Rem. Woodsmaster 740

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  • Last Post 21 April 2015
bandmiller2 posted this 16 December 2014

Guys I have the chance to get a 740 reasonable but have heard they are fraught with problems and don't take kindly to volume use. Its an  early 30-06 semi-auto. My thinking is to pass on it whats yours.?? Frank C.

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goodsteel posted this 16 December 2014

Pass on it. I bought a 742 (the next model) just to see if I could find an economical fix to the classic “jamomatic". What I found was that it suffers from gross design flaws all the way through the rifle. The gas system is too aggressive, the receiver design seems to be custom made to be a punching bag for that gas system, and the bolt does nothing to compensate for it. What I concluded was that there is just barely enough metal there to do the job, and there is no way it can be improved upon without tripling the cost of the gun in the first place. I also found out that the 30-06 is the very worst cartridge for this platform. It is the most powerful cartridge that this gun was chambered in. Seems that the ones chambered in 270, 308, 7mm-08, and 243 do not suffer as badly from the classic ailments (in fact, I've never seen a 308 based Remington semi auto that had these problems), but there is no way I would recomend someone spend good money on a 30-06 in this platform.

In fact, one of my clients just bought the same rifle, and called me all proud that he had gotten a good deal. I informed him that those rifles are often to be had for low money, and there is a reason. He argued with me about it, and I told him to just run a couple boxes of ammo through it (staying with the 150 grain ammo ONLY). If the rifle functions well, then you might be fine for a while. He called me a few days later and informed me triumphantly that he had run 4 cartridges through it without a hitch (yeah, he didn't really follow my instructions did he?). Just a few weeks ago, he called me and asked how's the best way to sell this POS. Apparently he had gone to sight it in one more time the day before his hunt and it had ripped the rims off two cases which he pried out with his pocket knife, just as I said he would do. BTW, this is a tell tale sign of a sure fire jamomatic if you see scratches around the front of the ejection port, you know somebody got one stuck and went after it with whatever they had in their pocket. Just a short perusal of Gun Broker auctions on these rifles, you will see many that have these scratches LOL!

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bandmiller2 posted this 16 December 2014

Thank you Goodsteel you have confirmed my fears, I need that like a dose of hemroids. I'am not a spray and pray hunter. My old Harrington Richardson 30-06 will do just fine its built on a commercial Mauser action they imported. It was given to me by a guy that must have fired military corrosive ammo and didn't clean but its OK with jacketed bullets as far as this old boy will shoot. Frank C.

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delmarskid1 posted this 17 December 2014

Scour the globe for the pump gun. Much more fun and they eat cast.

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giorgio de galleani posted this 17 December 2014

The  more modern Rem  7400 is much better ,for jacketed bullets.

He likes cartridges shaped like the 150 grainers that were used in the M1 Garand.

I did not like the smallish bolt handle.

I have a Rem pump 7600 that is a joy to shoot,with cast bullets.Note  that the barrel is free floated

The original plastic stock has a high cheek piece,  for scope use.

I got a replacement youth short stock  and lower cheek piece and is serves me beautifully wearing winter jackets and the williams ghost ring sight.

I use the recent  200 gr SAECO bullet  TRG4 or TD4 ( I am not sure uf the catalog number) the one with a small flat point and a long tapered nose.  

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goodsteel posted this 20 December 2014

For the record, and to clarify, I never said the 74, 742, 7400 line of rifles are inaccurate. They are in fact amazingly accurate more often than not, and the pump action counterpart to the 742 (the 760) is one of those rifles that shouldn't be accurate but is. It is not uncommon to find fellers painting SUB 1” ten shot groups at 100 yards from those rifles. I have had a good hard look at them, and I can't put my finger on exactly what makes them shoot so well. Mark my words though, the 760 is a rifle that should be on everybody's bucket list. In general, Whelen would call these rifles “interesting". Here's an idea that crosses my mind fairly frequently: Take a 760 in 308WCF or 243 Winchester and send it to JES reboring to be converted to 358 Winchester. Uh huh, that's cool right there! You could do the same thing to a 30-06 and turn it into a 35Whelen. Just make sure he doesn't cut that stinkin 35 Whelen freebore throat in there and you'll be a happy camper. (Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with a little bit of freebore, but the Whelen chamber is like a practical joke, and who would want to use 285 grain bullets in a 6.5lb gun in the first place?)

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giorgio de galleani posted this 20 December 2014

Just look at the rifle barrel ,it is free floating , it does not touch  nothing inside the forend ,the pumping mechanism acts on the bolt .

It shoots like a normal Rem 700 rifle .

I have a 35 whelen Rem 700 classic rifle ,a very nice  cast bullet shooter and he likes the 285 gr Lyman bullet , Hollowpointed by Erik Ohlsen .

It shines with heavy bullets at the top cast bullet velocities , for light 200 bullets ,a 35 Rem or a 357 Mag  have enough powder space.

