Opinions on the Remington 7400 in 30-06?

I want to know if any of you have any experiences or thoughts about the 7400.

Any performance / safety issues and such.

Thanks in advance

V

 

Have a 742(same action) carbine and two or three 7400s. No problems. One fails to cock so replaced the trigger group--just pops out by removing two pins. One good advantage is that it is very "grey". Looks like and is a hunting arm--but add extended mags, a clip on bipod, and you have a "BAR" that puts '06 rounds accurately downrange. Mags change easily so it really is a tactical arm.

 

Kinda were i'm going with this.

 

I have been told that it (742 or 7400) series may not hold up in the long range; as in after 1000 rounds or so that the locking lugs start rounding over and then starts having trouble locking up and quits working. If my memory serves me right.
On the surface it sure seems a good route and a lot less expensive and less conspicuous, but it is my understanding it just won't hold up long term. You might want to reconsider and look at military type rifles, they are military for a reason.

 

I have a 740 and two 7400's. Not even 1000 rounds. They are 500 round weapon built for hunting. I have 22 of the 10 round mags for them. They make a nice backup rifle but are NOT MILITARY GRADE. Mine get toi wandering on accuracy after about 15 rounds. As soon as the barrel gets hot forget it. I qualified level one which was 10 out of 10 in a 9 inch pie plate at 100 yards prone using my back pack as a rest. The first 4 were in a 4 inch group then the rifle started to open up. They are NOT EQUAL TO A B.A.R. Or a Garrand. I made the mistake of buying two of them. They work fine for deer hunting and will be acceptable for backup defense rifles but Im not going to bet my life on one. The barrels are junk and the bolt lugs will break if you push them. Reloads will break the extractors as well. Factory loads only. 150 grain to 180 don't go lighter or heavier.

The 742 is the worst of the bunch stamped receiver and very prone to extractor breaking. The 7400 is not much better and the new 750 in junk. The best one was the original 740 built in the 50's. They were pretty tough and a 1000 round rifle. The rest do NOT measure up.
Im selling one of our 7400's so I can get a TIKKA BOLT ACTION T-3 VARMIT. I should have bought that Garrand when I had the chance. Kingfish

Here is what mine looks like with the 10 round magazine.

 

Got to agree with Kigfish, for hunters who shoot a box a year, they are great guns. For people who shoot a couple boxes a month, not so good. When they heat up they tend to spray rounds too. Most of this can be planned around or fixed, but they are still hunting guns and not military guns. If you want a military firearm, BUY a military firearm!

Of course a lot of people claim they shoot "a lot" and when you FINALLY pin them down on what "lot" is, it turns out to be less a year than I shoot a month and they are telling ME about how long a gun will last?! And in most cases WAY over estimate how many rounds they shoot, one box a year becomes five boxes, etc.

 

Been choot'n mine since early 80's...7400 in a .243...
No hickup's to report...Will drive a nail at 100 yds...

 

May i ask who makes the 10 rd.mag.....?

 

Eagle and there is another one made of metal but I dont know who makes that one. KF

 

Thanks man...

 

What can I say that other's haven't already brought up...
they stopped making this model back in 2004...
they were never very popular... accuracy was only so-so and yes they were a 500 rounds weapon before they needed a lot of work... if it was me I'd pass... even as a trade in they have a low resale value, meaning you might be stuck with it...

I hate to say it but I've always been a bit disappointed with Remington when it comes to Autoloaders... the new R-25 is plagued with problems and the R-15 is really no better... they do make a great bolt gun but never really got the knack of the autoloaders...

 

This info is correct Remington made this rifle for people that fire 10 to 12 rounds a year, lots of gunsmiths will not even work on them as they are so poorly made and the customers will just keep bringing them back over and over.

 

I have dropped several deer at ranges from 200yrds to 500 with my rem 7400 30-06 accuracy depends on skill of shooter in my opinion.

 

Try this with your 7400. Go to the range and put a 10 round mag in it. Shoot all ten in rapid fire. then do another five and see if it is still accurate. I tried to dial mine in with good optics and poor optics. Didn't matter. The warmer the barrel the worse it grouped. I have a Thompson center Icon now that after 15 rounds has no change at all. Sub 1 inch at 100 yards. I never got better then 3 with the 7400 and like I said once you get the barrel hot? its over. We sold two of them and I for one am glad we did. I got huge money for the magazines . one of them on Ebay went for 80 bucks. Eagle stopped making them or went out of business or something. They brought enough money for us to buy two more rifles. Unreal. I got what I paid for out the rifles. I tried qualifying with mine to get me to level two and it just would not do it. Had to start cold to even get close to grouping 10 rounds in a 6 inch circle.

Today with much better rifles I can group 3/4 of an inch with the Tika and the Thompson center and 2 inches with my AR-15 all three of which are much better guns than my 7400's were.

Now Im not saying yours wont hit well at long range. My father in law has a real nice 740 that drives tacks but only until it gets hot . Try your rifle hot and get back to us. My guess is you wont like what happens and this is good to know because if your life depends on high rates of fire ?? It will fail you.

 

I've run a 742 before. Had some cycling issues (probably the mag), and I've seen it strip the rim off so hard it left the case in the chamber a few times.

 

I have seen reloads break the extractor on a 742 in Militia qualification. Nasty trouble there . My own woes with the 7400 were classic on the range line for Militia qualification. They all told me I would be lucky to qualify and I just made it at level one which was 8 of ten rounds in a 9 inch plate at 100 yards. My rifle was even scoped. Cold it did it but not after 20 or so rounds fired . In other words practicing before qualification was not a good Idea unless I let the barrel cool down. There is a reason that military rifles are built with heavier barrels. My Stag was a great rifle. It was dead nuts accurate and it shot better warm then cold. I could just keep hammering rounds down range and they just kept going where I aimed. I shot my entire 210 round battle back several times in one day and never had a glitch. In the three years I owned it I never had a jam or misfire or even a magazine failure. The rifle ate any .223 or 5.56 I fed it. I am already thinking about a Chrome lined barrel for my new one just so it is as tough as the last one.

 

I have two of them. a 742 and 7400. 1.4 to 2 moa accuracy slow fire . These guns, more so the 7400, with proper care will last a lifetime of typical sight in and shoot a few rounds hunting. They will not stand up to rapid fire, reloaded ammo, or not being kept clean and lubed.
The 7400 is much improved over the 742 with bigger lugs and stronger side rails. the 750 is supposed to be even better but I have no experience with them. I would never buy a used one unless I knew what to look for. I also would never buy one for tactical use.
I agree that the newer BAR made by FN is a much better choice.