Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Model 788 new barrel?

Fortymile,

Have a gunsmith slug the barrel, and inspect it with a borescope before you do anything to it - Frankly a good smith will do that before he works on it anyway, and then tell you the options.

Honestly, I think I would send it down the road.

If you like the rifle then get it re barreled.

If not you could sell it as is.

do this X2

Maybe just rebarrel with a take off barrel?

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/813434756

Dennis Erhardt
Frontier Gunshop
Helena, Mt

You ain't shipped it yet?

He likes Douglas barrels, my collection of 4 shoot lights out. He repaired a broke ADL for me, threw the .22-250 barrel in the trash, replacing it with a XX barrel chambered in .250 Savage. 1/4" with Partitions it does.

He also did the metal work on my .416 Rigby. It only shoots MOA with any load. If you can hang with it.

Sigh- I sold all my guns though so the Gestopo won't come banging on the door.

You ain't shipped it yet?

I almost had myself talked out of it, then read Dan's post. Think I will contact Dennis to see what his rates are. Thanks Dan!

You do that. My "Savage" doin' what it does. Boringest rifle ever. Top target is 10 shots. Bottom pair was 85 BTs on top and 100 gr Partitions on the bottom.

That's an accurate rifle!

I shot the rifle again today, after doing a lot more barrel cleaning (I've never had a rifle that was this hard to get the fouling out of - patches still come out dark and dirty after a ton of patching, brushing, etc. and many different solvents). Anyway it shot a couple of 1 inch, 5 shot groups today at 100 yards, which is quite a bit better than it was doing before. So maybe it has some life left in it. It's certainly good enough to use as is, for coyotes and such. If I can ever get it down to bare metal I might try to dyna borecoat it and see if that helps at all. I have another 788 in .222. I haven't shot it in a while, but I took it to the range along with the .22-250 today. The .222 shot about a 5/8 inch 5 shot group, with 40 gr Federal Premium factory ammo. I would love to get the .22-250 shooting that well, but it isn't far off at the moment.

Does anyone even make aftermarket barrels for Remington 788s?

Try some JB Bore Paste if you haven't done so.

All barrelmakers make aftermarket barrels for 788's. They just have to be threaded and chambered and there you have it; a 788 barrel. If you want a barrel nut on it, it just has to be fitted with a nut and there you have it; a barrel with a nut. GD

I have run multiple patches with the JB Bore Paste, Dan. It's cleaning up finally I think. I used some foaming Break Free copper solvent on it after shooting today. I only put about 10 rounds downrange but those first few patches came out very blue.

Fortymile - I had a rifle like yours that wouldn’t group or clean up - I finally ended up using the outer s foul out kit (reverse plating) to remove it. Unfortunately they were discontinued a few years back.

Aside from fouling, I would make sure to check how eroded the thread is... simply enough you can just test where the bullet touches the lands, depth wise and see how far out it is.

I have a bore scope, the foul out kit, ... wish you were closer I’d loan the foul out kit to you.

Spot

Thanks Spot, I will do the bullet test to see where it touches. I know I can seat bullets (55 grain plastic tipped) that will chamber easily but won't fit in the magazine.

I loaded 70 gr Speer semi-spitzers just barely inside a partially neck-sized empty case. Measured overall length before and after chambering and the bullet didn't move. I don't have another .22-250 to compare to, but I'm guessing the throat is eroded quite a bit. Definitely time for a re-barrel, although apparently even an eroded throat barrel can produce one inch groups on a good day.

I'd only upgrade it if you had some kind of attachment to it.

I rebarreled mine, on account of it was my first rifle, given to me by Dad for Christmas in 1981, or thereabouts. It always shot poorly, but I could never part with it.

Mickey Coleman, upon hearing the story behind it, screwed on a Douglas barrel at a gift of a price, and it instantly became the most accurate rifle I own. I think it was still 3x the 1981 price. Even so, I had Karnis work over the stock, too, to make it less of a caveman club.

No$talgia at its finest, methinks.

Had it been a pawn shop rifle, I'd have sent it down the road immediately.

FC

I would go 1:9 anyway. 65-70 grain bullets should fit in it. Use a dense powder and seat the longer bullets like factory stuff and you will still get plenty of MV out of it. I recommend this not so you can compete in long range competition but so you can use it on deer and other larger game reliably.

Man I'd get it. I had one in .223Remington that I bought brand new in 1979. It would shoot 3 55 grain FMJs into 1/2 inch. With a .22-250 it may set the bolt head back but If you get a new barrel I think it would take quite a few rounds to cause a real problem. Just FL resize if you hand load and watch your cases for signs of stretching that could cause Incipiate Case Head Separation, which can be dangerous. Get a 26 inch barrel and later if it shows to have developed excessive head space just have it set back. That's the case for a 26 inch barrel, you got more to use. Just don't hot rod it too bad. A .22-250 is fast enough aleady. Also, I wouldn't try to use it on something like prairie dogs where you shoot a large volume at each session. A .223 would be a better choice for high volume because it's much easier on barrel throats.You could conceivably burn out the throat in as few as 8 to 10 prairie dog hunts with a .22-250. I use mine for deer, turkey, coyote, and yes ev en hogs and whatever else I need it for. Many a deer around here has fallen to a .22-250 with a 55 grain bullet and a head or neck shot. They do have their following in deer camps in Texas.

But I do have a soft spot (and I don't mean on my head) for a 788. They are accurate beyond all expectations. And you already have a nice stock and a Timney Trigger so in my humble opinion it would be worth it.