Because our Italian gun laws ( of course All gun laws are stupid ,except the 2nd amendment of your constitution),the work of making a conversion from 30-06 to 35 whe is practically illegal,  I just have to have the luck to find one of the few Rem 7400 or 7600 present in our market .

My old 45/70 Atropos and the 30-06 7600 , both successful  boar getters ,the first with cast and the second with 220 sierra roundnoses.

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R. Dupraz posted this 20 December 2014

I like that Remington Goiorgio.

Have never had a centerfire pump. Just might keep my eye open for one in the right cal. after these posts. Just cuze is a good enough reason. Right?

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 20 December 2014

i started a couple friends out with 760 in 223 rem. for a good coyote rifle. now very collectable/expensive, the extra magazines are $160 on gunbroker.

they were fun to shoot; a neat thing was they work with reduced loads .

another friend used a 760 in 30-06 for running jack rabbits ... norma 93 gr. sp 30 luger bullets with LOTS of ballc ... wonderul muzzle flash as i remember !!

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oscarflytyer posted this 21 December 2014

Agree on thge bucket list. Just picked up a Rem 760 BDL (checkered) Jum 1953 manu - second year. 300 Savage. Shoots great. Has a Griffin and Howe mount on it, which is kinda surprising after I realized the receiver is factory drilled... Also has an old Lyman Challenger scope, but out of focus and the ocular ring is frozen solid... Going to have to replace scope but the gun is great.

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bandmiller2 posted this 22 December 2014

I have heard its possible to convert a 740 to a pump action 760, probably not practical now that rem. has made it a red headed stepchild and quit selling parts. Frank C.

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belongtotom posted this 22 December 2014

I operated a gunshop in Northern Ontario for a fair number of years and a large number of the Rem. 740 series came across my bench so  a way had to be found to make them reliable

The rifle must be clean ,in other words tore down to the frame and the whole weapon gone through and oiled and reasembled .Let me repeat The Rifle Must be CLEAN

They were found with gas ports and tubes carboned so bad they would hardly slide .The oil which I used which would work in the cold temps and stay on when the rifle was laid in the water on dirt in the bottom of a boat or canoe ,was based on ATF and odorless turpentine

Again THE RIFLE MUST BE CLEAN

I found they shot well, when clean functioned well and had the pleasure of eating a lot of moose meat from them

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Duke M posted this 23 December 2014

An old gunsmith friend who has passed called the 740 series the gunsmith's friend. They are a rifle desired by he once a year deer hunter who believes he needs a fast second shot. That hunter buys his ammo when it goes on sale at Fleet Farm and reluctantly finds the time to go to the range to check the zero a few days before the opener. The rifle gets rudimentary if any care beyond a casual wipe down and a squirt of gun oil into the action, before being stuffed back into a case lined with some fuzzy fabric. Then horror of horrors, after a few years of this abuse the rim gets torn through by the extractor and the would be deer slayer calls his gunsmith all in a lather demanding his pet venison getter be repaired before next weekend. Number one problem was a slightly rusty chamber causing extraction issues. Next up was the collection of dust, lint, weed seeds, and gummy fuzz found in the action. Other than that, they were fine and accurate rifles for the purpose.

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delmarskid1 posted this 24 December 2014

One of my best friends has a 7400. He runs four boxes of what ever is on sale through it in an hour once a year before the season opens. After ten years of this and no cleaning the thing is finally starting to have the bolt close slow. This year I turned it upside down and juiced it up with ATF and paint thinner. Right back in business again. It does need a real cleaning. It shoots two inches at 150 yards with a Simmons 3X9 and Remmy green box 150's. Up here in the land of cheese we can tell when someone has one. Four shots in two seconds followed by silence. some of them are good to great hunting rifles. Some are not. I've not been able to try cast bullets in Keith's. They don't look like a lot of fun to tear down.

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bandmiller2 posted this 21 April 2015

I don't know if this will move to the top but I was thinking about the problems with the Remy 740 30-06 tearing itself apart. If a fella had a good one that has had little use and handloaded it down to 308 levels would it extend the life of the rifle.?? Thanks Frank C.

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Wineman posted this 21 April 2015

The biggest problem is that they are rust buckets. Walk around in the snow looking for Bambi's dad and then jump in a warm car. No way to hold the bolt back without the magazine in it. Lots of condensation and never cleaned. The bolt also has a tendency to peen the guide ribs to death. I am not sure the 60,000 psi 308 is any better than the 55,000 psi 30-06. My coworker got a 760 from his dad that Remington said nada to repairing. We thought we might be able to work on it. Unfortunately he left it on the roof of his car when he left his dad's house that night. Had the mag in his pocket but never found the rifle, bummer.

Dave

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 21 April 2015

there is a very very nice nib , 1979 rem. 760 in 35 rem .... right now on gunbroker . dang !!

anybody wanna form a corporation and buy this thing ? take 6 months turns waxing it ...

ken

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bandmiller2 posted this 21 April 2015

I was thinking more along the lines of reducing the pressure to cut back on the slamming and peening. Frank C.

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