Sighted in the 742 06

[jh45gun]

As some of you remember I made my 742 into a straight pull to protect the receiver from anymore damage from using it semi auto. Just shot it at the range today to sight it in with the scope I put on it.

I think I got a good load right off the bat. I shot at 25 yards because it was really windy,Eyes were watering and I just wanted to get the scope sighted in.

Shot at the small corner targets and got a 5 shot group that you could cover with a nickel. Gun worked as I had hoped (Straight Pull Repeater) Load for the 06 was 180 grain cast bullet, Winchester and Remington/Peters Cases 20 grains of 2400 and a Remington Large Rifle Primer.

[roverboy]

They are nice old rifles. I have one that I inherited from my wifes uncle. Its the Bicentenial model. Its a .30-06 too. I've shot it some but never deer hunted with it.

[doubs43]

It's interesting that you've turned your semi-auto into a straight-pull bolt action as it were. In his book "Shots Fired In Anger", LtCol. George (USA-Ret) made no bones about the M-1 Garand being more reliable than the '03 Springfield during the bitter fighting on Guadalcanal. If the '03 broke a critical part, it was useless. If the Garand's gas system failed, the bolt could be worked by hand... and more quickly than the bolt on the '03. George apparently saw enough examples of such problems to conclude that the Garand was the better battle rifle.

[tek4260]

You should post a pic or 2 of your mods. 742's around here are used for fence posts when the receivers get battered from the locking lugs.

[bubba.50]

i'd be interested too. then i might be able to find something that'll shoot groups instead of "patterns" in mine.

[jh45gun]

Well I will try to describe it in detail guys.





OK the picture is not mine it came from the internet as did the exploded drawing from Numerich Gun Parts Corp. Look at the barrel after you take the forearm off you will see that block hanging from the barrel with the gas port faceing the receiver after you block the action open or use the clip to do so. See number 50 that is a set screw and number 49 is a small ball bearing used as a gas check. You do not have to take anything off the gun except for the forearm. Then you take out that set screw and hang on to it and take out that small ball bearing which may be stuck mine was a gentle nudge with a pick or small screwdriver will un-seat it. OK on that set screw you took out if you know the threads by having thread gauge or just know by looking great I forgot what the thread pitch was but it is a common one you can get at a hardware store and it is a common set screw with a Allen wrench head. OK after you take out the set screw and the ball bearing use a piece of wire or thin rod ect to put in the hole you took the set screw out of. Measure how far you have to go up into that hole to block the gas port and not go into the barrel. I put the wire on the outside of the block to see where it met the bottom of the barrel I then made allowances from the bottom knowing the set screw would screw into the block. Go to the hardware store and buy several longer set screws that you will figure will work. The ones I bought measure .379 on my Caliper and looks like 3/8ths long on a tape measure. I then took my dremel tool and with a stone or you can use a sanding drum work down 3/4ths of the longer set screw so it would fit into the hole. Roughly think of a golf tee with the wide part being the threads. If I remember right I had like three threads left after I ground down the set screw. This I screwed into the hole as far as it would go I then took the short set screw that was the original one and screwed that behind the altered set screw for more strength. Or you could just buy longer set screws than I did if they make them and have more threads on the bottom of the altered set screw. This stops enough gas from hitting the gas port that it does not cycle the action. I suspect if you wanted to you could also plug the gas port facing towards the receiver but I felt I did not need to since the action does not cycle this way. Put on the forearm and shoot it to see if your successfull. I was the first time around.

Milanodan after he read my first post on this wanted to try it with his 7400 so it would not extract as hard so he could find his brass easier for a softer gentler extraction. Last I heard he was inbetween where he wanted from full ejection to no ejection so he is making some set screws in between to get where he wants to be.

Leave the rest of the action alone all you have to do is block that gas port and then use the bolt handle to eject the shells. IF you wanted you could make a new forarm to fit the action block and work the gun as a spring controlled pump action. I thought about that but then found that the bolt lever on the bolt extracts the shells just fine. Either way would work and back in the early days one of the First Semi autos had a cut off valve on the gas port so you could use the gun semi auto or pump. I forget the name of the rifle but it was made in the early part of the century and had a fancy pump grip on it made of metal.

[StarMetal]

i'd be interested too. then i might be able to find something that'll shoot groups instead of "patterns" in mine.

One of my best friends had a 742 Deluxe in 30-06. He complained about the trigger so I worked, adding a bushing that took out all the slack and take up. Changed it from a shotgun trigger to a crisp clean breaking rifle trigger. Anyways he could shoot pretty darn good and through reloading he came up with some jacketed loads that would shoot a 1/4 to 3/8 inch hole at 100 yards consistently. Don't take this as mine gun or my shooting. It was my friends. Now I wouldn't call that patterning. If you're throwing patterns rather then groups blocking the gas system isn't going to change that unless the movement of the action changes something that would effect how the rifle groups. Then again if you block it you still have to work the action......same difference one by hand the other by gas. Going to the hand action definitely won't battern your receiver though.

