Remington 7400 in 308 Winchester

[cdet69]

I have a chance to get a Remington Model 7400 in 308 Winchester for a friend. I was told it is in good conditionand comes with a Redfield 3X9 scope. It is being sold for $400.00. Are there any issues I should be aware of and is it worth the price?

[pietro]

IMHO it's only worth the price if you REALLY want one, AND you intend to never sell it - since you'll most likely never get a decent return for it.

In my part of the country, not only areused Remington semi-auto's languishing for years (unsold) on many store's gun racks in the $350 range, FFL's won't even take them in on a trade because they know they're such slow movers.


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[376Steyr]

The Remington autos are not target rifles, or battle rifles, or collector items. They are very good deer killing machines and will last a one-box-of-ammo-a-year hunter a lifetime and more. There was a thread here awhile back about converting worn-out ones to straight-pull bolt actions. If all I wanted out of a rifle was to put a deer in the freezer every year, the Remington would get my vote.

[Shooter]

There is usualy a slight shift in the point of impact between a round chambered by hand, and one loaded by the rifle cycling.
Not enough to matter in a hunting rifle.

[chickenstripe]

I belive this was the model that had the "soft" receivers that eventually led to headspace problems.

Someone here may be able to verify this.

[elk hunter]

The people that have them and like them are the guys that shoot factory ammo and very little of it, say a box every few years.

There is fellow, in Washington state I believe, that has made a career of rebuilding them as they tend to batter themselves to death. Like any gas operated gun they need a diet of the right ammunition, read that as factory or factory equivalent, to function properly and not jamb or beat themselves to death too soon.

I had one in 30-06 that I took in trade, it looked brand new, I tried to sell for several years, I finally gave it to a friend and he traded it for a used pellet stove to heat his shop.

[Moonie]

The 742's have the soft receivers, the 7400's were created to address that issue I believe. My son has a 742, we shoot light cast loads in it and keep check on the rails in the receiver.

It is a good (not great) shooter.

[wv109323]

Another disadvantage to the Remington 742,7400,760 and 7600 line is that they are heavy compared to say a bolt action rifle of the same caliber.
I would much prefer a bolt action rifle for the reasons of weight, accuracy, reliability and resale value.

[Mooseman]

My 742 Carbine is accurate and weighs less than a 700 in 30'06. It gets a diet of 180gr. corelokts and has since 1980. It especially like the Old RN corelokts so I save all those for that rifle. It killed My first Grizzly Bear (shot right between his eyes)and My first moose but I graduated to a .300 Mag for Longer shots. The 742 is always loaded and ready in case I need a quick shot in my yard with open sights. Good lube on the locking lugs has helped mine stay tight.

[fatnhappy]

My Uncle Llyod, who lived in the Adirondacks only possessed 2 deer rifles, one of which was a 7400 in .308
He kept it immaculately clean and it never failed him.
I would suggest if well maintained it's worth $400.00 with the redfield scope.
YMMV

[Maven]

You'll want to watch out for damage to the muzzle and crown as well since those rifles are usually cleaned from the muzzle rather than the breech.

[Mooseman]

Bore snakes solve that problem now...

[725]

I had a Model 4 (same as the 7400 but with fancy non-sense on it) and it served me well. I only shot factory Rem coreloks at the time and it was a meat-maker. Had no porblem with selling it to a friend who has used it for decades with no problems. It's not a target rifle. There is no hold open for the bolt. It swings fast and shoulders well. I would feel well heeled if I were to take it back in the woods. If you want to hunt with it, I think you will enjoy it. $400 in good shape with a Redfield sounds like a good deal.

[o6Patient]

I cut my teeth on these rifles and we still own several to this day: they can be very accurate
if the fore end is floated correctly, my father's old 742(30-06) will shoot as small as 3/8"
group at 100yrd w factory ammo(federal supreme 165s). For what it's worth back in the
day, the long actions had a better rep for feeding than the short actions did..don't know that
it's true or not ? they are deer killing machines ..if they don't jam on you.:Fire: