[lefty o]

shouldn't be hard to open, might need a trip to a good gunsmith.

[wachtelhund]

I recently purchased a Remington 788 for $150.00 that is a shooter. I never even tought of buying a 788, until two weeks ago when I was going to a pawn shop to look around for a action to build a .260 Remington on. Going in, I met an individual carrying a rifle case. I asked him what he had in it. He pulled out what looked like to be a beat up bolt action in .308 Win with a straight 4 power scope.
It was the first 788 that I ever held. Looking at it closely the metal and blueing was in very good condition. The stock was awful! It was spray painted flat black to cover up the flaking original finish, dings and several cracks. I ended up buying it for $150.00. I took it home and removed the action and barrel. I stood the barrel up on my bench and cleaned it two days with an Otter's fowl out cleaner. In the mean time I stripped the stock and sanded out the dings and scratchs.
Before working on the stock further, I put it back together, replaced the scope with a Bushnell 3X9 40mm Banner scope which I purchased at a gun show for $30.00. I took it to the range. I bore sited it and it took 2 shots to get it hitting in the center of a normal computer sheet of paper.
The next 5 shots were on a normal site in target with grids and a one circle in the center. The first two of the next 5 shots were with in a half inch of each other almost 2" high and 2" right. I adjusted the scope and fired the next three shots. All were with in the 1 inch circle, two were touching and the third was a 1/4" from the two. What a surprise!!!
This gun will remain a .308 Win. I've replaced the trigger with a Timney adjustable trigger, bedded the action, stained the birch stock and refinished it with Min-Wax wood hardener. Cracks were filled with epoxy resin. A little epoxy was added to the insides of the stock's magazine well to reduce the magazine rattle. The wood hardener is a thinned polyester resin which soaks into the wood and is use to repair rotten wood. The stock looks new and should last at least another 40 years. I've got $300.00 into this gun and a few hours of my time, and it shoots 1 inch groups.
I'll be using this gun next week during our deer season.

[pghunter]

My first rifle was a model 788 in 22-250. It is the best gun I have ever owned,my uncle owns a browning 22-250 and a BLR.308,the 788 will out shoot either of them anyday!

[nmtexan]

The Remington 788 is a great rifle, I own one in almost every caliber made, four in .243 including 2 carbines. they all shoot extremely well (all are floated and bedded with the trigger just tweaked), although I personally would NEVER shoot at any whitetail at 650 yds!!!! My son has killed more than 30 whitetail in Texas with his carbine 788 in 243 w/ 4-12 Leupold. He shoots the 75 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Federal Premium ammo and our rule for does and cull bucks is "shoot em in the head or miss" and he has missed only one shot out of nine the last two years. This rifle/ammo combo is good for less than 1" from the bench at 100 yds. .

[wachtelhund]

Quote:       Originally Posted by remchuck

according to the gun digest modern gun values,ninth edition, the 788 was made in .222,.22-250,6mm rem.,.243,7mm-08,.308,30-30,and .44 mag.i own two,.243,and 30-30.both are as accurate as any rifle i have had the pleasure of owning.the downside to these rifles are the clips which seem to have mysteriously vanished from the earth.good luck on finding a replacement for under $70.00;if at all.i have never experienced safety trouble,or any other since i have owned them.they still kill deer and with any luck will do so this rifle season.my friend also owns a 788 in .243 and i'm sure it will put meat on the ground this season.in my opinion these are some of the finest bolt actions big green has ever made.

Midway has clips for about $35.00.

[RackHunter]

I just bought this one for $200.00 with a Weaver Medalist M4R scope. I re did the stock & bought a magazine. Shoots really great. Real Tack Driver. Any comments good or bad are welcome. Also I got the Magazine at gunpartscorp.com It was a little cheaper than even at midway. Ran $29.95 then with tax and shipping was $37.45.

[338RUM]

Quote:       Originally Posted by pfundine

it is a shame that remington stopped production 1 - watch the safety 2 - easy on the bolt - it will break the safety and come apart. you can still put it back in and contiue shooting though... .243 is a awesome bullet. buy the 100 grain remington core loc psp. i've personally killed at least 4 white tailed deer at 400 plus yds. one at over 650. it was a hail mary shot that broke his back, and left my hunting partners dumbfounded.

I want to welcome you to the forum, but let me warn you what is hi-lighted is NOT accepted here at G&G we do not condone nor want to hear about your hail mary shots at deer that could leave them wounded to die a slow death. Sorry that my first words to you were harsh but that needed to be clear.

