Remington 788

[brass410]

my bolt breakage issue was no fault of the manufacture, twas my own doing as a unmentored reloader I was having trouble to chamber/extract rounds resulting in a stuck bolt with spent cartridge in place. I let you fill in the rest as I feel compelled to not incriminate myself.

[Eddie Southgate]

Love my .243 Carbine , it's the Timex of rifles .

[EDG]

I have owned (3) 788s in .44, .30-30 and .243. The .243 would produce sticky extraction when pressure levels got up to the maximums in the manual. The loads were not that hot either. I used the same loads in a M700 Varmit rifle without any problem. The real issue appeared to be heavy reamer marks in the 788 chamber. As in the chamber reaming was done in a hurry producing coarse tool marks on the full length of the chamber. This rifle would also produce sticky extraction with ordinary 100 grain Remington factory ammo. Before I got around to polishing the chamber I sold it.

[thegatman]

After doing some research on the 788's, I'm kind of afraid of the broken bolt and extractor issues.

I had one in 308 with the same problem. Had to have a gunsmith fabricate the extractor.
now Numrich sometimes have them in stock. Sold the gun. Very accurate on pigs.

[charlie b]

I had one back in the 80's for a while, 7mm-08. Very accurate. It was a little awkward when hunting with the magazine sticking out. I made a mannlicher stock for it and was fairly good looking.

I also had the 'matching' Rem 581 rimfire, my first rifle.

[panhed65]

I bought one in 6mm soon after getting out of the Army, early 70's or so. learned to reload with that rifle, and it took everything I could stuff into it as a young and new reloader. killed a lot of stuff with it, then for some reason traded it for a new 700 bull barrel. never any problems with it.
Barry

[1hole]

The 788 had a strong and stiff action which contributed to its reputation for good (factory) rifle accuracy. Like anything else mass produced, some had excellent barrels, others were "so-so". And, even with a perfect rifle, shooting MOA is harder to accomplish than many seem to think. Meaning no one can intelligently tell you what to expect on target.

I really wanted one when they first came out but I liked pretty women and guns. The 788s were so ugly I just couldn't make myself do it. Things change and now I wish I had. (And my once dark haired and beautiful 78 year old wife of 61 years is now gray and a little lumpy in some places but she still looks 17 and vivacious to me!)