Remington 788, a Bolt action .30-30

[Bookworm]

On another thread I mentioned having just purchased a Remington 788 in .30-30. There was some interest in pics, so ...



Period Tasco 4x scope, and a Brauer Bros period leather sling. Been awhile since I've seen one of those.


On the receiver, just aft of the ejection port, one can see marks that have been (badly) covered with a bluing pen (I think).




Serial number shows 1967, first year of production. I don't have any way to look up barrel stamps.




This is one of the two I found at the Tulsa Wanenmacher show. Bolt-action .30-30s are getting hard to find. I have no idea why Ruger doesn't chamber it in one of their rifles. I would think it would sell.

Now I need to find the time to shoot it. All I have right now is factory ammo, I'm waiting for a sale at NOE to get a mould for it.

[Texas by God]

Very nice!

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[FergusonTO35]

A Ruger American in .30 WCF would be a must buy for me.

[Texas by God]

A Ruger American in .30 WCF would be a must buy for me.

And me too.

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[CASTER OF LEAD]

Super nice find. I lucked into one this past summer. Yours is in better shape cosmetically than mine , however mine is a tack driver. It loves the 174gr FN Lachmiller over 20.5 grs of IMR 4198. It also shoots Sierra 170 gr. Pro HUNTER jwords extremely well. I have yet to find a 788 that WON'T shoot great in any caliber . You will enjoy that one for sure. - CASTER

[Bookworm]

When I found this rifle on the vendor table, he had 6 or 8 other 788s, but this was the only .30-30.
I looked over them all, and picked up this one, looked up at him - he was standing there grinning at me.
He says something like "....found it, huh ?"
I thought " oh, carp...."

He said he bought estate guns, and had purchased 5 of those 788s in .30-30 just since Xmas. This was the last one he had, 3-4 months later. And he knew what he had.

If he'd had one in 44Mag, I would have been in trouble.

[500Linebaughbuck]

there happens to be two of the m788, 243 and 308 on sale at my local gun store. i didn't look at them, but the 308 is going for $475 and the 243 is around $530( i think thats the amount on both).

thats a real nice 30-30!!!

[Texas by God]

I think I like Tikka T3s because they remind me of the 788's slimmer prettier foreign cousin.
Low bolt lift, 3 shot mag, decent trigger and really accurate and feel like they grew from your shoulder. Those traits are shared (IMO) by both rifles.
And why not a Ruger American.35 Remington? Duh! Come on, Ruger.

[white eagle]

looks just like mine except mine is a 6mm
nice score

[EDG]

Most .30-30 788s have fairly nice walnut because they were produced early in the production life of the model. The later models in other calibers are usually some stained hardwood.

[Tom W.]

A guy I used to work with had one in .308 and it was a very accurate rifle.

[largom]

It was reported that the 788's had one of the fastest lock times in it's day and that's what gave them their accuracy.
Larry

[Eddie Southgate]

I got a .243 carbine with an old steel Weaver .

Eddie

[ipopum]

I had a 243 in the 788. It went down the road as it was not the shooter most people said they were.

[ipopum]

I also had a 222 rem in the 788. It shot OK but it was a pain to reload for as most of my shooting was done with a 223 REM.

Get simple only have one 224 you are loading for.

[Texas by God]

Try THE 30-30 powder- IMR 3031- for accuracy.
Jmho.
Every 788 I've owned (22-250, .243, .308) literally drove tacks.
So did the ones my friends owned. These threads always make me miss that first one.

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[FredBuddy]

Texas & Bookworm:

Been trying to find "the load" for 6 30-30's Tried IMR 3031 today in 2 of them.
The 788 seemed to like it but gotta load more to confirm it wasn't a fluke.

This has been quite the quest!

[Outer Rondacker]

Nice rifle. Thanks for posting the pics.

[Shawlerbrook]

Back here in Central NY the 788 in 222 was the most common woodchuck killer when I was a lad.

[Uncle Grinch]

I picked up a 788 not too long ago in 7mm-08. The previous owner had cut the barrel to just over 16 inches and shortened the stock slightly for his daughter to hunt with. While the 7mm-08 is a great caliber, I’ve been toying with the idea of either reboring it to 358 Win or maybe rebarreling it due to the very short 16 inch barrel. Not sure how I would like a 16 inch 358.