Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Found a good one

I found a 788 in the rack during an appropriately socially distanced "pawn shop prowl" back in October. It was not in the best of shape. It had old tape residue on the stock as if it had been camoed up for use as a coyote rifle. Worst of all, it had no trigger which could mean all sorts of problems. But we came to a price and it came home with me. I found a trigger through the classifieds here, and ordered in an erniethegunsmith.com trigger spring to lighten the pull a bit. Fortunately it functioned correctly after my install, eliminating my fear that this was going to be little more than a parts gun. Put on a 24x Weaver target scope.

Sourced some PPU loaded ammo, and it shot pretty poorly, like 1.5". But upon doing the usual suite of accuracy tricks to the brass, and throwing out the obvious culls and switching to Berger target bullets, it shoots really well, probably better than I can when my fingers get cold, as they tend to do this time of year. The fliers on the bottom pair of targets may very well have been my fault.





It is hard to think about flipping a rifle this accurate, so I'll probably let my father shoot it for a couple of years. Scounging up brass isn't proving to be too hard--even found some Lapua at MidwayUSA. The price for these 788s on gunbroker is kinda nuts, and it is easy to see why. Hard to not like a rifle with this much potential, even if they are as plain as a cardboard box.

Alrighty! You brought that one back to life. Great shooting, gotta love the .222.
👍

My dad loved 788s...and I tried to follow suit. Three of them later, I realized they weren't for me. I'm glad he liked them, and just as glad that others do too...enjoy!!

One of the most accurate rifles I've ever witnessed was a 222 Rem 788. It did have a Canjar set trigger to help.

My 1st centerfire rifle was a .222 788, with a Lyman 6x on top. I miss that rifle.
Bob

I killed my first white tail with a LH 6mm Rem 788. It shot extremely well. I wish I still had it.

I traded for mine back in 86 just cause I allways wanted a 222.I found an old 6x redield with very fine x hairs for it Not bragging it up but it's accuracy potential with good loads is only limited by the shooter. Mb

Your comment about the PPU ammo reminded me of a good deal that I was able to make on a .22 Hornet because it wouldn't shoot good groups with PPU factory ammo, the only ammo that the previous owner ever tried in it. That said, my 25-06 Marlin XL7 will go MOA or better with PPU 90 grain factory ammo. Different rifle, different ammo, different shooter, different results.

Great rifles especially for the money.

Same for me.


Utah - very glad you are happy with the rifle, cartridge & accuracy.

Taste - Smell - Beauty - Rifles - et.al. We all have diff personalities. How boring and EXPENSIVE it would be it everyone
wanted the Same - car, brass, rifle, et.al.

There's a guy who get his panties twisted up in his crack because I like certain cartridges!! What DIFF does it make to anyone what someone ELSE likes and wants.

Back in the 70s I had a Win 670 that had a great stock and shot extremely well. Gun Writers 'poo pooed' the post 64 model 70 and they made me feel I had a second rate rifle. They were WRONG! WRONG! I learned my lesson.

Congrats and Good Shooting.

Jerry

I got a buddy that has 3 of these (308, 243 and 222) he has a few other centerfire rifles too but it seems like every time I hunt with him he is carrying a 788. id love to know how many deer his 308 has accounted for in the 30+ years and he has hunted with it. .....Hb

discontinued because the accracy was so good the 700 sales were affected, never had one that wouldn't shoot lites out, only 1 left is a 30-30

I've read that so many times, and never seen anything to indicate it being true. Likely discontinued because the 700 could be made just as inexpensively, and without the drawbacks present with the 788 action. Like em or not, they have some issue with high round counts and headspace, and triggers.

i have never bought the "discontinued because of poaching 700 sales" narrative. All sorts of companies have differentiated product lines that appeal to different people at different price points. They looked at sales numbers, and margins going forward and pulled the plug. Maybe the tooling was getting old, and rather than re-invest in new equipment, they let the model die. None of the parts, like triggers, or bolts, etc. were interchangeable with the 700 series and that might have made them relatively expensive. Probably let the 581 rimfires die about the same time because they used some similar design features and maybe even parts (triggers?).

I have read that the 788 and the 580 series rifles were built on the same machines, I believe that it was in the Stuart Otteson book The Bolt Action Rifle.
I suspect that them the machine work was just as expensive as to do as a 700 but the wood and finish work was less expensive and looking at the price differential when they were both available the 700 likely brought in a better return on the dollar.

I have owned at least a half-dozen in 222 and one in 223 they all shot well but they are so clunky and ill-feeling enough that I could never get myself to like them no matter how well they shot. Also in the same time era Remington was offering their model 600 Mohawk which generally shot as wel,l and to me felt and looked better. Like most discontinued items the have a mystique about them that makes some folks want them and are willing to pay more than they are worth.

In the early eighties when the 600 Mohawk and 788 was discontinued the Scheels store in Gt. Falls, Mt was closing them out for $69.00 each. I have owned Rem 600, Rem 660, and Mohawk 600 mostly in 222 although one of the Mohawk 600 was in 308 Win (too much boom and bellow), the Rem 660 was in 243 - that is the one I should have held on to since it had a nice walnut stock with a dark fore-end tip, the bluing was nicely polished and it shot great but someone offered me more than I paid for so down the road it went.

To the OP - Google 788 triggers there are a couple of nicely illustrated diagrams on how to modify the trigger to make it adjustable, they can be made into a decent hunting trigger with only a few minutes work.

drover

I am looking for a 788 Remington in a 30-30 for my grandson to use to as a starter rifle. If anyone knows where one might be at they can reach me at steve.jones9yahoo.com

thank you,
steve jones

You will likely need to have deep pockets to purchase one of those, the 30-30 and 44 Magnum are both sought after since they were only sold in small numbers.

drover

Yeah, the 788's were very accurate rifles, but accuracy went away as the bbl eroded. The silhouette shooters found that out. I think they still have the fastest lock time of any production rifle?

I believe the M78 Sportsman came out within a year or two after the 788's were discontinued.

I had one in 223 when I was in college that shot 1/2 inch groups of 5 with multiple loads. Always made the old guys mad at blacks creek range near boise when I out shot them with a $200 788 with a Simmons 3-9 on it.

I picked up a clean one last year in 22-250 but I haven't shot it yet. I've already got enough 22-250s that shoot well. O should probably sell the 788 before I see how it shoots and end up keeping it.

Bb