remington 788?

[skeetlee]

I have a chance to buy a Remington 788 that has been re barreled to a 6br for 500 bucks. the round count is very low and the rifle will shoot .250 groups pretty regularly. The questions i have, have to do with stocks. Is there any decent aftermarket stocks for rem 788's? The rifle has the old wood stock still on it.
Also how are these rem 788 actions? are they pretty decent? How do they compare to a rem 700? Any info on this rifle would be great. I like the clip feed magazine but there again i dont know much about them, or how they are made. My buddy has the rifle so i know it is a reliable rifle, i just dont know much more than that about remington 788's. the barrel is a Hart 14twist. the action hasn't been trued or anything. I dont even know if you need to true these actions up. any info would be great. Thanks Lee

 

[skeetlee]

Re: remington 788?

nobody knows anything about a rem 788???

 

[Mike Hull]

Re: remington 788?

They started out as an economy line for Remington, but ended up being more accurate(in general)than the 700. The lock time was far faster than the 700. There were people complaining about the rear bolt lugs being weaker, etc. The same old shiite from the experts who never owned one. I've never seen a documented case of lug failure on one, or any other case of failure for that matter.

For quite awhile it was the favorite of benchresters.
This is the first time in awhile that I haven't owned one. Traded my last one for a custom Rock barrel to get a build completed.

If you look around, you can find aftermarket items for them.

Good luck!

 

[DMann]

Re: remington 788?

Like Mr. Hull said, they actually performed better than their high dollar siblings, the 700's. However, it had a couple of shortcomings. First, the safety was fragile and had an annoying habit of snapping off - if it did so while engaged, you were left (temporarily) with an unusable rifle. Second, that three round magazine - single column and so forth - fed OK, but not terribly stout and now command an exorbitantly high price on the used market - for what you get.

It is what it is.

 

[rich56]

Re: remington 788?

I had a couple (.223 and .243)for a brief time. The POTENTIAL problem of the rear lugs was not strength as in shearing but the bolt compressing and cases stretching. The stock trigger was not as good as a 700s. the magazines are cheaply made sheet metal. I'd say if it has a aftermarket trigger and a stock you like, consider the rifle. Consider the lack of spare parts a problem.

 

[Lineman711]

Re: remington 788?

Had a .222 in 788 that shot great.

 

[SmokeRolls]

Re: remington 788?

I have one in 22-250. It was my grandfathers. Lots of good memories with it. As far as a the rifle is concerned, I would buy a 700 before a 788 if given the choice. The rifle is only gaining in price because there arent as many on used shelves and they think they can ask more for them. Nothing special about the rifle though in my opinion. SmokeRolls

 

[Lineman711]

Re: remington 788?

If it will shoot .250 groups regularly I wouldn't worry about any action truing or any other work for that matter.

 

[Jayhawker]

Re: remington 788?

Had a 788 in .308 riding in the cab of my truck for years...one hole wonder...

 

[bsp212]

Re: remington 788?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jayhawker</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Had a 788 in .308 riding in the cab of my truck for years...one hole wonder...</div></div>

one hole wonder as in its a wonder these things shoot so damn good!

Radcustom has one in .223 that has so many chatter marks and pits in the barrel it looks like I was running the rifling machine...still shoots 1/2moa consistantly

 

[RADcustom]

Re: remington 788?

I have a few actually.

The biggest problem that the 788 had was the way the bolt handle attached. It had a habit of breaking off. The benchrest crowd that had given this action its popularity because of its accuracy were shying away from it because of this.

I personaly have never had one of mine break, but have seen several. As long as you don't get too carried away with velocity you should be fine.

I believe Brown precision makes stocks for them, I think Timmney makes a trigger and Canjar used to and EGW makes a picatiny base for them.

 

[RADcustom]

Re: remington 788?

Do a search, there are some threads about them.

 

[psinclair]

Re: remington 788?

Probably the most accurate economy rifle ever built...not much to look at but they flat shoot!!