Building a rem 788 in 358 win , opinions, advice ,constructive criticism welcomed

[zymguy]

Ive got a very rusty Rem 788 action ,26" Green mountain .358 blank and a couple of stock blanks .
Whitetail rifle that will shoot the 205 rcbs boolit is the direction im thinking.
I'm going to clean up the threads and true the face of the reciver , start polishing the bolt and hopefully cut the bbl tennon this week.
Our first decision is bbl profile , Im thinking a light palma type contour , the 788 has a little bit smaller 1" tennon so i think a light bbl will look good and be pleasant to carry in the woods.

[zymguy]

I don't think I'll use this stock,but It'll be convenient to replicate . https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230925/f3ab5305424cf5c6e868d8f6aae8fa97.jpg

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[square butte]

Great project - I love 788's. Have thought for years about sending a 788 in .308 to Jes for a rebore to .358 win.. What twist rate are you going to go with? Looking forward to seeing what you come up with

[Texas by God]

The magazine length will limit OAL but that’s the only little fly in the ointment that I can see.
I have an extra 788 .243 stock; send me a PM if interested.
Keep us updated on the progress, please.
Great cartridge in a great rifle!


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[zymguy]

Great project - I love 788's. Have thought for years about sending a 788 in .308 to Jes for a rebore to .358 win.. What twist rate are you going to go with? Looking forward to seeing what you come up with

I bought the blank couple yrs ago, ill have to double check . I beleive its 1:14 .

[zymguy]

The magazine length will limit OAL but that’s the only little fly in the ointment that I can see.
I have an extra 788 .243 stock; send me a PM if interested.
Keep us updated on the progress, please.
Great cartridge in a great rifle!


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Im going to carve a stock , itll be my 3d. I'm not sure what wood yet and I'm leaning toward using the duplicator but I may only use it for inletting .
I think i want to add some bondo to the original stock and give it a little more comb if i do dupicate it

[Nobade]

I'd make sure the magazine will accept and feed 358s before doing much else.

[zymguy]

I'd make sure the magazine will accept and feed 358s before doing much else.I'll do that . It took 308 in its previous life , so I'd be surprised if it didn't.

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[zymguy]

I need to choose a barell profile. I'm thinking a taperless profile with .750 diameter. Id be interested to hear what you suggest and why

[ulav8r]

Barrel profile is a matter of weight versus accuracy, possibly. I like 23 inch barrel length just because I like different.

A few years ago I studied 358 ballistics for awhile and decided 250 grains would be quite suitable for game larger than deer out to 250 yards, which for me would be a very long shot. Discussed it with a Sierra ballistician who thought my reasoning was very sound. For deer, I would use the same 200 grain Remington corelokt bullets th
at are used in a 35 Remington at no more than 2500 fps.

[35 Rem]

I think I'd use that stock. Clean it up and refinish it. I like the idea of throwing parts together with utility rather than beauty in mind. I did that with a 98 Mauser with a cheap 270 Winchester barrel on it. It's very satisfying to have a rifle that shoots way better than its appearance might indicate. I love the idea of a 358 Winchester in a 788. My 788 is a 22-250. Great rifle with a good trigger.

[Rick R]

Once upon a time I owned a 788 in .308 and it was a great little rifle that I never should have traded off.
I presently have a 20” Encore barrel in .358 Win and it’s been a joy to play with this summer with cast boolits :cbpour:

Hopefully you get to enjoy the build, then enjoy load development, and then enjoy some venison with that 788.

[JDHasty]

I'd make sure the magazine will accept and feed 358s before doing much else.

788 Magazines are extremely forgiving.

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[JDHasty]

I'd make sure the magazine will accept and feed 358s before doing much else.

This rifle was a 308, but I had a new take off Winchester Heavy Varmint 22-250 barrel and a spare monte carlo stock. I can use 243/308 magazines or I can use 22-250 magazines. The longer magazines the rounds slide back and forth a bit, on the shorter magazines the rounds have to jump the gap between the front of the magazine and the chamber. I don't think I had a single loaded round ever give me any problem. We have never done a 358, but we have done a few others and the magazine is never a problem. The shank on the barrel is very long and the original barrels can be tough ones to get off. This rifle is very accurate, but for some reason it shows pressure signs and I can't get a lot of velocity out of it.