[jh45gun]

These guns should be fairly accurate even in semi auto mode. Does the gun have a scope first thing I would check is to see if every thing is tight scope wise and or try a different scope as scopes can go bad. Of course the standard check the bore for being clean and check the crown to make sure there is no nicks in it. I had a 742 years ago and it was accurate as this one is too. Biggest thing here is making it so it will not wear your receiver anymore. I would suspect that any 742 or 740 would be bad receiver wise first before ever wearing out a barrel. If the gun still cycles ok I would definitely convert it like I did to keep the receiver from getting any more wear.

[Milanodan]

Following jh45gun's idea, I found that when I reduced the port area of my 7400 .243 to ~30% of the original the rifle still threw the fired cases ~3' away with a load of 31 gr. AA2520 and a 100 gr. j bullet-not a hot load at all. Going down to ~8% of orig. area gave no extraction (straight pull).

I bought some extra socket head cap screws (not set screws) and have to file the ends down to allow ~15-20% orig. area. What I do is put the head of the screw in my drill press and use a small file to reduce the bottom 1/4" of the threads to the required diameter. I try to keep the reduced section a cylinder, with as little taper as I can.

The thread is 10-32.

[stephen perry]

I loaded for my 742 for 15 years before it got stolen. Mine was in 30-06 the one with the cut grooved forend. I shot any ammo I could get my hands on. My dad would jeep me down to the dry lake drop me off a military can of ammo a canteen and come back in the afternoon. I shot as fast as I could load the clip in 100+ desert temps. My target was usually the blown out water reservoir somebody parked on the lake. gun never jammed with military ammo.

The next year I started Casting for the gun, I was 15, cast 4 different bullets for the 742, 311359 ,311466, 311467,and 311291. I could get 311359 to function the action but at 115 grn I need to stiffen up my Unique load. The other 3 bullets operated the action fine. Best accuracy was usually with 311467. I always shot 100 yd probably 1 1/2" groups on the average using a Weaver 4x scope. I sized .309. Metal was wheel weights and space metal. Still have all these Lyman molds all one cavity.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

[jh45gun]

How many rounds do you figure you had through it? Remington finally admitted it was a 1000 round gun my gunsmith said more like 500 rounds but I suspect that each gun may be different some may have worn out faster than others some held up longer. Still every receiver I have ever looked at since I have been aware of the problem with the rails getting chewed up has shown the marks of the locking lugs on the rails the more the guns were shot the deeper the marks.

[Doc Highwall]

I have a old model 740 carbine in 30-06 that I am think of shooting.

[jh45gun]

I have a old model 740 carbine in 30-06 that I am think of shooting.

You might want to look at the rails and see how chewed up they are and I suspect you will see the scalloped like marks on the rail so then I would do a conversion like I did.

[Throwback]

The reason the rifles ate themselves up was in part, that few shooters knew to keep the chambers spotless. Many people pushed stuff into the chamber when they cleaned and the gas system had to work hard to shuck cases. I have seen spent cases at the range on many occasions with the rims bent back due to this problem, not just with 742's but with AR's and other semi-autos as well. Many of these rifles would last longer if people would pay attention to their chambers.

I suspect that it is a 1,000 round plus rifle if the chamber is kept clean. The solution of converting it to a straight pull turns it from a hunter to a recreational shooter as well.

[jh45gun]

The reason the rifles ate themselves up was in part, that few shooters knew to keep the chambers spotless. Many people pushed stuff into the chamber when they cleaned and the gas system had to work hard to shuck cases. I have seen spent cases at the range on many occasions with the rims bent back due to this problem, not just with 742's but with AR's and other semi-autos as well. Many of these rifles would last longer if people would pay attention to their chambers.

I suspect that it is a 1,000 round plus rifle if the chamber is kept clean. The solution of converting it to a straight pull turns it from a hunter to a recreational shooter as well.

That very well could be, making the bolt cam more then it should. Bottom line is that no matter what the issue the rails were too soft and the bolt which was designed not to cam especially on the 742 since it was a problem with the 740 still twisted and the locking lugs then chewed up the rails. I would agree that a clean chamber makes a difference and that is for every gun. Yes I agree this way you can shoot it more and it will not wear out the rails anymore which is why I did it. I have other rifles but I figured this would make a good cast shooter after the gas port was disabled. When I took it to the range it worked like a charm and shot well with cast too.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Great info here.
I am looking to buyout a gun collection,
one of them is a 742 in 308.
this is an all or nothing buyout.
everything I've read in the past about 742 has scared me away.
this little solution...assuming the rifle isn't already defective,
will help me deside on the buyout.
the meeting is tomorrow
thanks again,
Jon