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

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.