The only real knock on the 788 was that it was ugly as sin. It was introduced by Remington as a cheap, entry-level weapon and designed as cheaply as possible.
Shortly after they appeared a strange thing happened. Because it was built as cheap as possible, the openings for the magazine and ejection port were machined as small as possible. With it's rear locking lugs, the "action" (basically a steel tube) was made fairly thick to mate with the lugs on the bolt. Because of the thick action and very small machined openings, the action was extreemly stiff and stable......basically the same end result as when benchrest shooters would "sleave" a standard action like the 700 by welding a section of pipe over it and making minimum size openings.
For a time there was a "run" on 788 actions by the benchrest community to build competition rifles as this "cheap" gun turned out to be one of the most accurate ever designed.
You may hear many bad things about the 788, but seldom will you ever hear of one that won't shoot very accurately.
The early stocks on these rifles were made of oak and then "painted" with one of the most ugly finishes ever developed. Strip off that finish and many of thenm have surprisingly pretty, if light colored, grain patterns. Refinish with an oil based (Linspeed or True Oil) finish and the appearence is greatly enhanced.
