Remington 7400 Jamo-Matic

SodakJim

SodakJim

New member
I was trying to sort out a jamming problem for a neighbor with a Remmington Model 7400. The more I worked on it, the more I realized that Remington should be ashamed of this one. This is a 2 year old rifle with less than 4 boxes of ammo down the barrel so no parts were worn out. The Jamming problems were cause by poor magazine retension and general poor magazine design. I have never seen a rifle that the magazines were that hard to remove and replace as well. There is little to grab when removing the magazines, the lever release is real stiff, sharp, and to small. The forward end of the magazine is barely captured by a tiny edge that can let go under recoil and jam up the works. Having the bolt release as a sliding button on the magazine is also a poor design.

When I say it is a poor design, I am speaking from 24 years as a mechanical engineer and designer. I did manage to get both magazines functional (For Now) but I have little confidence they will stay that way.

Has anyone else got a Remington JAMOMATIC 7400 or one of the earlier Models of this rifle ? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
I have had two in 3006, one a 740 the other a 742 carbine, both shoot extremely well under 2 MOA, never any jaming problems, but the 740 (1950s era) kicked like an elephant while the 742 carbine, (197os era) only kicked like a mule (comp to a 300 winch). difrrent angles of rack on both. good luck. JHG
 
I had a 742 BDL in 30-06 years ago. It never failed or jammed at all. It was accurate too. The guy that bought it from me is still using it with zero problems. MI VHNTR
 
I was looking to buy a 7400 in good shape at a local gun shop, there was 3 of them for sale, and I asked the owner about their reliability. He became very irate over the question. He claimed that the 7400's were very reliable if they were loaded with a special Core-Lokt run of ammo that was specifically designed to run in the 7400's. I believe they had a shorter OAL. They were designated with an alpha suffix at the end of their part number. I want to say "B" was their modifier but I can't recall.

None the less, he swore that he never had any issues and he uses his every season. Since he owned a gun shop and has many choices I took this as a serious testament to this gun's potential.

YMMV

edit - I believe they were 150gr.
 
Last edited:
If the rifle is only two years old why not send it back to Remington and get it fixed? Most of that series work very well and don't have any problems. I'd guess it was a bad magazine, but I'm just a gunsmith with 27 years experience.
 
Gees, guys....!

Where's your creative minds? Its a lot more fun to blame a problem with a rifle on the company that made it rather than admit that maybe the original owner maybe ran over the magazine with his 4-wheeler a couple of years ago....or whatever...

I too think the problem is with the magazine and not with the rifle... The rifle design has been around for years and they generally function very well.

-BCB
 
Quote:
I was looking to buy a 7400 in good shape at a local gun shop, there was 3 of them for sale, and I asked the owner about their reliability. He became very irate over the question. He claimed that the 7400's were very reliable if they were loaded with a special Core-Lokt run of ammo that was specifically designed to run in the 7400's. I believe they had a shorter OAL. They were designated with an alpha suffix at the end of their part number. I want to say "B" was their modifier but I can't recall.

None the less, he swore that he never had any issues and he uses his every season. Since he owned a gun shop and has many choices I took this as a serious testament to this gun's potential.

YMMV

edit - I believe they were 150gr.



Bull crap... Remington doesn't load "special" ammo just for the 7400 series guns. This guy evidently should educate himself about this. Handloaders can complicate the cycle at times by poor powder choice that stresses the operating system with powders that burn too slowly. Occasionally a semi-auto may need small base dies, and usually always need to be full length resized. But those aren't problems from factory ammo and there are no special semi-auto loadings from the factory.

Magazines are the first place to look in about any semi-auto firearms when feeding problems come up. This has always been a problem with the 742 - 7400 series Remington. Then there is the bolt rail chatter in the receiver to contend with. When that reaches a certain point the usable life of the rifle as a semi-auto is finished. This is the reason why many gunshops won't accept them as trade ins. There are even a couple of companies that will convert the 7400 to a pump 7600 when this happens. Some people swear by the 7400, most swear at them. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
Quote:
I was looking to buy a 7400 in good shape at a local gun shop, there was 3 of them for sale, and I asked the owner about their reliability. He became very irate over the question. He claimed that the 7400's were very reliable if they were loaded with a special Core-Lokt run of ammo that was specifically designed to run in the 7400's. I believe they had a shorter OAL. They were designated with an alpha suffix at the end of their part number. I want to say "B" was their modifier but I can't recall.

None the less, he swore that he never had any issues and he uses his every season. Since he owned a gun shop and has many choices I took this as a serious testament to this gun's potential.

YMMV

edit - I believe they were 150gr.



"He claimed that the 7400's were very reliable if they were loaded with a special Core-Lokt run of ammo that was specifically designed to run in the 7400's."


He was blowin' smoke up your patootie... Rem has NEVER made a special run of ammo for a specific rifle/problem.

.
 
Quote:
Some people swear by the 7400, most swear at them.


I'm in the category of "swearing at them" after trying to get a relative's 7400 to shoot last year. I tried everything possible with that gun including a new scope and rings and it still won't shoot worth a darn. I came to the conclusion that the best thing to use that gun for would be a tomato stake! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Just for the record:

It was both NEW magazines that were coming undone at the front under recoil. The magazine retention is poor on this particular rifle and may not be a problem on other examples of this model. I did not see any of the other flaws pointed out by the other posters since I was only looking into the jamming issue.

1stpitch: I am also an electrical engineer besides a mechanical engineer but I couldn't find anything electrical on this rifle. My specialty was designing and building automated production lines for Honeywell International.

IDBob: I don't claim to be a gunsmith, but I do recognize a design weakness in this model. It has earned it's reputation without any of my help. The "Tomato Stake" is still an option that needs to be considered.
 
Sorry to say, but the rifle can't be 2 years old. I bought a 750 Woodmaster in 2006 which was the replacement for the 7400. They were out in late 2005.
 
Had a 7400 years ago dad bought new and that was the most un accurate junk rifle he had ever owned. He tryed everything to get it to shoot min of deer but never happened. He had had a few before that was ok guns but that last one was a turd never again did he own a remington semi high power. And i wont neither not after that pos.
 
Quote:
Sorry to say, but the rifle can't be 2 years old. I bought a 750 Woodmaster in 2006 which was the replacement for the 7400. They were out in late 2005.



Your right about the age of the rifle. I found out it was bought in late 2003 but has been in storge for the last four years, so the owner only used it a couple years. Still no good quality rifle wears out in that amount of time so that is no excuse.
 

Jim,

I am an electrical engineer, with some education, training,
and experience, thanks to the USAF, in classified electro-
mechanical devices. When I won a Remington 7400, in
270 Win, at a DU Banquet, I was thrilled. Mine cycled
reliably, and with handloads, shot 1 MOA. After studying
the mechanical design, I sold it, for the reasons you
mentioned, and a couple of others that had me questioning
long term reliability. The person I sold it to, is a low
round count shooter, and is thrilled with the rifle. I
turned the money around, added some more, and purchased a
Browning BAR LW Stalker, in 308 Win. It is a sub MOA
rifle, with handloads, and my grandson, will be able to
pass it down. My only complaint is the trigger design,
and clearly it was designed by lawyers, or maybe a mad
mechanical engineer, with a lawyer over his shoulder.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif But the rest of the rifle, is well designed, and
quality manufactured. You might want to gently suggest
a trade for a Browning BAR, if the person is looking for
and auto-magic slug launcher.

Squeeze
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top