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[zymguy]

Did you interference the end of the looong 788 barrel tenon on the receiver? It does not look like the factory barrel was. I have opted not to true the back when i chased out the threads . I will of course true the face of the receiver before i measure for the tenon length.

[JDHasty]

1.560 with factory recoil lug.

Be very careful not to break the trigger stud off the receiver on 788s. The triggers are real close to the rear action bolt and that complicates it a bit putting a pillar in.

[zymguy]

1.560 with factory recoil lug.

Mine wont be 1.560. I'll loose length when i grind the recoil lug. I'll loose length when I true the receiver face. None of that is a problem. I can measure the trued receiver and cut the tenon whatever I need. I'm wondering if i should have the barrel tenon touch sorta like a large ring Mauser would or not as I suspect it was manufactured


Thanks for the tip on the trigger stud

[beltfed]

Years back, I rebarrelled a left hand 6mm 788 to 358Win /Douglas 1:14 twist No 3 contour.
It was like 'falling off a log" easy. Loaded it with 220 Speer which killed deer like lightning.
Also killed some with a 250 gr Lyman 358318, 250 gr RN,
Paper Patched. Book loads of 3031 did the job. Accurate. One warning: Full, but not excessive loads like this liked to stretch cases which were necked up 308W brass. A couple firings and they had to be full length resized or they would not go back into the chamber. Not a problem. Relatively cheap brass. Rear locking lugs/ cases stretch just like Savage 99s in 358 or 308, etc Need to be resized between loadings.
I sold it to a guy in Maine for his son for a bear rifle.
Then built another 358 on a LH Savage 110CL. Again Douglas No 3, 14 twist. This one has served
me well since 1988, on a number of nice bucks. Same loads as for the 788, No excessive stretched brass.
NO problems with standard 308/243 magazines, no feeding problems.
beltfed/arnie

[zymguy]

Barrel profile is a matter of weight versus accuracy, possibly. I like 23 inch barrel length just because I like different.

A few years ago I studied 358 ballistics for awhile and decided 250 grains would be quite suitable for game larger than deer out to 250 yards, which for me would be a very long shot. Discussed it with a Sierra ballistician who thought my reasoning was very sound. For deer, I would use the same 200 grain Remington corelokt bullets th
at are used in a 35 Remington at no more than 2500 fps.

250 yards would be a LONG shot for me . I plan to use the 205 rcbs boolit mostly. I'm using 200g interlock roundnose in a savage 110 this November because they were easy to get local.

[zymguy]

Should decide on length too I suppose. We've got one vote for 23" and I'm not seeing any reason why not. I believe i could go out to 25" and of course no less than 16"

[JDHasty]

Mine wont be 1.560. I'll loose length when i grind the recoil lug. I'll loose length when I true the receiver face. None of that is a problem. I can measure the trued receiver and cut the tenon whatever I need. I'm wondering if i should have the barrel tenon touch sorta like a large ring Mauser would or not as I suspect it was manufactured


Thanks for the tip on the trigger stud

No touchy!

I have two in MPI Stocks, very nice. One, a 243 has a Timney, the other, a 22-250, has a Canjar, that one has a 26 inch Lilja barrel. It has been the death of a lot of rockchucks. If you ever see a Canjar for a decent price, BUY IT! The last one I saw was north of $400. The rear action screw location is the devils work. Pro Tip: The Canjar has a pin that moves out right to left when the safety is engaged. It can break the trigger stud off if forced into the stock. Make sure it clears. That set screw on the front of the trigger housing doesn't have to be any tighter than just snug enough to take up slack. I've seen the housings bent form tightening them too much. Other than that I don't remember any other things that make working with 788s any way complicated.

Oh, I just remembered: To put a Canjar in with a factory stamped trigger guard. Bolt the stripped barreled action in the stock and set the butt on a pad on a concrete floor and with a small dead blow mallet lightly beat on the front of the guard and it will become more rounded giving you more stock to bow clearance distance and also provide clearance in the back.

[zymguy]

edit because im having trouble with pics in original post .

If I am not an interference fit with the barrel to the back of the receiver, how far off of it should I be ? .003 ???

[zymguy]

Pulled the bolt apart and should not have been surprised, but I was.
Trued the face of the action .
Cleaned up the recoil lug https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231031/87a5e93c213980813aed11717f31e477.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231031/4ec7cde4daa7aa217c2278efc9237e3b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231031/6206ad761102c93cd54d9bd10a313147.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231031/24fd8a8463706e940934541957694369.jpg

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