Remington 7400 reviews?

D

Dave R

New member
Anybody own/shoot a Remington 7400? How do you like it? I'm thinking of buying one used as my next purchase. Will be used for deer hunting, and as "Politically Correct SHTF Battle Rifle". Probably .308, unless there is an overwhelming benefit to some other caliber.

Some questions:
1) Hows the reliability? Any problems with jams?
2) How's the accuracy in a good specimen?
3) Is it difficult to clean?
4) Is it hard to get additional magazines?
5) Anything I should watch for when looking at used ones?
6) Would a Browning be a much better choice? (I believe Browning would cost significantly more).

Any other comments welcome.
 
Am selling one in .308. Bought it this year. Sent it back to the factory because it would not eject & cycle the next round. They sent it back after "cleaning" it. Still would not function until a gunsmith put in a new magazine because the old one was bent on top.

Now it seems to function okay. Never did test the accuracy off a bench.

The rifle looks/feels like a cheap rifle. I bought it sight unseen (big mistake).

You can buy aftermarket 10 round magazines, but the "bolt" won't stay open with them. The factory mag has a "bolt open" button on the bottom left side of the mag. I've never seen that on any other rifle.

shooters.com referred to them a Jam-o-matics.

Older models might be more reliable. I have heard some good things about them.

The Browning models looked/felt a whole lot better. However, there are no aftermarket mags that I could find.

Remington makes a lot of good products. I just was not happy with my 7400. Your mileage may vary.
 
A lot of poeple dislike these rifles, and I'm sure some are justified. That said I continue to use and enjoy my 7400 carbine in 30-'06. I've harvested lots of whitetail with it over the past 4-5 years. Some opinions/observations:

- Keep the chamber clean and dry!
- Use moderate rate powders for your caliber, my 30-06 likes IMR 4895/4064. Faster or slower will give you stoppage/jam problems. Use moderate weight bullets too.
- Keep the forend screw tight (blue locktight).
- I have one triple K 10 rd mag, it feeds well but does not hold the bolt open after last round.
- I prefer long action calibers for this rifle. Receiver and mag length are same as short action. Short action mags have a spacer at the rear, this has been a source of feeding problems in my friends .243.
- Cleaning the bore must be done from the muzzle. Get a good one piece rod with delrin or nylon bore guide. Clean chamber after bore from the breach with offset (bent) short cleaning rod.
- My rifle is more accuracte than I am for off hand shots to 200 yards (my self imposed limit). Off a bench it will deliver 2.0"-2.5" 4 shot groups @ 100 yards. If your looking for sub MOA you will probably be disappointed with a 7400 of any caliber.
- Perhaps I've been lucky, but I'm very happy with my 7400 and will continue to hunt with it. If I expect long shots with a bipod or rest I use my bolt action 30-'06.

Regards and good hunting,

Kerth
 
I used one extensivly (the older Model 742) in 30-06 and loved it. On a good day 1 1/2 inches off the bench were the norm. It handled well, had a great piece of walnut on it, and is easy to clean. The ONE bad thing about it was that when my brother-in-law first inherited it (from his dad), it would pull the extractor right through the case head and leave the empty shell in the chamber! He gave it to me, the first thing I did was to polish the chamber, that did not help. Every 2nd or 3rd round it would do it. Finally it dawned on me that I was using Winchester 150 grain SilverTips in it. That was the ammo that he had, and had given to me when he gave me the rifle. I got a box of Remington 150 grain CoreLoct out of my shop and BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! It worked like a charm! I used it for several years before I gave it back to him and to this day with either Remington ammo or handloads that would be suitable for a M1 Garand it never looked back, all it did was shoot. I think that the WW powder was too slow burning and it caused a high gas port pressure, which led to violent extraction, and that was the cause of the problems
 
Remington 7600

I recently aquired a used syn. model in a trade. After cleaning it up and mnting a scope I sighted it in. Despite the crappy trigger it was producing 2 in groups with my reloads. I found an improved trigger spring on-line and installed it myself (very simple job). Now I'm getting 1 and 1/2 inch groups. It has functioned flawlessly and I took a good 8-pt this season with it @ 180 yrds. Nailed him clean exactly where I aimed it. It is chambered in 30-06 by the way.
I can find no real flaw with the rifle although the clip arrangement is kind of a hassle.
Remington has been producing this rifle since 1955 ( the 740 ). If it was as problematic as some people suggest I don't think it would have lasted so long. I have many hunting rifles, from lever to single shot, and I am very happy with this new addition. With the 10 rmd clip I can't wait til a herd of hogs shows up!
 
They've been used as deer rifles in these woods for years. Lots of guys won't shoot anything else. The vast majority of these rifles in our area are in .30-06. Many shooters swear by them, others swear at them.

