Hey just bought some guns at an auction. One is a woodsmaster, didn't really get a chance to look at it before the auction, so its a little rougher than I thought. The action is loose and sticking only fired one round in it, it jammed. Didn't feel comfortable trying again. I have never worked on any guns, usually buy good ones that don't need work. My question is do you think this is the one to take aprt and try to fix myself? is a 742 easy? should I just pay a gunsmith? The wood on the gun is nice, thats what I saw from the back of the room.
742 woodsmaster
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The woodsmaster is not all that easy to work on. When you said it stuck, did it fire and stick with the bolt open? If so, the receiver is damaged and its not worth fixing, I wont even bother doing it, I tell people to sell them for parts.
The 742 is a complicated design that is executed poorly. If the issues are different than the one I described it best to leave it to a smith. Just be prepared for them to say no, many smiths wont deal with them. I'm not a big fan of them either.
The 742 is a complicated design that is executed poorly. If the issues are different than the one I described it best to leave it to a smith. Just be prepared for them to say no, many smiths wont deal with them. I'm not a big fan of them either.
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Ill second the recommendations Helix has made. Remington started that piece of crap design with the model 4, then it was re-designed and re-introduced as the 740, then again as the 742 woodsmaster, and finally in its most modern rendition as the 7400. All pieces of crap. There is no buffering system to keep the action from beating its-self to pieces. The recievers are soft and they arent very accurate. I personally would try to flip it at a pawn shop or something. You might get lucky and get a hundred or 2 for it.
If you like that style of hunting rifle look into a Browning BAR. The BARs are made right and last a lifetime. But still will never be quite as accurate as a good bolt action rifle.
If you like that style of hunting rifle look into a Browning BAR. The BARs are made right and last a lifetime. But still will never be quite as accurate as a good bolt action rifle.
I agree on the many faults of that design, but will note that with those guns made in military calibers (especially .30-'06 and .308) with cheap ammo, many folks thought they would be as rugged as military rifles. They aren't and apparently were never intended to be. They were designed as "a few shots a year" hunting rifles, not "200 rounds a weekend" military type rifles. They just won't hold up to a lot of firing.
Jim
Jim
Lucky me, I inherited a 740 that had less than 10 boxes of .30-06' through it. Mine is a first year production model, 1955. My father upgraded to a BAR twenty yrs later and I got both when he passed. My gunshop offered me $40 for it for parts; the barrel was like new, bluing was 90% and the wood had been replaced with a new pad. I slapped another Leupold 4X to replace the old mountaineer it had on it. It shoots great and is quite accurate at 100-200yds. I hear that they are good for 2000 rds if cared for.
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