Remington 742 Woodmaster 30-06

[fubarjohnnyr]

Apologies for the length of this post before-hand, as this little project started out as a simple "check the zero of the scope" from a friend who presented the gun to me along with 2 boxes of Winchester 165gr ammunition. What has transpired since then has led me down a rabbit hole filled with multiple surprises and a legacy of issues inherent with this gun that I wasn't aware of prior to laying hands on the 742. I welcome any suggestions or experience from you guys concerning this gun.

Outing #1

Target set up at 100yds, first chambering from a magazine of 4 rounds resulted from bolt not going into full battery. Cleared, reloaded, and re-actioned; 4 rounds successfully fired. Shots were not to point-of-aim, grouping (loosely termed) was approximately 8 inches primarily stringed in vertical fashion. 4 more rounds loaded, last shot resulted in a stuck case in the chamber with a chunk missing from the case rim ripped out by the extractor. Those rounds wandered around on paper in a 10 inch spray. Packed it up, headed to the house.

Research phase ensues with Google taking me to a whole world of Remington 740/742 problems, issues, history, fixes, and eventual permanent failure in this design series. This particular gun was produced in Oct of 1979, and I do believe it to be a relatively low count shooter due to the internal bolt rails appearing unscathed. I did completely disassemble the rifle, clean all components, lube and reassemble. The chamber walls were filthy, ended up honing it with abrasive compound and polished it out with brasso. This did fix sticking case issue in the subsequent outing. Scope and rings remounted and tightened down.

Outing #2

20 rounds fired, case extraction and ejection without issue. Around 1 shot in 6 results in the bolt failing to pick up a fresh round from the magazine. Accuracy is horrid, cold barrel impacts start high with subsequent impacts moving down 10 inches before forming a consistent 6 inch group. Ruled out possible scope issue by mounting another, same wild printing. Packed it up, headed to the house.

I did order two replacement parts from observations made during the disassembly. The action spring was corroded and possibly weakened in certain sections near the gas block, and the bolt handle retaining pin was buggered up to the point it can be drifted out from the bottom which from my reading it shouldn't due to it being a tapered pin. Those parts are on the way.

The quandary here is whether this gun is ultimately worth the time, money, and effort to mess with. The pigheaded part of my brain wants to 'fix' it, and the logical side says just go buy a $300 dollar entry level bolt gun that will shoot circles around this one.

 

[swampratt]

when i was looking for a semi auto 30-06 i seen these and read about them.. it was hit and miss some loved them and others stated clean every 20 rounds or else you will be sorry.
As far as accuracy ...Don't know.
I had a beautiful sporterized 7 Mauser the first shot would hit where i aimed .
shot 2-7 would not.. it moved left and up to form an arch like a rainbow.. and settled there 7" away from shot #1.

I can't have a gun that is not accurate no matter how much i think i like it.
I recently sold my Bisely Ruger Blackhawk 45 Colt 7.5" barrel.. no flaws or scratches on it..Was not accurate enough for me.
My sks was not accurate past 100 yards.. and even at 100 it was 4". Gotta go.

My friend has an addiction with cool guns and buys a lot of them even recently got the AR-12.
We went shooting for the first time in 20 years.
He was frustrated in all his weapons .223-.308-30-06 45 colt 17 rim fire.. none of those cool guns would group for crap..MOA of cereal box if you were lucky.

My entry level 30-06 Mossberg 100atr is .75 MOA to 300 yards.. he had much more fun shooting it.

He then got a PSA 1:7 twist .223 to try and get something accurate going.

But he was or used to be happy until we went shooting.
Go ahead and try and fix it with the next parts order,, if it does not work then move on.

Try some 150gr flat base bullets.. if you can find loaded ammo with them..No idea what loaded ammo has in them,, but researching is easy.
I hate factory loaded ammo.
Unless it is something like gold medal match stuff..Those cheap remington and federal walmart ammo's really sadden me when it comes to accuracy.
In most guns anyway.

 

[Cedar Creek]

I bought a 742 in .30-06 when I got out of college in 1974- used it for a few years and killed several deer with it. Accuracy was not tremendous, but I'm at fault for the rifle's demise. I handloaded for it, first with mid-range loads using IMR 3031. After reading quite a bit of stuff about the aught-six and listening to others who used .30-06 bolt rifles I changed to a full-throttle load using IMR 4350. I shot the rifle quite a bit- components were cheap back then and I had plenty of time and friends to shoot with. After a few years I started having jamming issues and discovered the guide rails were worn out/damaged from working the action too hard with slow-burning powder. I think the best cure for frustration is a bolt rifle.

Good Luck!

Cedar Creek

Also there are two gas ports on the bottom of the barrel a little way ahead of the receiver that need to be cleaned regularly or the rifle won't function properly.

 

[dennishoddy]

I bought a new one in 1980. I reload and could never tune a load to shoot better than 4" at 100 yds. Sold it and bought a Browning Stainless Stalker in .06 that I still shoot to this day.
I think the 742 would be a great gun in heavy woods where shots are limited to 50 yds or less.

 

[fubarjohnnyr]

A final update on the gun, replaced the action spring which the new one was a good 3/4" longer than the original. Between it and the new bolt handle pin, functionality in feeding rounds from the magazine were perfect.

The forearm screw I left tightened only to the point where it was secure, no over torquing it down tight. Unfortunately, accuracy is still dismal. 8-6 inch groups with mostly vertical stringing.

 

[swampratt]

What are the loads you are using for it??
6" is what r-p does in a couple 30-06's i have shot.
Federal was about the same. This is the cheaper walmart stuff.

Handloads with flatbase bullets, the way to go.. if you were close i would give you some

 

[fubarjohnnyr]

Winchester SuperX 165gr PSP

 

[dennishoddy]

Every brand you buy will likely produce different results in accuracy. Reloads tuned to the gun will be the only way. I found my sweet spot by shooting one round. Opening the action, and letting it cool to ambient temperatures. Shoot another round. It should be close.

Where I saw the group open up was after repetitive shots in a short length of time. Its been too long, but I don't remember how the action/barrel was bedded or anything like that. I'm sure that has something to do with it.