remington 742 question

J

jsgog

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I picked up a 742 carbine , literally in a bag in pieces was told the firing pin was broke , looked it over and the pin was fine so I put it back together and it cycled fine and dry fired , the I found there was a piece still in the bag looked it up and it was the bolt latch , tore the gun down and put it back in the slot it goes in without removing the bolt , just slid it in from the end of the receiver with the barrel removed , as the bolt was not removed when I got it so thought it must have just slid out . Anyway now the bolt does not close sometimes and sometimes it jams shut when it does close , obviously it has something to do with this latch but I cannot find any thing on line to see what is wrong . I am doing a total tear down tomorrow to see if there is something wrong with the bolt but thought I would throw out the question first , and what is the purpose of this bolt latch ?

Jay
 
Long discontinued and considerably worn it's best left as a bag of parts in a pail of salt water...
 
They will operate without the bolt latch as the oldest ones did not have a latch. It was one of the "improvements" for the 742 to protect the receiver from bolt lug damage. HOWEVER...in your case it sounds like the bolt nose is broken. I don't think it should be possible to install the latch with the bolt in the receiver. Also there was one or two pins and springs under the latch to "snap" it into the carrier when the bolt travels rearward thereby limiting it's rotation. I have seen bolt noses broken caused by rusty chambers. The extractor fits in a groove just like a 700 bolt action and looks very similar if you have one around to compare. When the fired case sticks in the chamber something has to give. Usually the case rim, sometimes the extractor, sometimes the bolt nose. Check carefully and don't shoot it.
Pete
 
Thanks Pete I did a total tear down yesterday and found one of the springs and the plunger are missing that go under the latch , which allows the latch to slide back and forth in the groove causing the jamming , you say it should function fine without the latch ? the gun is in very good internal condition next to no wear at all

Jay
 
It will but you should fix it. Often after much use the latch does not work correctly anyway as the springs lose tension and the pins get sticky in the bolt head. This is why the receiver often ends up damaged.

PM Sent
 
If you can get the latch parts you mentioned and latch installed, then go for it.

If not, then just go ahead an used it without it.

I have owned 3 x 742's, and one came to me from a reputable dealer with no bolt latch and it was a fine, accurate and reliable rifle.
 
If you are going to do any serious amount of shooting I would get the latch. There was an upgrade with a #6 pellet (IIRC) being put under the spring to increase tension. If you google it there are some good pages out there on 742s and the latch.
 
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Remington used many parts that were common to their series of rifles and shotguns, particularly the trigger mechanisms and trigger groups. This saved costs in manufacture. You could find out the parts you need are in the 740, 742, 760 rifles or the 870 or 1100 shotguns too.
 
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