Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Remington 788 Question

Not exactly sure where this should be posted, so I'll throw it out to the Campfire in general.

The posting the the Custom Rifle thread about gunsmith turnaround times, and the reasons behind it, has inspired me to seek the general wisdom of the Fire before pestering my gunsmith.

So, here is the problem. I have a 788 (.308) that ejects the round up into the scope turret. The Leupold is already mounted in a medium height mount and going higher may pose a problem for the very small framed eventual end user. Currently, I've simply rotated the scope but am wondering if anyone is familiar with any modification to the rifle that might allow a more 'traditional' use of the current scope and ring combination.

Having had couple of 1911 style pistols modified for ejection by having the ejection port 'lowered' - I was wondering if that was possible for a rifle, specifically the 788?

Any other possible solutions for remedying this situation?

Its a common problem with 788's. Most rotate their scopes 90 degrees as you did.

Fixed!

Rotate the scope so the windage turret becomes the elevation turret?

Ed

Yep, rotate the scope tube. If it doesn't beat you in spatial thought, it'll make you better.

Question:

Does this occur when you cycle the action in a positive and fairly speedy manner like you would in the event of a follow-up shot in a hunting situation or is this occurring at bench sessions when you are trying catch brass?

The reason I ask is that I have 4 788's with a pretty wide variety of scopes and do not have an issue with any of them - except when bench shooting and trying to keep brass from hitting the ground.

All four of my 788s do that. My scope turrets have a distinct brass stain where cases hit them. I had one where the one-piece scope base was interfering with the ejection, and I simply ground away that part of the base. It cured the problem on that rifle, but on the others, the turret is in just the wrong spot and that's the interference. I don't know of a fix.

If you rotate the scope 90� (not 180�, obviously), remember that "Right" is the new "Up" and "Up is the new "Left."

How you cycle the action doesn't appear to have any impact on the end result. It's close enough that a loaded round will eject but an empty casing doesn't have enough momentum to get by the turret.

Thanks for your answers so far! I'm still hoping someone has figured out how to shape the ejection port, but doesn't sound like that's going to happen!

I'm going to quit reading here - you guys have jinxed me!!!!

I just cycled a loaded round through my well worn 223 and the round hit the cap and bounced back in to the open action. Cycle an empty and you can hear it ping off the cap. I have shot that rifle thousands of times and used to use it for some semi-serious coyote calling and never experienced any trouble or failure to feed. I suspect those empties have been pinging off all along but just never noticed it. Different scope now, though...
Bench shooting I always try to catch brass, loaded or empty.

I cycled my 243 and the brass cleanly clears the cap on its Burris FFII 3-9.

That's interesting. So a Burris FFII 3-9 works. How is it mounted? Those of you that have 788s that eject properly with a scope - would you mind sharing what components you have in that set up?

Does anyone think that caliber makes a difference?

Medium height Burris (Zee??) rings. 1 piece Weaver base.

Conventional mounting.

Unfortunately, my other two rifles are not here at the house. They have a Bushnell 3200 3-9x40(22-250) with Weaver rings and base, and a Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10x40 (308) with a disremembered set of rings. They both function flawlessly but I can not say for a fact that the 22-250 does not ping the cap.

The previously mentioned 223 lived most of its' hunting career with a Leupold 2-7x33. Those scopes have a low profile turret and cap so I suspect that when I was jacking the bolt at a lot of coyotes the brass was not hitting the cap.

Have to run now, but when I get a second or two I'll measure the cap heights on the two rifles I have close by and let you know if that sheds any light on the issue.

I'd make sure I had a spare spring on hand, but I'd be willing to bet money if you pulled the ejector spring and took half a coil off it, and tried it again and again, you could tune the ejector to where it still is totally reliable but tosses them away from the scope just enough.

I have 2 in 243, have never had any issues that I noticed. Doesn't mean it ain't happened on em, just that they continue to work and I often don't notice a bump or bruise so to speak. Just keep the barrel clean and use the gun as hard as needed.

The 788 I had never had that problem. Of course, it had a Tasco already mounted on it from the factory when I bought it new. Your problem is that Leupold. 788's ain't made for expensive scopes.

LOL - Smarta$$ !!

Interesting idea - I'll look into it. Thanks.

Cee, the only difference in my two rifles is Burris mids versus Burris lows.

I had the same problem with one in .243 until I put a Leupold VX-1 3x9 on it.Problem solved.

Neil

Mine is a 243 with a Leupold Vari-X II 2-7 in low rings.

Have never noticed it hitting the scope.

Well that's interesting - two .243s with Leupolds. I'd think that the dimensions and geometry of a .243 would be pretty similar to a .308.

Next step, wander over to my local sporting goods/gun dealer with rifle and empty brass in hand. Pretty sure they'll let me try different scopes to see which one works, if any.

Thanks for all the advice! I'll let you know what happens.