forum with good words to say about these remington Semis

I just wonder why folks persist in buying them

Good luck with the reassembly as I fear you wull need it!

buckhunter · #5 12-27-2006, 06:22 PM

Brithunter

As a rule they aren't bad. Most problems comes from little or lack of maintenance. If you keep them clean and "lightly" oiled they work OK but that not to say they wouldn't jam. Sometimes they can be finiky about what type of ammo they eat. Like most its trial and error on that.

Owned 3 of them and they all worked just fine. With that being said I traded up to one of Fabs favorite rifles,a Browning BAR. That work better than fine.

skeet · #6 12-27-2006, 11:38 PM

Brithunter

Nothing wrong with a 742. Most of the people who make bad mouth about them are bolt gun shooters. For what you use them for they are fine. Like any auto loader they are a little more finicky but not unreasonably so. When I worked on guns the most trouble I had with them was exactly as was happening here. They started to take them apart with no knowledge of what was necessary. Keep 'em clean and they work just fine. Clean chamber IS important. Bolt gun shooters can be just as snobbish as double gun shooters. Heck even in England the driven bird shooters are standoffish about O/U guns. I happen to like autoloaders of all types.

Brithunter · #7 12-28-2006, 02:15 PM

Hi All,

Hmmm times change and if you look through the British shooting press you will see lots of O/U's on Pheasent drives now.

Whilst it's true we in England have little to do with centre fire semi autos their being banned back in 1986 that does not alter the fact that I often see and read posts about the Remington 740, 742 and 760's having accuracy and reliablity problems. Various gas operated and recoil operated semis have been made as manually operated straight pulls for use by some fool hardy soles here in the UK. Fool Hardy I say because they are expensive and difficult to operate

and the ones like the Ruget Mini 14 tyoes are very poor in the accuracy department

.

wrenchman · #8 12-28-2006, 06:02 PM

I have the 7400 and never have had a problim the gun was bought in 86.
I know of a few 742s and every thing i have seen of them is the chambers have to be keept clean or they will jam they are not a gun that you just put up when you are done hunting.
I dont think i could leave mine home when hunting bears i have a 2/7 simmons on it with 180 grain silver tips they go crunch.
They are real populer here in mich.

moneychanger · #9 02-22-2007, 07:26 PM

wren chman i'm in oakland county whereabouts you located

wrenchman · #10 02-22-2007, 07:57 PM

dearborn hights

dakotah · #11 02-04-2008, 04:06 PM

I think the 742 is a good rifle. Shooting off the bench requires a little finess though. The 742 is a better rifle than the 740. And I think the 7400 is an improvement over the 742.

The 742's I have owned all have been in 30-06.

I have torn different 742 apart more than a few times. I also recommend taking it to someone who has had experience with them.

Larryjk · #12 02-24-2008, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by moneychanger
i wanted to clean my 742 by breaking it down and giving it a good clcleaning. well i did fine until the step to unscrew
the nut holding the barrel and action in place.

i've tried , but can't get the nut to break.

my next thought was to reassemle the what i took off, and i can't seem to compress thje spring that goes over the rod .

it seems there is a tool to compress the spring, and there
should be a socket or wrench to fit the aforementioned nut.

anyone out there have any tips or suggestions.

Put a little KROIL on the nut and let it set overnight. Clamp the receiver in a padded vise gently. Put a 12" adjustable wrench on the nut (adjusted very tight) and give the handle a whack with your hand. Works every time for me. Use the tube that goes in the spring to gather the spring on and hold it with both hands until it is all in place. A contest sometimes, but eventually you will win. If you clean the barrel every 25-30 rounds, the accuracy is much improved. Good Luck