I got a new remmington weathermaster 7400 in 30-06 as a retirement present for my wife. Had the barrel cut to 18" and the stock shortened to clone the old 742 carbine that she has carried for 20 years. Got the autoloader for hunting and as a bear protection rifle since we live,hunt,trap,fish, and hike in grizzly country in both south central and interior alaska. It's intended for fast handling and follow up shots, more weather resistant than her old blued one, and is a nice set up with a leupold 1.5-5 var III on it. She is a small person and the 30-06 with 180 gr nosler partitions is about the max that she can shoot. She prefers the the autoloader over bolt rifles and the recoil is significantly softer. The old 742 has worked reliably and is good to about 2" at 100 yds with factory ammo(I stopped reloading when Federal nosler partitions became available).

When I took the rifle to the range to sight it in, found that it wouldn't chamber a factory remmington round completely. Had to close the bolt by hand. Fired the round. Incomplete chambering of the second round. Cleaned the chamber, lubed the rails lightly,and tried again. Still no luck. Fired 3 sight-in shots, each time having to work the bolt by hand to get it closed completely. On the 4th shot it didn't eject and the extractor tore the rim off the case. Had to punch out the empty with a cleaning rod. Back to the dealer and then to the local outlet that does remminton warranty. What is evident to everyone it that the bolt does not close completely most of the time. It simply hangs up when released from the "full draw" position, even without the magazine in place.

The interesting part: both the dealer and the warranty outlet tentatively blamed the problem on the shorter barrel that was not done by the factory and warned me that having had the barrel shortened may have effectively voided the warranty. (No matter that the barrel ended up at the same length as the factory 30-06 carbine or that I had exactly the same thing done to the 742 25 years ago and it worked fine.) The gd bolt will not chamber a round fully when released after loading a clip. This is related to barrel length??? I'm beginning to get the distinct impression that this rifle is a pos, both shops know, and neither wants to give me the bad news. I was informed that the local warranty smith can't figure out the problem and that it will have to be returned to remmington and that they may insist on replacing the barrel. I said no way and then the agent asked what I wanted done if they wouldn't agree to that. My response: return the scope to me and throw the rifle in cook inlet.

I grew up on bolt actions and only a few years ago got a BAR in 338, again primarily to have rapid fire capability in case of bear encounters. There's a long story behind this that involves 3 grizzlies at close range and a bolt action that I used to carry, but the short story is that the BAR has been a gem and even the old 742 an excellent rifle.

Questions and summary: Are the new weathermaster 7400's a piece of junk or did I just get a lemon. How is remmington warranty service?. (I've never had a rifle that malfunctioned out of the box.) I've been told variously by the shops that it won't fire 180 grain stuff reliably,that I should use a "good" 150 grain bullet which will work better for big game[moose and bear] since it has more energy (!) than the nosler 180 grain partition, that shortening the barrel is the problem(never mind the fact that it won't chamber the first round when the bolt is pulled back and released), that the smith who chopped the barrel must have damaged the receiver. So far the problem hasn't been blamed on aliens or spooky dust, but at this point nothing will surprise me.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out but appreciate comments, advice, and suggestions.

Have you considered buying a Browning BAR lightweight carbine in .30-06? I have had one in .30-06 for about 5 years, and it is my favorite rifle. I have never had a jam with it. It is lightweight and short (20" barrel).

I used to love Rem. 7400 rifles and have had several of them, but over half of the ones I bought had feeding/extracting problems, so I finally gave up on the 7400s and switched to Browning BARs. That was the best move I have ever made.

Hope this helps.

Ole Miss Rebel

I would contact Remington at the factory. Deal with them, sounds like you are getting a run around to me. I can all most guarantee you that they will not give you a hard time about the shortened barrel. As Remington has offered a Carbine version of the 7400, a shorter barrel will have no effect, (as long as the vent for the gas system was not cut off---I believe that would require a barrel length under legal minimum!)
As far as using 180 grain loads-- they should be just fine, I shoot them in my 7400 all the time. The only caution on factory loaded ammo is the "Heavy Magnum" loads from Hornady which state that they are "not recommended for autoloaders".
In the area of general information, some handloads will not cycle the action or give feeding problems because of the pressure curve from ignition. You may have to play with powders to get a good cycling handload that is dependable.
I have found that the 740 and 4 version of the autoloader are for some reason better performing than the 742-- and all of the above are better performing than the 7400. I hate to say it, but I think that says something about the declining quality of the Remington product.