Remington 742 cleaning

U

under_dawg

New member
I friend just gave my son a 742. It needs a new extractor and I found one online as well as a rivet for it. I've been researching the 742 and found out they must be kept very clean, so we was going to clean it while waiting for the parts to come in. Well after taking the forearm off, I can't figure out how break it down any further. Anybody got one of these?
 
cleaning

Sir;
On the 760 or 742 what I do that does almost as good a job as anything is use some "blaster" and compressed air up in the action several times and then lightly lubricate it - don't forget to wipe the bore dry.
I have an excellent old 760, drilled and tapped it for a weaver base and scoped it. I cleaned it as specified.
However, the two pins can be removed from the trigger group and it can be carefully removed and cleaned the same way.
Harry B.
 
Harry, isn't it the chamber on those guns that you really have to keep clean? If so, maybe he could buy a brush for the chamber, and perhaps use plenty of Hopee's to keep it really clean.

I had a 742, but it had to retire. It was an accurate rifle.
 
740

Sir;
Yea, I'm careful on cleaning those chambers too - you're right!
One thing I watch for on the 740s and any of the semi-auto Remingtons is where the bolt opens, at the very top of the reciever it tends to, as it torques out of lug engagement, enlarge the groove which guides the bolt - naturally the pumps (I've got an old 760) don't do that unless abused badly.
Harry B.
 
under dawg

Remington will send you an owners manual copy if you ask for it. It shows in great detail how to break down the rifle.
 
Not too difficult and keep in mind that you can drop the trigger group just like a 1100 or 870, by pushing out two pins. That will give you good access to the bolt and it's engagement area at the barrel breech. I had to clean and fix a problem two weeks ago on one of these in 3006. In addition to the other replies you are getting and going to get, I would refer you to "Sporting rifle take down and reassembly guide" by J.B. Wood and published by Gun Digest. Your local library might have a copy. Reference page 31. If you can't find a copy, email me and I will run off a copy for you. It goes into very good detail on complete disassembly and assembly. There is a whole series of these and I refer to them quite often.



Be Safe !!!
 
Chamber

The local prison had these in .30-06 as tower guns up until a few years ago and I was always getting guns in for "repair" that had fouled dirty chambers and had extraction problems. All it ever took to keep them running was a good cleaning and some attention to the chamber. They got carried outside all year round and abused a lot but that was all it ever took to put them back in service. I think the only other problem I ever saw was a broken magazine catch, from dropping one, that required a replacement part. They sold them off as surplus a few years ago and I regret not buying one.
 
By the way I've read about switching these over to a pump. Anyone know what's involved?
Click to expand...
Well, this confirms what I've been told and this information was relayed by a local gun smith. I am not a gun smith but I looked at this problem and could see that the 742 that I cleaned, was in too good of shape to consider this action. There was a wear problem that could be worked around. I suspect that these will eventually wear to a point where a conversion is a good option. Perhaps some qualified smith might shed a bit of light on this. The biggest component change I see, is the area of the Action bar assembly, Action tube assembly and Forend assembly. This too can be seen in the same assembly guide manual. My biggest gripe is the sharp edges on the Operating handle.


Be Safe !!!
 
Still waiting for the extractor parts to come in. I'll try to clean it up real nice before I shoot it. I just hope I can figure out to put the new extractor in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top