Remington 788's
MarkypieP
weakest points were on this fine rifle; The bolt handle attachment, and the
bolt stop. I own a 788 myself in .308 caliber. It will print under half an inch
at 100 yards for three rounds. I also had a case stuck in my chamber. The bolt
handle would raise all right, but would not extract. Butt on the ground, instep
on the bolt handle, apply moderate force, case ejects forcefully....sigh....so
does bolt. That is how I came to meet the above mentioned gentleman. Bought two
bolt stops from him at $15 each. Now I'm back in business. Oh well, what do you
expect from a $178 rifle that will shoot rings around most 700's?
. . . . . . . . . .
Info on moderated group rec.guns is at http://doubletap.cs.umd.edu/rec.guns
Earl N. Drake, Sr.
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I would like to put in my 2 bits worth on the Remington Model 788.
When my son was 13, I bought him a used 788 in .243 caliber. I had
the idea it would be a good weapon for him to hunt with until he
needed something bigger. We mounted a Tasco Wide Angle 2 X 7 scope on
it. The first year he dropped a 6 point and a 10 point buck with one
shot each. He is now 24 years old and every year since the first he
has dropped two or three 4 to 12 point bucks each year. He has never
had to shoot any buck twice.
I gave him a Remington 700B .270 caliber with a fine Redfield scope on
his 21st birthday. He checks the zero at the range each year, then
carries it as his backup. His 788 has yet to fail him in any way. I
wish I could say I have done just half as good in that same period of
time. I will never say anything bad about the Model 788. When I
bought it a gunsmith told me that they quit making the 788 because it
was cutting into their 700 sales. I believe he was correct.
Earl N. Drake
Bedford, Texas
dire...@firearmstactical.com
one in .308 Winchester. The damn things were so accurate that he said they
were boring to shoot because they hit whatever you were aiming at.
Apparently Remington was so embarrased that these "economy model" rifles
could so outshoot their prestigious model 700's that they discontinued
producing them. I don't know if this is true, but it is sad that they're no
longer available.
In article <199807260710...@ladder03.news.aol.com>,
mark...@aol.com (MarkypieP) wrote:
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instep
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Shawn Dodson
dire...@firearmstactical.com
http://www.firearmstactical.com
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cleaner
#
# mark...@aol.com (MarkypieP) wrote:
#
# > ...
#
# I would like to put in my 2 bits worth on the Remington Model 788.
#
# When my son was 13, I bought him a used 788 in .243 caliber. I had
# the idea it would be a good weapon for him to hunt with until he
# needed something bigger. We mounted a Tasco Wide Angle 2 X 7 scope on
# it. The first year he dropped a 6 point and a 10 point buck with one
# shot each. He is now 24 years old and every year since the first he
# has dropped two or three 4 to 12 point bucks each year. He has never
# had to shoot any buck twice.
# I gave him a Remington 700B .270 caliber with a fine Redfield scope on
# his 21st birthday. He checks the zero at the range each year, then
# carries it as his backup. His 788 has yet to fail him in any way. I
# wish I could say I have done just half as good in that same period of
# time. I will never say anything bad about the Model 788. When I
# bought it a gunsmith told me that they quit making the 788 because it
# was cutting into their 700 sales. I believe he was correct.
#
# Earl N. Drake
# Bedford, Texas
#
I agree entirely, I have quite a few rifles, and I dont ever leave the
house
to hunt with out my trusty 788 in 7mm-08. I just posted a message asking
where I could get another clip for it, and recieved 8 replies. I cant
say how much I love this rifle.
I put a synthetic Ramline stock on it a few years ago, and it made it
perfect in length.
Mine has a 18 1/2 inch barrel and no rifle sights. I have a Simmons
Whitetail Classic
50mm objective lens. It'll punch a dime at 150 yards. I wouldnt trade it
for all the 700's in the woods.
Boar Huntr
#house
#to hunt with out my trusty 788 in 7mm-08. I just posted a message
_________________________________________
Here's another fan of the 788. Mine is a 308 and I have killed more game w/ it
than any other rifle.
