Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 788 in 308 thouhhts

Well if I could find one priced right yes but they are higher than a tikka generally

I'd look for a used Tikka at an affordable price, then have the barrel cut and recrowned. I know they are out there, as I see them from time to time. When I bought my Tikka T3 308w, it was scoped and I paid $500 for the combo. Sold the scope for $230.00. It's been a great rifle, so I know deals like that are out there. Just have to look.

bsa1917hunter;
Good afternoon to you sir, I hope the day is progressing according to plan and you're well.

Thanks for the reply to my post, I appreciate it.

That stock didn't have terrible grain, I want to say it's birch, but like all trees there's prettier grain and less so for sure.

It might have been some sort of soft maple too, not entirely sure looking at the photo and can't exactly recall if I ever was certain back then.

Somehow too, if I ever took a photo of the finished rifle, which I usually try to do, it's long gone somewhere now.

The 6mm 788 was one I recall losing money to at the shoots where we'd run a squad of a half dozen shooters and the winner got a turkey or a percentage of the cash pot.

Honestly I'm not sure I've ever seen either a .44 Mag or a .30-30 in the flesh so to speak, but either would be a very cool rifle to my way of thinking.

All the best and thanks again.

Dwayne

308 Carbine here, I like it

Thanks Dwayne. Same to you! Yeah, the 44 and 30-30 are pretty rare, and prices are a reflection of that rarity. Mine has been a joy to shoot. There are some things I don't necessarily like about it, for a "hunting" rifle though. The metal magazine hanging down, is kind of sharp, and the rifle doesn't have that sleek feeling like I look for. If that makes any sense. The best example I can think of, to explain what I mean, is the rifle I just bought a week ago. A small framed Sako AII. That rifle handles like a dream. Doesn't have any sharp edges, and feels great in the hands and is a joy to shoot.

With that being said, the 788 is a rifle that is known for it's excellent accuracy/precision. I think Remington stopped making them, because they were cutting into 700 sales. Their intent with the 788 was to make a cheap rifle that anyone could afford: One of the earliest budget rifles, if you will. I don't think they ever could have imagined how the design would be so dang consistently accurate though.

I've had two 788's, a 222Rem and a 223. Both shot really well but the 222 was far and away the most accurate rifle I'd ever owned. I'd like to have another 788 but not willing to pay what they go for! My favorite hunting rifle for a lot of years was a Rem 660 in 308. Stock was more fence post than rifle stock but it shot great and handled really well. I suspect the price of them is also more than I'd pay these days. But ya know gold to one guy is just a rock to another!

My brother had the bolt handle come off his 788 (.243 Win). This was back in the mid-70's and he lives right down the road from Ilion. He simply walked in the front door of "The Arms," as the plant was known in the Mohawk Valley, and they fitted a new bolt to the rifle while he waited in the lobby.

It was, indeed, silver brazed on, with a round lug section of the handle, about 1/4" round iirc, that fit into the bolt body very little if any deeper than it's diameter. Having loaded all the ammunition that went through that rifle, I am sure it never saw any hot loads or needed the bolt pounded open. It was very apparent that the assembling the bolt handle to the bolt body was done by means of a little precut square of braze metal put on the round lug and, I would guess, some sort of production setup to apply the necessary heat, very likely by induction but possible on a conveyor system that moved the assembled bolt bodies/handles through a gas flame. My guess is there was a flaw in process engineering and/or QA, as a friend who did contract repair business for Remington for some years told me he saw a lot of 788's with missing bolt handles.

Great post. That is another flaw, I've noticed with the 788.

Long ago I had a .308 and .223 in 788 and both were cheap tack drivers. Daughter shot a beautiful black bear in Prince William Sound wit the .308 and I shot a running fox at about 300 yards with the .223. For some reason I traded/sold both rifles and wish I would of kept them

The .308 had a 18" barrel and I cut the .223 to 20" my self. Great truck guns for Alaska with the detachable mags I kept up front in cab. There is no critter in Alaska I can't take on with a .308 Win. and the 168 grain Barnes TTSX.

Love my .243 Carbine . If I had one in .308 it would soon be a .358 .

cra1948;
Good afternoon or I see its evening already out in South Carolina.

Thanks for the additional information on the 788 bolt issues, it's much appreciated and a good thing to put into the memory banks.

All the best and thanks again.

Dwayne

I used a .308 M788 for a lot of years when I was younger. I killed my first deer and antelope with my mom's 788 in .243 Win. I sold the .308 (wish I still had it) but still have mom's .243 Win. My older girls enjoy shooting it, even if we can't use it for deer hunting here in Iowa. It's one of those guns that I'll never sell. It's sub MOA with pretty much anything I send down the barrel except, for some reason, 95 gr. Nosler Partitions. But 100 gr. Partitions shoot 1/2" at 3000 fps and I wouldn't hesitate to take that combo elk hunting because the bullet goes exactly where I tell it to go.

My brother has a 788 in .308. Mine is a .243. My brother refinished the stock for me. I only wish it was a Lefty. Had it since I was 14-15.

Ron

My first 788 was in 1984 (7mm08).
I now have one in every caliber.
I have put timney triggers in some, restocked others and just shoot the heck out of all of them.
I reload for most of them.
Ugly, heavy, YUP BUT THEY ALL SHOOT VERY, VERY WELL!
I say buy the 788, because prices are going up and up and they dont make them any more.

Teaching a SWAT sniper school years ago, one of the students showed up with a department-owned, heavy barrel 788 in 308 Winchester...

That doggone thing was one of, if not the most accurate rifle in the class of 20 some SWAT officers. I was impressed as was everyone else. We usually saw Remington 700's and Accuracy International rifles - which also did well, but that 788... My goodness... Quite a rifle!

Regards, Guy

I've got a 788 in 308 that has about a 12.5" LOP. Nice job shortening the stock with a thick recoil pad. I bought it to be my wife's elk rifle if she ever wanted to hunt with me. (But it was just too good of a deal to pass up and I'm a fan of 788s) I've got an accurate load with 150 partitions ready to go.

This is my other 788, a custom barreled 260. Probably the cheapest custom in my safe and it shoots well too. (some have seen these pics before, sorry)

Picked this beautiful old girl up a few weeks ago. She's a 24 inch .308 that shoots great, but wouldn't eject right with the scope mounted normally, so I rotated the scope 90 degrees. Gotta go shoot it again this week

I love the stock on that one.

18.5 " barrel? Bobbed forend?

Here in Central NYS back in the 70’s the 788 in 222 was a common woodchuck killer. Story was Remington stopped making the “economical” 788 because it shot right with their flagship 700 and was cutting into sales.