A trip into the past-The Remington 7400

[keepcalmandcarryon]

A friend of mine inherited a Remington 7400 a few years ago and is trying to get it back in shape and sighted in. After a few rounds down range it was clear it had not been cleaned-maybe never. Since I am the more mechanically inclined and have an interest in old guns I offered to take a look especially since I have had no experience with the 7400.
The rifle itself does have an elegant simplicity to it that I do admire. a simple non adjustable gas block on the barrel and an operating rod with twin action bars that moved a minimalist bolt carrier back and forth while the tiny bolt rotates in the receiver. The trigger group is similar in design to an 870 shotgun and is a one piece unit.
While this rifle is nowhere sturdy enough to endure even one two gun match a tip of the hat to the designer as it worked for decades suffering benign neglect. For what it was designed to do-shoot a “box of shells” every season and take home a whitetail I think it is a job well done.

 

[Old School]

At one point in my life, that was a dream gun. Cool pics, thanks for bringing back memories.

 

[JoeR]

My Dad bought a 742 Woodsmaster in 30-06 back in the 60s. He hunted with it for 40 more years. When it was time for me to buy a deer gun in 1983 I followed his footsteps and bought the 7400. We've taken a good bunch of deer with those guns over the years.

 

[Mack270]

Those used to be in a lot of trucks with dog boxes down this way. Watched a guy shoot a triple on running deer with one when I was a teenager. They may have been the most popular deer rifle in the area at one time before everyone had to have a magnum to shoot across two bean fields at a time.

 

[Charlie]

I had one in 6mm Remington until some maggot stole it. It was extremely accurate once I relieved the tension between the forearm and the receiver by taking some wood off the back of the forearm. It would change zero every time I removed and reinstalled the forearm before I did that little bit of surgery. I shot it thousands of times with my reloads and never had any problems. I still have my phone uncle's 30/06 742 leaning up against the wall next to me right now. I think the 7400 was an improvement.

 

[Charlie]

While this rifle is nowhere sturdy enough to endure even one two gun match

I would be interested to see, if you tried it in a two-gun match, what would break. I bet the rifle is sturdier than it may appear.

 

[keepcalmandcarryon]

I would be interested to see, if you tried it in a two-gun match, what would break. I bet the rifle is sturdier than it may appear.

I don’t think it would break but the gas system blows fouling directly onto the action bars and recoil spring guide. The handguard is sealed so there is nowhere for the dirt to go. I think after 100 rounds it would start binding up.

 

[1075tech]

When I worked as a technician, a co-worker and I went to a customer's house to check out a heating issue. Went up the pull down stairs for the attic and there was a rifle laying there. I set it off to the side so it wouldn't be in the way. When we came down, I mentioned to the customer that I had moved it.

He said, "That old thing? It doesn't work anymore." Before I could respond, my coworker asked him what he wanted to do with it. He said it didn't work and he was just going to cut it up and scrap it. My coworker said he'd take it and the guy gave it to him.

7400 in 30-06. Nothing wrong with it except that it needed a good cleaning.

 

[Charlie]

I don’t think it would break but the gas system blows fouling directly onto the action bars and recoil spring guide. The handguard is sealed so there is nowhere for the dirt to go. I think after 100 rounds it would start binding up.

That has not been my experience. Give it a try. I do know that the 742 and 7400 that I have used do like to be clean as do most guns. I have treated mine the same as all my other autoloaders as far as cleaning is concerned and have not had problems. I realize the Jamomatics have a bad reputation but wonder if much of that is due to people just using them for a deer season and then putting them away with a bunch of oil in the action. It is a hunting rifle and probably does not receive the same amount of regular maintenance that a rifle used for gun games does. That would lead to problems in most autoloaders. I recently got a 308 7600, the pump action version of the 7400, from the widow of a close friend. He had bought it so that he could have a magazine-fed repeater that the gun grabbers were unlikely to try to ban. I do not remember ever seeing him shoot it. He kept it well-oiled and stored in a gun cabinet for years with a loaded magazine in it. I took it out to the farm to shoot it and had a hard time even chambering a round. The action was sluggish, and the chamber had lots of gum in it. A good cleaning had it running slicker than boiled okra. He also had a Remington 700 in 30/06 that was so gummed up that it would not even cock, a Weatherby Mk IV 300 Weatherby Magnum that would not chamber, and a 336 Marlin 30/30 that would hardly open.

 

[rufrdr]

That has not been my experience. Give it a try. I do know that the 742 and 7400 that I have used do like to be clean as do most guns. I have treated mine the same as all my other autoloaders as far as cleaning is concerned and have not had problems. I realize the Jamomatics have a bad reputation but wonder if much of that is due to people just using them for a deer season and then putting them away with a bunch of oil in the action. It is a hunting rifle and probably does not receive the same amount of regular maintenance that a rifle used for gun games does. That would lead to problems in most autoloaders. I recently got a 308 7600, the pump action version of the 7400, from the widow of a close friend. He had bought it so that he could have a magazine-fed repeater that the gun grabbers were unlikely to try to ban. I do not remember ever seeing him shoot it. He kept it well-oiled and stored in a gun cabinet for years with a loaded magazine in it. I took it out to the farm to shoot it and had a hard time even chambering a round. The action was sluggish, and the chamber had lots of gum in it. A good cleaning had it running slicker than boiled okra. He also had a Remington 700 in 30/06 that was so gummed up that it would not even cock, a Weatherby Mk IV 300 Weatherby Magnum that would not chamber, and a 336 Marlin 30/30 that would hardly open.

Probably lubed with 3 in 1 oil. It gums up if left sitting for a long period of time.

 

[crazysarge16]

I had one of these as my first deer rifle, saved up my birthday money and money from odd jobs to buy it from my uncle. He put my butt on a payment plan, had to make a payment every month or he’d keep my $ and I’d be out a gun I lusted after. Told me a valuable lesson, got my rifle in time for deer season.

Enjoyed it for awhile until I ultimately sold/traded it back to the same uncle who still has it. I don’t think I ever cleaned it outside of locking bolt to rear and running a patch down the barrel.