They get a bad rap

W

Wiley

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and a lot of people hate 'em...... BUT, this afternoon I made a run to the west a little ways and picked up a brand new, in the box from 1978 Remington 742 in .308. Still has cosmoline in the works and I've only wiped down the outside. A good cleaning is to be had Sunday.

These rifles acquired the monicker of "Jam-O-Matic" during their years of production but it is my humble opinion (from owning 2 that worked flawlessly) that owner error had a LOT to do with malfunctions. Too much oil, grease, lack of cleaning, dirty/rusty chamber and the list goes on. My experience was that these rifles liked to be almost completely dry. There are still folks that think if a little oil or grease is good then a big squirt should be just incredibly good. Some of the 742s that I saw and handled back in the day were crudded up with that stuff and didn't have a chance to be reliable.

Anyway, this one will be gifted on a special day and my old lessons learned on maintaining it will be passed along with it.
 
Wiley said:
and a lot of people hate 'em...... BUT, this afternoon I made a run to the west a little ways and picked up a brand new, in the box from 1978 Remington 742 in .308. Still has cosmoline in the works and I've only wiped down the outside. A good cleaning is to be had Sunday.

These rifles acquired the monicker of "Jam-O-Matic" during their years of production but it is my humble opinion (from owning 2 that worked flawlessly) that owner error had a LOT to do with malfunctions. Too much oil, grease, lack of cleaning, dirty/rusty chamber and the list goes on. My experience was that these rifles liked to be almost completely dry. There are still folks that think if a little oil or grease is good then a big squirt should be just incredibly good. Some of the 742s that I saw and handled back in the day were crudded up with that stuff and didn't have a chance to be reliable.

Anyway, this one will be gifted on a special day and my old lessons learned on maintaining it will be passed along with it.
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Picture if you don't mind… love those guns.
 
Wow. Fantastic find. I love them. I think I have had 10 or so over the years. Some jam some don't. You just got to figure out why. I have had several I would shoot and it would jam. I would take the mag out of my son's gun and it would run flawlessly. My son's 3006 you could stomp it in the mud and it never misses a beat. My daughter has a 270 and is reliable with soft point ammo. I would love to find a 308 for a good price. Heck you used to be able to get them for practically nothing.
 
ImThere said:
Wow. Fantastic find. I love them. I think I have had 10 or so over the years. Some jam some don't. You just got to figure out why. I have had several I would shoot and it would jam. I would take the mag out of my son's gun and it would run flawlessly. My son's 3006 you could stomp it in the mud and it never misses a beat. My daughter has a 270 and is reliable with soft point ammo. I would love to find a 308 for a good price. Heck you used to be able to get them for practically nothing.
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Wish i would have held onto the ones ive owned over the years, used to buy them for 200 bucks
 
Here she is with some adjustments to the pics to try and show her as close to in person as I can get a pic to show.....but, I over did some exposure or something..... And I can assure you that I didn't get it for $250 🥴 :) I'll get better pics soon....

742 Right.webp

742 Left.webp

742 box.webp
 
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knightrider said:
Wish i would have held onto the ones ive owned over the years, used to buy them for 200 bucks
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Yeah I had a beautiful 3006 had a whitetail engraved in to the receiver. Beautiful montecarlo stock. Bought for $250. Even had an era correct Leupold scope on it. A buddy wanted it so I sold it to him for what I had in it, $250. I wish I would have kept that one. It was probably the nicest one I have ever seen.
 
Grandfather had one in 30-06 that wouldn't cycle. My cousin got it and bet he cleaned half a cup of dirt and grease out of it. Looked pristine on the outside though lol. Functions flawlessly now. It's all he hunts with.
 
In 1972 my Daddy bought a 742 in 30-06. In 1973 he bought me the carbine version also in 30-06. That was the era that if you weren't shooting 30-06 you shouldn't expect to kill a deer. "Knock down power" was the buzz phrase back then and the 30-06 was supposed to have plenty of it 😁 Dad talked about getting me a Marlin 444 for some serious 'knock down power' but he could never afford it. Both of out 30-06 742s were taken by some thug(s) that must have needed them more that us. Back then when a gun was stolen it was just gone unless a feller knew where it was and took matters into his own hands. This is the first 742 I've laid hands on since then.
 
I've still got the WoodsMaster 742 in 30-06 that my Dad bought new in the mid 70s. It's got the dark walnut stock as well and a 4x fixed Redfield scope still. Wouldn't take anything for it. I had one that I bought from my uncle in the early 80s for $150, killed several deer with it, and sold it when I came across a brand new Remington Model 710 plastic stock 30-06 to replace it with. Still have that one, it's a good shooter as well.
 
The real problem with them is the "rails" get worn out. The bolt rides on rails made into the inside of the receiver. The receiver metal is soft and the rails wear out. Doesn't have anything to do with oil. It's a design flaw. The short actions aren't as bad as the long actions.
As the rails wear, it allows the bolt to twist...and it jams.
Once the rails are worn out...it's a wall hanger. There is no fixing them.
Some say that you can convert to a pump at that point...and they will work. 🤷
If used for hunting only...you will likely never wear one out. If you shoot a lot...you will.
 
I have a 7400 30-06, 750 280 and 750 308. The long actions will jam every so often. The 308 runs like a sewing machine. I really have not attempted to throughly clean the actions. What would be the correct way to clean the action to remove all the residue?
 
I had a 243 one time. When I bought it the trigger assembly was worn out and once you pulled the trigger it cycled until the mag was empty! First time I shot it scared the chit out of me. lol. Next 100 rounds were fun! Then I replaced the trigger ended up trading it off.
 

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