Tell me about the Remington Model 740 Woodsmaster

Originally Posted By: msincThey weren't the terrible gun many have it cracked up to be. Like any semi auto it requires a frequent cleaning to keep on running right. The rails wearing out were mostly a matter of not being kept properly lubed. There are two problems I see repeatedly in my shop, neither are very common...one is the barrel nut coming loose and the other is the bolt stop flying apart when the gun has been shot a lot. It is a strange design and most owners don't take it down and clean/lubricate the gun properly. Some were amazingly accurate while others just had a bad barrel from Remington. I have a 270 here now that about all I can say is it will keep them all in a pie plate at 75 yards. I have killed one deer at over 300 yards with one back in the 70's. That bolt stop thing is a pain because you cant get the parts from Remington any more. Midwest Guns has/had{??} them, it's a "repair kit" with the springs and detents.

*Frequent cleaning
*Properly lubed
*Loose barrel nut - common
*Bolt stop flys apart - common
*Strange design
*Difficult to disassemble for proper cleaning
*Occasional bad barrel
*Parts difficult to get

Your description sounds as terrible as many others describe the rifle and you left out the hit and miss magazines, sketchy reliability and bad triggers. Oh well...
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I bought a 308 Win.742 BDL Deluxe in 1966 or 67 while I was stationed in Taiwan. I set it up with a receiver sight and shot targets with the ROC Army with it. Military ball ammo was free and I shot it by the ammo can full. When I got back to the states I mounted a Herters 2.5x scope on it and gave it to my father, he killed deer with it until he got too old to haul a heavy gun around. In the early 1980's I gave it to the farmers son that rented my land. It is probly still killing deer in MN.
 
I own a Remington 740 woodsmaster 280 cal. She is flawless with Remington shells anything else and she don't like it at all (jams). Was my grandpa's that was hand down to my dad and now handed down to me... if the gun was taken care of and you use Remington shells you shouldn't have a problem. But that goes with any Remington semi auto they like Remington rounds and that's it. As far as the 30-06 its a good caliber for deer hunting but i'm partial to the 280. I've owned Winchester model 70s and Remington Model 700s that both needed to be brought to the gun smith to be glass bedded due to the barrel hitting the stock after shooting a few rounds.... very inaccurate. So me personally its the best gun I've owned due to the fact I keep it clean and oiled and its killed the bucks on my wall and I've never had anything done to it. Like is said it all in the condition and how it was taken care off.
 
Tim Neitzke said:
Lots of 742 & 7400s here in Michigan, proly some 740's aswell. Commonly called "jam-o-matics".

GC hit on what I've seen and been around.
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My 740 had a jamming issue took to a gun Smith the took it down and cleaned the breach. It was defilied and needed a clean out. No problem sense 18 years ago.
 
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