jmckinley,
I owned a Remington 742 over 20 years ago. It was accurate and pointed well. I used it for some extensive target shooting and it broke. Remington fixed it but informed me that these rifles are not designed for lots of shooting. I had purchased it used and probably put about 3,000 rounds through it before it broke. If I can locate it, there was an excellent report on the differences between the 740, 742 and 7400 series of rifles about a year ago. Included in the treatise was the mechanical reason for the rifle not being able to take a lot of shooting. Not a problem for the 100 rounds a year shooter.