I bought one of these off of this forum about 5 years ago. No scope, very good condition. I paid $350 and felt like I had got a pretty good deal.

 

If someone thought enough of him to leave him a nice rifle and now he is wanting to sell it IMHO, it was left to the wrong person.
I'm thinking like you about the caliber and believe a 243 or 308 should be worth a little more.
Offer him $400 and go from there. Be sure to remind him that deer rifles bring more before deer season, than on the last day.

 

If someone thought enough of him to leave him a nice rifle and now he is wanting to sell it IMHO, it was left to the wrong person.

He isn't necessarily wanting to sell it. He just doesn't seem to care about guns either way and I thought I'd put it to good use. He has been storing his rifles at my house for a few years since he doesn't have a safe and I like to shoot them. FYI: he's a Bernie supporter, if that gives you an idea about his feelings about guns. Since this gun belonged to my wife's grandfather, it would be nice to own it (just in case he decides to take it back to his house when he comes to his senses).

 

Unless you just have to HAVE a 742 I'd pass. These rifles aren't particularly accurate and beat themselves apart with use.

JMHO it's an "ok" rifle just as long as you don't want it to shoot small groups and stay reliable...

 

What Jeremy said. When I went through gunsmithing school many years ago, the Remington rep that came down to the school, told us that Remington service would not work on that model any longer. He said when the 742 was designed, most end users fired less than 200 rounds through this rifle during its life. The designers took this figure and designed the rifle to function well for this low number of rounds.

 

I see them sell for $300-400. I wouldn't pay any more than that.

 

$250 is the most I would pay for it. They have horrible triggers and jam constantly. I understand paying more to keep it in the family though.

 

My neighbor who is 86 years old has one of the 1st ones ever made that he bought new. I looked the gun over up close a while back. The stock is beat up pretty bad and there are numerous scratches on the metal but everything is still tight and it seemed to work like it should. They were probable made better back then because he said the gun has never given any trouble. In his younger years, he stayed in the woods quite a bit and has killed several deer with it.
A benchrest gun they aren't, but in most cases they did what they were intended for.
Here is one being sold to benefit the NRA. Let's see where it stops at. http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=534177298

 

$350 in excellent condition. They are good brush guns, not target rifles.