[RackHunter]

"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." -Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution..

[samuel]

The second says nothing about hunting ethics.Sadly,that is left to the individual. ,,,sam.

[Canranger44]

I had one in .308 when I was younger (and foolish) let some slaes guy at the local gun shop convince me I needed a bigger caliber so he got me to trade it in on a Winchester x70 weather weight.

The 788 I could drive tacks withthe gun was well balance and looking back at it now I should have never ever let it go. I have spent the rest of this time waiting for one to come along again.

[tcdoffroad]

I also have a Rem. 788 in a .308 caliber. I inherited this gun from my uncle several years back. Needless to say this gun will go to the grave with me. I have never shot a better deer rifle than this one. It is very balanced and to me not very heavy. I have killed countless animals from wild hogs ranging from 125 lbs to 300 lbs and several whitetails. I use remington 150 grain corelokt load. To be honest, I never changed the scope, and when I got it, It came with a fairly inexpensiveSimmons scope, 9x35. This gun was bought new by my uncle in 1981 and still basically looks as new now. As far as it being considered a ugly gun, mine has a maple wood stock with dark and light colors in the wood making it look kinda unique. I would recommend this gun to anyone and if u find one that is for sale in great condition, let me know.

[Tack Driver]

Was the 788 the rifle Remington first introduced the 7mm-08 in?

[Purdy]

Quote:       Originally Posted by lefty o

shouldn't be hard to open, might need a trip to a good gunsmith.

788's don't have a lot of caming power and with the multiple locking lugs, they are "harder" on the bolt lift than a mauser type action. At least the ones I have owned were.

[wcassidy]

A buddy of mine has a 788 in .30-30 and before he started messing around with it it could shoot ok, in his defense when he got it someone already messed around with floating the barrel and that didn't do too much for it. they're great rifles though.

[DUGABOY1]

Gentlemen, the 788 is one of the most accurate rifles Remington has ever built. Made from 1967 to 1984, chambered for , 222 Rem,22-250, 223,6mm rem, 243 Win, .308 Win, 30-30 Win, 44 Rem Mag , and a left hand model chambered for 6mm Rem, and 308.

Remington actually had an advertizment that read our $120 rifle that embarased us at Camp Perry. It seems a privateer came to Perry with a stock 788 . and beat out all the mod 40-XBs.

I have a mint 788 Rem chambered for 223, that will punch one hole groups all day long at 100 yds, and has accounted for a number of coyotes at 300 yds. They are just a little cheap rifle that shoots all out of perportion to it's cost. Instead of discontinueing the 788, Rem should have put it in a nice stock, and put somthing better than the plastic sights on it and it would have outsold the 700 at the same price, because of it's out of the box accuracy.

[IowaHunter]

I traded for a Remington 788 in .223 a couple of years ago. It has a custom stock and it's a great shooter as well. I have seen mention in places that 788s have poor triggers, but mine is very smoth. I looked at it with a bright light and noticed the trigger is brown, not blue like the rest of the gun. What color are your triggers? Is it possible it's a custom trigger? Thanks

[DUGABOY1]

Quote:       Originally Posted by IowaHunter

I traded for a Remington 788 in .223 a couple of years ago. It has a custom stock and it's a great shooter as well. I have seen mention in places that 788s have poor triggers, but mine is very smoth. I looked at it with a bright light and noticed the trigger is brown, not blue like the rest of the gun. What color are your triggers? Is it possible it's a custom trigger? Thanks

Iowa Sorry but i haven't been on this website for a while. I will look at my 788 in a couple of days, it is in the very back of my gun vault and to get to it I have to unload the whole vault. I will get to it though, I promise!

.................................................. ..

[IowaHunter]

I did take it apart the other night, and it looks like a stock trigger assembly to me, don't know why its brown...............

[mfreeman451]

I have a 788 .243 and I love it. I shoot cheap 100 gr bulk ammo bought from Cabela's and I've taken a red fox at 250 yards and a deer on the run. Bullet went through the vitals on the deer and then came out and broke his front leg.. poor thing. When I went to sight it in last year before deer season, I started at the 50 yard range, then 100, then when I got to 200 I took 2 shots and hit the same spot on the target. I could barely even see the bullseye through my cheap scope! The guys at the range told me to go home and stop wasting ammo

Anyways, as you can tell I am a big fan of the rifle, although it did seem heavy as you said after carrying it around hunting in the woods all day. I've been reading that the 6mm is very popular and that will probably be the 2nd and only high caliber rifle I'll ever need.