As for myself, I'm a fan of the pump rifle, the 760/7600. Very fine hunting rifles.
 
I own a 742 in 30-06. Reliable, accurate, nice rifle, from back when quality mattered.

This is not a battle rifle. It is not dead on reliable, and it will not last forever when you start shooting volume at high repeat speeds. Move on to something else, like a garand/m1a, maybe even a mini 30. You are seriously talking to the wrong end of the horse with this one.
 
I own a 742 in 308 and my uncle
owns a 308 in the original
model before they changed the bolt
angle?. I've never had a jam in all these
years and it shoots minute of deer
at 100yds.
My uncle , once he discovered to
let the bolt slam has shot so many deer
he lost count-seriously.
Remember, these are hunting guns not
target rifles and if you target shoot
a zillon rounds thru them,you'll
wear the rails out and you've now got a jamomatic.
 
As a long time 742 owner in 30-06, I can only echo what others have said. Mine always performed well and shot 1.5" groups consistently.

This rifle was designed and intended to be a hunting rifle. Since I'm not a big AR fan it pains me to say that if you want a SHTF rifle with a huge magazine, look for an AR model chambered for .308

If after hearing all the reviews around the 742/7400 and decide on the BAR you should know that the BAR is not only much more expensive but also weighs several pounds more. Weight is not a concern if you are only stand hunting but if you are going to walking around and stalking a lot, better get in shape.
 
I have had both the Remington and the Browning for more than 20 years...the Browning is light-years ahead of the Remington.
 
My BIL has one in 30-06 and I have shot it several times and I have never had a malfunction with it. As others have said its not super accurate but accurate enough to get the job done.
 
I had a 7400 in .30-06. It was accurate with iron sights but I couldn't keep a zero on a scope. I tried a Simmons, Nikon Buckmaster and Leupold VX II. No good. My eyes were getting old so I couldn't use the iron sights. Sold it. I liked it but....
 
In a "non-military" auto loading hunting rifle the best choices available today are as follows;

#1 Browning BAR (2 versions --- both of which are excellent. Available in both left and right hand versions in every caliber offered) This is the same basic action as the FNAR offered by FN USA , but the FNAR is more of the "military style" you are trying to avoid. The FNAR uses 10 and 20 round detachable magazines and is offered in 308 only)

If you don't think it's too "military" then #2 would be the FNAR I just mentioned.

#3 Benelli R1. Can be finicky about ammo, but when fed what they like are quite accurate. I own one of these and I like it, but if I could I would still trade it for the Browning. My R1 is a 270 WSM and it jams if I don't give it the powder it likes and it is not forgiving about bullets either. But with Hornady Innerbond 130 gr. and with Nosler Partitions in 160 grain it will shoot 1 1/4" on demand, and with H1000 powder and with IMR 4831 (loaded down about 100 FPS) it works perfectly.

#4 Remington 740/ 742/ 7400 et al. The Remingtons are fairly good in accuracy moist of the time, but now and then you get one that you can't get to shoot better then 4-5 MOA. Also they have a tendency to either work right out of the box, or give trouble for ever. That is on an individual gun basis. As a gunsmith I have seen dozens of them that came into the shop with function problems and many were returned to Remington for "repair" most of when came back working no better then they left. However I must also say I do see these rifles in hands of friends and shooters I know that have never had a single problem. So it depends on if you get a good one or not. If you get a bad one even Remington (or maybe especially Remington) can't make them work right. My friend Jeff has one in 308 that has never jammed one time and it shoots about 1.5" with several different loads. It’s one of the good ones. I have a friend named Josh who had one in 243 that could not get it to shoot better then 4" with anything and he said that it had NEVER fired 8 rounds in a row without a jam, and most times it would jam at least one time per mag (4 rounds) It had been to Remington 3 time. He sold it to a man at a gun show with the understanding it was only a "parts gun" for $150

So.
My advice is to get a Browning if you don't want to get a military rifle.
 
The more I shoot my newly acquired 7400, the more I like it. Can't make it jam!
It doesn't care what ammo I feed it, it just goes & goes. Yeah, the Brownings are nicer guns but expensive and heavy.
Still waiting for the hogs.
 
We had a 7400 around the place for over 10 years; a friend has had another one even longer. Ours has had a 10 gallon hatfull of my H4895 reloads run through and literally never jammed. Shot as well as an old Model 78 bolt action (think 700) on the same caliber and by the same maker.

Mags are available. The 7400 is more trouble to clean than a bolt action or Model 94. Don't know of anything you should watch for on these guns besides assembly cross pins that show signs of frequent disassembly.

My opinion of the 7400 is quite good. Given a choice between a 7400 and a BAR, I'd probably take the BAR.

Added: Whoops, just saw the "Politically Correct SHTF Battle Rifle" comment. Neither are ideal for that, IMO.
 
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