It was shooting 1/2" groups w/ my Simmons Whitetail Classic scope, only it
wasn't a 50 mm.
Made a mistake. Put a Bushnell Trophy scope on it and it hasn't grouped in the
target center since.
Gotta switch that Simmons scope back and find another home for the Bushnell.
Maybe relegate it to a 22. Yeah, I like my 788. Fits like a glove. Would
like to put a Ram line synthetic stock on it like you did.
I also have a Rem. 600 in 308 which is also a tack driver, but the bolt knob is
a little awkward. And the vent rib gets in the way of a bigger scope bell. All
in all, ergonomically, the 788 is the superior design.
ebers4
#
#
# Apparently Remington was so embarrased that these "economy model" rifles
# could so outshoot their prestigious model 700's that they discontinued
# producing them. I don't know if this is true, but it is sad that they're no
# longer available.
#
#
788's are wonderful guns that have been extensively used by benchrest
shooters also. The thread engagement of barrel to receiver is very
long, and the absence of large cut outs in the top of the receiver makes
for a very rigid barrel/receiver assembly.
They are pretty plain cosmetically, but boy do they shoot. Wouldn't
trade mine for two brand new 700's.
Magazines are still available from Remington, but many other parts are
not. Fortunately, most things that break can be easily fabricated by a
decent gunsmith/machinest.
Mike E. 7/31/98
derek huffman
PA whitetail with it even though it was a bolt gun and in .243. (Not a
30-30 like all the other kids had) I'm 30 now and the same gun i had
when i was a kid i redid into a tactical config. since i'm now a
gunsmith. sadly, that gun was stolen from storage. i bought one in 308
about a year ago and lapped all 9 locking lugs, trigger work etc to make
it a very capable sniper (which is a city slicker euphimism for being
able to do what a country boy from pa learns to do when he's got
pimples)
I even put a vortex flash hider on this and the optics cost more than
the rifle cost me secondhand (200 bucks) mags are cheap and i keep a
dozen loaded with sabot, penetrator, sp, incindiery, ap etc.. mags make
this possible. the reason as best as i can figure is although the lugs
are at the rear of the bolt the nine of them do a better job keeping the
bolt rigid than the two large ones on the 700. It would be great if
someone would write a book on this often overlooked and underrated gem
of a rifle. D.
Fluid
# ...i bought one in 308 about a year ago and lapped all 9 locking lugs, trigger work > etc to make it a very capable sniper....the reason as best as i can figure is
# although the lugs are at the rear of the bolt the nine of them do a better job
# keeping the bolt rigid than the two large ones on the 700...
I'm a fan of the M788s also, and still have two. There were several
reasons for the fine accuracy of this model; two major advantages it had
over the M700, M70, etc. were very fast lock time, and a very ridgid
receiver. The receiver had minimum cutouts in it, so it had little
flexure an a large bedding surface.
The nine lugs were a minor problem, as the poster above knows and
corrected on his rifle. It is difficult enough to get only TWO lugs to
bear evenly on most bolt actions - imagine the problems with nine!
There is another cost for that rear locking lug location. While the
action works wonderfully for the smaller diameter cases like the .223,
it just will not take loads quite as heavy as will a good front locking
action if large diameter cases are used, cases like the .243 oe .308.
Rebarrelers found this out when they tried the .284 case - this will
function in the M788, but its even larger diameter made the problem
greater.
The M788 is plenty safe with large cases, but the bolt does compress
slightly when firing, and loads above factory pressures will stretch
cases slightly, causing difficult extraction on loads which don't do so
in a front locking bolt gun. Normally this isn't a problem, but then
there is that weak bolt handle to consider. This is brazed on a thin,
weak part of the bolt, and if you have to hammer the bolt open with your
hand hard enough, the handles have been known to fly off. Another recent
thread covered this topic.
Still, a fine rifle, and I wish I'd kept the others I had!
Jay T