Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Rem 788

Been looking for a 6mm Rem, found one in a Rem 788. Any one have anything good or bad to say on this rifle, based on actual experience?

Pass on it..............

I've got one in .243 that is a tackdriver.
Neil

The one that I had and used for years - before I gave it to a very close friend for his boys- was simply a killing machine. That was the 6mm. I also had or have 788s in 223, 22-250, and 308. Very decent shooting rifles for out of box rifles; amazing guns considering that they were intended as entry level rifles. The triggers on the 788s are fast triggers, but it was fairly common to drill and thread an over-travel stop in place. Some folks also reduced the tension on the spring just a bit. The 6mm was less common so will probably always demand more than the rest. Any of them seem to hold their value well however.

I've had three or four over the years. All were very accurate.

I'd love to have some more, but the prices are sky-high on them. That ought to tell you something.

Should have kept mine.

My first gun was, and still is, a 788 in 6mm and I still can't bring myself to use anything else in the deer woods. It's killed cleaner and quicker than most of my family's array of 30 cals. 80 grains on chucks all summer and 100 grains for deer make it a very comfortable gun and it shoots straight. I've seen them go in the $450 range in the last few months and a well-kept 6mm with an average scope went around $700 at an auction here a month ago. Since mine cost around $130 back in '72, I'd say they are holding their value.

I've had several and finally sold them all except the 30-30..seem accurate enough but a little heavy for me.

I had a left hand 6mm that shot extremely well as well as 223. 22-250, 308, 30-30 and 7mm-08. Only the 7mm-08 remains. There were only two issues I've had with them, 1. The bolt doesn't lock down with the safety and several times I went to shoot and they didn't fire. The first couple time, I'd lost the shot opportunity before I figured out the bolt had lifted enought to prevent it from firing. The second issue with the 6mm was spare magazines. At that time, factory replacements were near impossible to find. Don't know if the aftermarket folks have that figured out by now but I found them to be great shooters otherwise

Gun Parts/Numerich now offers the complete line of new mags for M788s and they're not all that expensive. Have handled some at a show, look okay.

I have four M788s, the first one (22-250), bought new in 1978. Only problem ever encounted, was a broken bolt stop pin on the original rifle, from a bad habit of letting the bolt slam back against it when I got up off'n the ground when varmint hunting.

All of mine are very accurate. Picked up a pretty good one in 243 two years ago, for $300. I will not pay much more than that for a M788. Get up around $400 and I'd spend the money on a used M700, instead.

Buddy of mine bought his wife a new M788 in 6mm back in the late 60s. That thing is still ugly and still a tack driver. IIRC, it cost around $80 new, back then?

Had an early one with the walnut stock in 22-250 and it was a real tack driver. Possibly one of the most accurate rifles I've ever owned. Don't know why I got rid of it but I sure wish I had it back.

Tasco sells alotta scopes,in no small part to collective "wisdom" espoused within this thread alone.

Wow..................

Overall, the guns were very nice, but the plain-jane and the the protruding ammo box made them less popular, and the cost to retool and upgrade/maintain the tooling was too hogh to justify it, especially when they had the a "mini-700" in the wings

My first rifle was a 788 .308. My dad bought it for me on my 14th birthday in 1972. I've killed several dozen deer with it. Now I use it for cast bullet silhouette at the local club. Have replaced the trigger with a Timney and recut the crown, shoots sub moa with jacketed bullets.
JD

The fire control mechanism sucks,the stocks are junk,there is woe inherent in rear locking lugs and there in fairness isn't anything to laude.

Yes,I've a rathe spiffy one wearing a fancy-schmancy tube and they are still junk. Easy to get more for less,in a 700...............

[quote=PaleWhiteCracker]The fire control mechanism sucks,the stocks are junk,there is woe inherent in rear locking lugs and there in fairness isn't anything to laude.quote]

Only if you discount that at the time they were made, they had one of the fastest lock times in the industry and were extremely accurate. All that in an inexpensive package.

PaleWhiteCracker, though he might sound a bit argumentative, isn't really far off the mark. There is nothing to recommend them over a 700 or a 600, for that matter. The trigger wasn't great. Ejection angle was too steep so that the empty frequently hit the scope turret and fell back into the action. Camming action was limited due to the nine lugs. The bolt stop broke too often. The bolt handles came off too often.
If the rifle is cheap, it's worth having. If it's not cheap, even a Savage is probably better.
Those which were made for the rimmed cartridges (30/30 and 44 Mag) are interesting just because they are truly unique.
In the end, if you put a plastic stock on them, they would be a cut below a 710. GD

The 788 was a good beater rifle when you could pick them up in the $250-$300 range.But then dumbass's started paying $600 and more for them.Cabelas runs package M700's in the $400-$600 range.Easy to not buy a 788.

i have one in 22-250;would'nt trade it for anything; I have a 8-16 scope on it, and have actually shot flies sitting on my target; they need to bring it back; the best shooting rifle i have ever had;
paid $179.00 for it in 1969; shot doves off barbed wire fence at 400 yds+;
(they explode); If you hit a jackrabbit just right,you can make two pieces;
(game warden friend of mine took us to a place in utah, where you shot till you
were actually tired of shooting (750-1000 rnds in an afternoon));
fantastic gun; my buddies had 700 ADL's, and I outshot them every time with my 788;

I owned a lefty in .308 and had it rebarreled to .243 Improved. Very accurate but rough and put together very cheap. There was only one pin holding the trigger on under the action and the block that held the pin kept on breaking off in different places after being silver soldered in place. Gritty action, felt like a really bad Savage.

After a few years this rifle because the only one I ever owned that I cut in half and threw in the garbage