With these guns the unreliability problems usually go along with the long actions.
If possible you might consider looking for a 308Win vs a .30-'06 or 270. However the short actions run a little more money.
Good luck in your search for the right gun. ---- SAWMAN
These are a crap shoot as for reliability in the long action, if you get one that is reliable hang onto it. Buddy bought one new and it wouldn’t eject the whole cartridge. Sometimes the base of the empty was torn off. He sent it back twice and supposedly the chamber was worked on but after the second trip back to Remington he sold it for $100 to an old boy who thought he knew what it needed. Was told he tried to get his money back but he was told about all issues before the sale and that the sale was as is.
742: Poor mans B.A.R. 10 Round mags should still be avail. I had 30.06 version for over 10 years. 100% reliable with 165s and 180s, factory and my reloads. My Father in Law had one he loved and he told my Wife it would be a great anniversary present. It wasn't a rifile I would have bought. Accuracy was 2 inches @100 yds. I only put about 300 rounds threw it while I had it, no problems. You do need to clean them well but I ran back to back Deer and Elk seasons in the bush: blow it out, wipe it down, punch the bore, good to go!
With the mix of reviews, it may be prudent to test fire a full mag before purchase.
Seems that I remember something about the receivers rails that the bolt slides on wearing too fast and not giving the bolt accurate fore and aft movement.
Unsure if there was a recall but could have been. If so,it was a very long time ago. Could be as far back as the early 90's. Also,unsure if this only effected the long actions,but suspect it did. --- SAWMAN