Rem 742 dust cover

[Mike2636]

I have a 742 on the bench. Customer brought it in with a broken dust cover. He also provided a replacement. But it was really thin plastic and was cracked on arrival.
1) Can this rifle run without the dust cover?
2) Anyone know of a source of a non-plastic replacement? I think the original part was plastic and prolly contributed to the reputation of being a "jamamatic".

Thanx
Mike

 

[limafoxtrot]

1. You can run it without the dust cover, but would suggest replacing it.
2. I have replaced many of these over the years and have never seen anything but the factory style plastic dust cover.
The dust cover is the least of the issues inherent with that design.

 

[Mike2636]

1. You can run it without the dust cover, but would suggest replacing it.
2. I have replaced many of these over the years and have never seen anything but the factory style plastic dust cover.
The dust cover is the least of the issues inherent with that design.

Thanx for the reply. That cover is really fragile. Maybe that's why Numrich sells 6 of them for $30 LOL

 

[MountaineerWV]

It only takes 10 minutes to drop in a new cover. The ones from numrich seem a little more robust than the originals. Just remove the bolt handle and the trigger assembly, and drop it in. How did his turn out?

 

[Mike2636]

Customer said they would provide a replacement. Three weeks later they showed up and wanted all the parts back. Oh well.