With the bolt open and locked, remove the magazine nut and slide the barrel and forend off the shotgun. Replace the nut on the magazine tube (you'll see why in a minute). If you look towards the end of the magazine tube (toward muzzle), you will see a round notch in it. Gently let the bolt move forward until the peg in the slide aligns with the round notch, and lift up carefully. When the slide releases from the piston, the piston will slide forward until it hits the magazine nut. You may now remove the magazine nut and slide the piston and magazine spring from the shotgun. Replace the piston and reassemble in reverse sequence.
The Remington model 740 was the first semi-auto rifle chambered in 30-06,and was made from 1955-1959.The Remington model 742 was the next design and made from 1960-1980.I believe that the difference might be the gas piston,and the way the bolt locked up in the chamber(more bolt lugs).
This model Cross refernces out to a Remington Sportsman 58, introduced in 1956, the Sportsman-58 was Remington's first gas-operated shotgun. You can request an owners manual for obsolete firearms at www.remington.com click on sportsmans library, then downloads, then owners manuals, then click obsolete owners manuals, you will have to register but it is worth it to get the free manual.
The piston rings are fitted round the piston to make a better gas-tight fit in the cylinder.
Simple explanation : the gas in forced into the cylinder, then the piston compresses it, then the spark plug makes it explode, which forces the piston back down, turning the crankshaft, forcing another piston into compressing more gas. rinse and repeat.
It transfers force from the expanding gas in the cylinder to the crankshaft via a piston rod.
My first guess would be that it needs a real good cleaning, this is a gas operated and not a recoil action. They haven't made them in about 50 years there might be a bit of junk in there ;) Remember this is also Remington's first gas operated shotgun it and there have been a lot of improvements it won't be as forgiving as modern versions.
Lifting a piston on a cylinder of gas shows the relationship between volume and pressure of the gas. As the piston is lifted, the volume of the gas increases, which causes the pressure to decrease. This demonstrates Boyle's Law, which states that the pressure of a gas is inversely proportional to its volume when temperature is held constant.
Besides allowing you to remove the shotgun's fore-end and barrel for cleaning, the adjustable cap nut (featuring 'H' and 'L' around it's perimeter) adjusts the shotgun for use between different shotshell loads. You would want to set the nut to "L" when using target loads or light game loads (low-brass shells) and use "H" for heavy shells with high brass. I believe my manual indicates that shot size 00 to 4 would fall under the "H" setting, but I can't remember off-hand. Being that the gun is gas-operated, the nut allows/restricts gas to enter the piston chamber to actuate the bolt and cycle to the next round. Using a heavy load on the light setting would cause too much gas to enter the piston chamber and can possibly harm your shotgun's action. Using light loads on the "H" setting is OK, but your shotgun won't have enough gas to cause it to cycle normally, probably causing the bolt to not open after firing or causing a jam. Remington improved their system on subsequent autoloaders, which is why you don't see it on the 1100s.
As the piston is raised in a cylinder with gas particles, the volume available for the gas particles to occupy increases. This results in the gas particles spreading out and the density of the gas decreasing.
you cannot increase the capacity of a Winchester 140, 1400 or 1500 because the gas piston is in the end of the magazine tube and must line up with the ports in the barrel
An internal combustion engine is where the pistons open up, gas goes in them and then they close. The pressure causes an explosive reaction from the gas. That reaction moves the piston up and down. The piston is connected to the transmission and drive train. The transmission is connected to the wheels and when the piston moves the transmission moves and so on. When the piston opens up again, the old gas leaves through the exhaust pipe and new gas goes into the piston repeating the cycle over and over again.
gas pressure has to get round the back of the ring to force it against the cylinder wall