I saw a thread a while ago where there were complaints about the quality and reliability of the 74 series of auto loaders. Where I hunt they outnumber all other types of rifles and they seem to work well. Anyone care to comment about their own experiences?

I have a 7400 in .270. It serves its purpose, but not as accurate as my bolt guns. The only time I have had it jam is right after a good cleaning, so I just fire one round after cleaning the action and its good to go. The triggers are the worst part of the rifle. I had a trigger job done on mind and its still has a lot of creep in it. I don't use it anymore, but it has accounted for a truckload of deer.

Just my 2cents.

I haven't owned one myself, but my nephews, cousins, neighbors, etc., have used them pretty hard, not without problems, either. Generally, if kept clean and properly lubed, they work, but let it get away from you, let the chamber get rusted, dirty, or what have you, and they will gag and puke with the worst of them. Should be standard maintenance, but I have seen brand new 7400s that would not work, after several trips to a Remington warranty smith, nothing helped that POS. Personally, I wouldn't care to own one, and all those family members who can afford to, switch to something else whenever they get the chance. That is what I have seen from the Remington autoloaders, but Remington has sure sold a bunch of them, so someone is happy with them.

My family has two of the older 742s, both in 3006. One is the BDL with the horrible basket weave checkering, the other a carbine.
Both guns seem to work reasonably well, have had a few jams with the carbine. Worst one involved a fired round stuck in the chamber, where the extractor tore the rim off the cartridge case. You have to make sure that the bolt closes fully, it is possible to chamber a round with the lugs not fully engaged. The gun won't fire, which can be frustrating in a hunting situation. Let the bolt slam home and it should lock up fully.
The BDL is actually reasonably accurate (five shot groups just over an inch), the carbine much less so. The carbine is also horribly loud and spits flame in low light shooting situations.

All that said, I don't use them anymore. The carbine was bought for me,when I became old enough to hunt deer. My dad still carries it becuase it is lighter than his BDL and has a sling.

Coot

The truth is, I've owned a bunch of them over the years as have friends and family. As I think back I can't honestly say anyone had any trouble with them, if they were kept clean and operated properly. Accuracy was a toss up. I got rid of some because I thought they were inaccurate But it was the scope not the rifle ! The only real soultion to an inaccurate one is to trade untill you find one that suits you. My son has a .270 that is unbeliveably accurate. Most 7400's will do an 1 to 1 1/2for 3 shots. We hunt deer where a fast second or third shot is a necessity and some times a long shot over crops isn't uncommon. The 7400 is up to the task. I won't bore you with examples

It does seem some peoples experiences are different than others with these rifles. I had two 7400's, both 30/06 carbines. I sold the wood stock version after going to the range and finding my newer synthetic version was definetly more accurate. As I stated earlier these guns are extremely common where I hunt with virtually everyone I know owning one in either .308, 30/06 or .270. The only failure to fire I was ever aware of involved the .270, which had never been cleaned by its most recent owner and was just loaded with oil, grease and dirt. When it was stripped down there was actually a decomposing leaf found inside the receiver. After clearing out all the debris it seemed to work just fine. Even though my experiences are quite favourable with these rifles its informative listening to other hunters opinions before making a recommendation to a potential buyer.