I shoot a Bar But I need a back up and loaner for friends. I have a chance to buy a 98% 7400 for 350.
I've hard a lot of bad things about 7400's but the one's I've worked with function and give decent accuracy. I know you guys are more gunny than me so I would like to know what you think. Pros and cons" Thanks

You aren’t going turn one into a tack driver...and I would stick to factory ammo in one...but for what you are talking about they are good rifles, and $350.00 ain’t bad for a used one if it’s nice and has been well taken care of.

They balance well, they’re light and handy, and when you pull the trigger you can be reasonably certain that they will go bang.

If I had to voice a negative about them it would be the location of the safety...but that would only be for people not used to Remington 1100 and 870 shotguns.

I owned one for a couple of years, you may be able to search previous posts about it---in a nutshell I could never get it to cycle correctly, tried 4831, 4350 varget etc. Two different gunsmiths and sent to Remington, they shipped it back with no trouble found, went to the range with Remington factory ammo and it malfunctioned about every 5th or 6th shot. Remington was not willing to help after they tagged it as "NTF".
Finally sold it on gunbroker "as is" for a couple hundred bucks. I have spoken with other owners about them and the consensus seems to be if you get a good one, they work great, if you get a bad---you'll never fix it.

Just for laughs--I bought it for hunting whitetails in NE Washington where a "close follow up shot in dense cover" can become necessary--both deer I killed with it were 350 plus yards and one shot. Go figure.

IV

I would not pay $100 for a 100% 7400. I have never owned one and never will. THis is based on seeing literally dozens jam on a regular basis. Where I grew up we ran deer with dogs and many folks shot an automatic. The BARs worked. THe 7400's jammed.

I'm mainly a bolt action guy but about 10 years ago I ran across one of those gun deals you just can't pass up on a 742 in 30/06 with an old steel Weaver scope. I'd always read and had been told these were total P.O.S. rifle's and I thought I would just use it as trade bait.
Well it will group 1-1/2" at 100 yards with most ammo and knock on wood has never jammed. I had usually carried it as a back-up but started using it more and more. I keep it clean and use handloads with IMR 4064 powder. I loaned it to my brother-in-law last season and he shot 6 deer (5 whitetails & 1 Axis) and 8 hogs with it. I hope I can get it back from him as it is my favorite Feral hog rifle. I may have just got a good one but it is one heck of a hunting rifle when you look at what has been harvested with it. If the one you are looking at is in good shape with a scope I'd grab it.

I've never dealt with any semi-auto hunting rifle, but another good rifle you can get reasonably priced is a 760 or 7600. My 760 06 is my back up and heavy growth rifle and I love it. I can peel off shots nearly as fast as a semi if needed.

I also agree a 760 is a much better alternative then a 7400, I have one in .300 SAV that my grandmother bought new in 1955, shoots great and obviously cycles much better (its a pump rather than semi-auto)

Good luck however you go.

IV

I have one of these rifles. I've owned mine for over 20 yrs. It has never miss fired or jammed even once in that time. However I clean my rifles unlike many people who own lower priced rifle and this leads to the neg reviews. My shoots 1 1/2 consistantly. My only suggestion is stay clear of federal ammo for some reason it makes the action dirtier quicker. You will never beat this rifle for that money period.

Hey hard luck, If you look through the thread you will notice a good many comments about keeping them clean. And that is what I was going to say as well.

Since they need to be cleaned from the muzzle, as the brush enters the chamber, it tosses the trash and residue all around the inside of the chamber. Then as you push the patch in, it WILL NOT open wide enough to wipe all that trash out. The chamber really needs to be cleaned through the Ejection Port.

Hoppe's makes a special "T-shaped" cleaning handle with a nylon rod which will "flex" so you can clean the chamber with it. And I have one made out of rubber gas-line with the outer layer removed to make it more flexible.

You can also place a "Spent Case" in the chamber before you begin cleaning and it will catch most of the Brush Trash. Then keep that case in your cleaning kit. But, you still need to clean the chamber.
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Normally keeping the chamber spotless will keep them shooting just fine, but if you know it is clean and it still wants to jam, there is a fairly inexpensive rebuild kit for the gas system(I think) that can put it back like new condition quickly.

Best of luck to you.

I've seen good ones and bad ones. I had one that I sold a few years back that would consistently group less than 1" with Rem factory ammo, but wouldn't even cycle Winchester ammo. The guy I sold it too was very pleased with it, but he never cleaned it. Three or four years later, it was starting to malfunction regularly.