Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles A pile of 788 problems

I recently bought a Remington 788 in 22-250. The overall condition of the gun is great and best I can tell is it is a 1979 model. I have ran into a pile of problems, but here are my main two right off the bat.

-when I chamber empty full length resized brass just to test fitment, it knocks the mouths out of round. Not sure if it is from the chamber or when it drags it down the side of the action during extraction. Anyone have the same problem?

-Second and biggest problem, it doesn’t matter what scope I put on it, the empty casing hits the scope windage cap and bounces back into the action. I have tried my big sightron 4-20x 50, Burris fullfield E1 4.5-14x42 and an old old old leupold vx-II 2-7x32 with coin turn turrets (very low). No matter the scope, it knocks the round back into the action.

Is there a fix for my issues (other than shooting open sights which I will not do) or did I just catch a lemon rifle?

What, no problem with the trigger? That is unheard of...

Bending case mouths when ejecting is a common thing. To test this, when you go to eject the case, use your finger to keep the case centered. In other words, don't let ejector tension pushed the case against the side walls when pulling back. You'll find your case mouth is still round.

Nothing wrong with those triggers, just use 2 or 3 fingers and they work fine

And as far as ejection, rip that bolt back hard and fast, the brass will go 10 feet and you won’t find it, so out of round won’t matter

Most low to medium height rings have this problem on a 788. Rotate the scope 90 degrees left so your windage is elevation and elev knob is on left side for windage. Or do what I did and put on a Redfield jr base using extension rings. One of the things 788 fanboys don't talk about
Mb

Your problems are not big problems, pop the ejector spring and take a coil & 1/2 off put back in , 10 minutes.
Trigger, I luv the trigger on 788's , keep em rust free and oiled, smooth bolt sear stop & no rust on striker spring, you tube to figger what you can do.
Empty case hitting the scope cap will be taken care of when you clip the ejector spring.
Next-

It was common practice to simply rotate the scope 90 degrees so that the elevation knob ended up on the left and the windage knob ended up on top. Naturally, the roles were reversed and the elevation knob became windage, etc. Some shooters had trouble with this concept and couldn't understand why the knobs couldn't just continue to function as they were labeled. GD

I'll tell on myself here. I hadn't thought of that and had to read it twice before it clicked. Thanks Greydog.

That’s exactly how the scope is mounted on my 788 22-250.

Osu what did I say in my post that you couldn't understand?mb

Thanks for all the info guys! Looking forward to getting this thing up and runnin

Do you fire alot of empty cases? What happens with a loaded round when you pull the trigger? Do you make holes where you want to?

I plan to eject a lot of empty cases coyote hunting and when it won’t leave the chamber that makes it tough to prep for a second shot if need be. We will see how it shoots in the morning.

Anyone know if the model 700 ejector spring is the same or similar?

I did the same to my brothers 223, works as it should.

You didn't say what mount or ring height you were using with your scopes. I was using a two piece weaver mount and low weaver rings with a Leupold 2x7-33 and had the same problem. I did have some success by canting the rifle over a bit while operating the bolt but wasn't happy. I looked high and low for a old Redfield mount without any luck but before I rotated the scope, I tried a 1pc rail (ERG?). The problem disappeared.


My 788 is a 30-30 so your results may very.

EGW is the wide one piece mount, Midway has em for $39.

Not being judgmental, but isn’t this all a lot of trouble and expense to get a “bargain” rifle to be usable? IIRC, when I bought my first CF, the price difference between the 788 and a 600 was like $10. Pretty obvious to even a callow youth that the 600 was a better buy.

I guess the shell now deflects off the base? Thanks for the info!

Edit: it has 2 piece bases with medium height Burris rings

I think the 788 is likely the most overrated rifle of all time.