Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Remington 788 won't eject fired case

My old friend, a Remington 788, developed a problem last weekend. For some reason it won't eject a fired case. No matter how fast or slow I work the bolt, the case stays in the ejector port. Sometimes it even flips 180 degrees.

I tested the ejector spring & plunger by pulling the bolt, inserting a fired case and letting go. The case flies across the room so it isn't the spring or plunger. I am at a loss and would appreciate suggestions for a fix.

My 788...

Did you change scope base, rings or scope before the ejection problem showed up?

788s are known to have ejection problems because of the high ejection angle and scope bases, ring height and scope windage turret can be the culprits.

Actually, that scope has been on it quite a while. Two weekends ago the ejection was fine. Last weekend was the first time I had the problem with it. The empty case never clears the ejection port enough to hit the scope or mounts.

Two other places to check.

1.Is the extractor still riveted in place? Since the rifle still extracts, the extractor is still in the bolt but it may be loose in the bolt face extractor groove.

2. Is your brass trimmed to spec?

edit to add: Doubt 2. could be the problem during ejection but....never know.

Check for brass shavings in the bolt face.
A buildup of brass from the cartridge rim might be keeping the extractor from holding onto the empty case long enough to clear the ejection port.

Did you change brand or lot of brass lately?

Why, as a matter of fact there was a lot of brass on the bolt face. I'll have to clean it real good and give it a try. I usually shoot handloads with Winchester but last weekend it was Federal factory ammo.

Thanks!

My wife had a 788 that did the same thing. It happened so fast you couldn't see it but the case was ejecting at such an angle that it was striking the scope windage adjustment cap and then falling back into the ejection port. Finaly solved the problem by rotating the scope 90 degrees in the rings (course the widage knob then controled elevation and the elevation knob controled windage). To see if this is the problem try shooting with the scope removed and see if your problem goes away.

It seems to be a combination of all of the above. After cleaning brass shavings from the bold face, I saw that the case mouth was hitting the center section of the one piece scope base. I'm buying a two piece mount today. (Weaver #75 and #76.) I also saw that it sometimes strikes the scope adjustment cap. May have to rotate it 90 degrees as suggested.

Thanks for all the input!

With 2 pc Weaver bases, the rear base will only have one screw holding it to the bridge. Locktite or JB Weld can help secure the base and if necessary and can be removed with heat with no harm to the receiver. Just make sure the screw threads are covered with a release agent and the screw broken loose before the epoxy completely hardens. Re-tighten the screw before mounting the scope, of course.

I just got back from the gun shop and bought some new Weaver bases. (A #75 and a #76.) Pulling the scope, the screws on the old one piece base were loose! The scope didn't move but the screws were only finger tight. I could turn them with a fingernail.

I secured the new mounting screws with blue lock-tite after cleaning the threads. (Thanks Carbon 12.)

A case cleared the opening but now impacted the horizontal turret cover. I rotated the scope 90 degrees and cases now fly three feet off of my right shoulder. Yay!

Thanks Campfire!

I had the same problem with a 22-250. Mine would eject, but the case would fall back into the port facing backwards!

You would wonder why your worked all those earlier years, then suddenly began failing to eject.

Ted

This problem was so common on the 788 that I advised all customers to have the scope mounted with the elevation adjustment to the left. The difficult part was in getting some shooters to understand that the elevation adjustment was now the windage. Sometimes, despite my best effort, I was unable to make this clear.
One fellow brought his 788 into the shop with the described ejection problem. I rotated the scope in the rings and explained that the windage and elevation adjustments were now switched. The next day, the customer returned to tell me his scope was broken.
"How so?", I asked.
"Well, I fired a shot and it was a bit high so I moved it down. The next shot hit to the right but was still high so I moved it down some more and a bit to the left. The next shot was way off to the right but at least it was down at the right level so I moved it to the left quite a bit. Now it was way low and still hitting to the right. I moved it more to the left and up a bit. The next shot didn't even hit the paper".
I explained, again, that the up and down was now left and right.
"But it says UP", he exclaimed.
"Never mind what it says".
"Well, I don't want a scope that doesn't say what it means!"
I gave up and installed higher rings which seemed to cure the ejection and the scope now said what it meant! GD

Check the extractor.I had a problem with extraction and it was the extractor.I replaced it and it worked perfect from there on.

That's funny, greydog!

Thanks Cag but extraction was fine. The problem was ejection.

Wait... that doesn't sound right.

Everything is fine now. (See my post above this.) The problem was the spent case hitting the one piece base that overhung the ejection port and also the horizontal scope turret.

The problem developed after a scope change and a change in brand of brass. Here is the original scope from when I purchased the rifle. The current scope is in an earlier post. You can see the change in horizontal turret location.