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.

Yea I’d say it is a lot of work, but I grew up with my uncle owning a bunch of them and always wanted to own one...nostalgia I guess.

Maybe but the ejecting is like it should be.

If you like the vent ribbed barrel, lol. only 18 1/2 inches of it, crooked chicken leg bolt handle. Only made for 3-4 years it was one ugly mother humper.
The 600 listed for $99 the model 788 for $79 and it usually came with a scope. The 600 turned into the 660 without the rib and it to only lasted 3 years

Uh- You ever heard of "adjustment" - or replacement?

I started adding adjustments to 788 triggers in 1978 and did a bunch of them. About the same time, someone wrote up a similar procedure in Rifle magazine. I don't recall who wrote the article. It was a relatively simple conversion. GD

Okay, it was an ugly little spud, and the “bark” was pretty sharp in those pre-earmuff days. It didn’t stay long.

I fantasized a bit about pulling that rib and plugging the holes too. I thought the 788 was $89.95 in blue-law Maryland.

I don't know about that, seriously.

I do know that ONE 788 was enuff for me.


Jerry

I have owned 4 of them and have to agree. My brother still owns the 222 that I sold him and it is serviceable, but the 2 6mm and the 243 were below average in my opinion.

Funny thing is , I hold the 581/541 in very high regard.

I own 1 of each caliber of the 788's. Every one is scoped.
I have NEVER had the problems you speak of.

I'm glad 4 U 788.

But they do exist, or did exist..


Jerry

Just a quick update. I ordered a couple different ejector springs to try and it helped the issue but didn’t fix it. I would call it 60% reliable ejection. I ordered the egw base like some suggested and so far it has fixed the issue. The base hangs over just enough to keep the brass from ejecting upwards. It does still clip the turret cap on the way by judging by the brass streaks in the paint, but I can live with that. Thanks for all the info and suggestions!

Ref pricing....I bought my LH 788 in 6MM in 1973. It was $104.95. the RH was $99.95.

Oh I agree that they are overpriced now. I wish they could still be bought for that. I’d say I overpaid for mine but it’s one of those guns I wanted to own and after all the helpful info here it functions properly. It honestly is in very good to excellent condition so I am pleased with it so far. My buddy told me it was crazy what the price is on them compared to some of the newer guns in the same price range. His family likes classic cars and they have a shop full of them so I equate it this way…in 72 a Chevy nova (I use this comparison since it was supposed to be considered the “economy” car) was roughly $2500. If you bought an original 72 nova in like new condition in 2021 I don’t think $2500 would cover roughly an eighth of the price. It’s all what it’s worth to the person who wants it. I don’t want a $20,000 nova, but I’ll take a $500-600 788 in the right condition.

I mean no offense to anyone with the comparison, it’s just how I view and justify my unnecessary purchases at times lol.

Thanks again for all the help!

Purchased my first Remington 788 about 6 months ago. It’s a 223 in excellent condition. Haven’t noticed any ejection problems or trigger issues. I do have high scope rings to accommodate a 50mm objective. Accuracy is absolutely outstanding. Finding an extra magazine was a little difficult and expensive.

One was enough for me too.

Lots of internet fairy tales begin with, "The 788 is (insert your own superlative/s).............

The one I like the most is Remington discontinued it because it was a more accurate rifle action than the Mode 700 action that cost more money. If that was the case, you would expect BR shoots to still be full of 788 actioned custom rifles. It never happened.

Shelton573: I also have owned a BUNCH or Remington 788's and have experienced neither of the "problems" you "have".
Although I never recall loading empty brass in my 788's chambers - nor any other Rifle for that matter - I guess I do not understand your "fitment" complaint/purpose?
Each and every one of the 788's I have owned shot/shoots VERY well indeed - especially considering the bargain basement prices I paid for them.
FOOLISHLY I sold several 788's and now wish I had them all back - nowadays I see 788's selling on the used market 3, 4 and 5 times what they sold for new!
Anyway I know they are not the most beautiful or the most well made or most hand fitted firearms out there but they are reliable and in my experience quite accurate with tuned handloads.
I shot my 788 in caliber 223 Remington just last month in fact and no failures to extract or eject occurred in that sight in session (new scope swapped onto it) nor do I ever recall one occurring previously.
The 788 does a lot of things well and has done them for a very long time (starting back in 1967 IIRC) at a previously very affordable price.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I guess when I talked about loading empty brass into a rifle, it was not understood. I now have two 22-250s. I am borrowing brass from my first 22-250 for some reloads for the 788. After resizing the brass that was shot in the original 22-250, I wanted to test feed it in the 788 to make sure there wasn’t any headspace or chambering issues. I guess I didn’t explain this very good or I am just weird to check this. When ejecting the resized brass (which would roughly simulate ejecting a fired casing), this is when I found out the empty brass contacted the scope and dropped back in the action. This was the basis for most of my concern.

One thing I forgot to add in my later findings of the dented case mouth is I found two additional things causing it.

The first is that it was the pressure of the spring pressing it against the action causing some of the damage (like some mentioned). This was identified by holding over on the brass when extracting.

Second, even when holding over on the brass while extracting, there was still significant deforming to the case mouth. I ran a bore scope into the chamber and found what looked like hardened grease in the chamber where the neck lands (maybe packing grease or something from the factory?). We cleaned the barrel/chamber and re-scoped it and there is little to no wear on the chamber or lands. After loading and ejecting a sized case to simulate a fired round, the case mouth denting was minimal.

That is the long explanation I guess of using the sized empty cases.

He hasn't gotten that far yet...

Remedied that problem on week 1 with a timney. Gotta say it’s a bit better than factory hah.

Just an FYI to anyone that puts a timney in one, the area you have to relieve on the stock to make it clear is by the small pin that protrudes out the left side of the trigger when the safety operates.