788 Cast

[stephen perry]

I have several small bore rifles I shoot cast in. One is a Remington 788 in .223. Now this ain't no ordinary 788. I sold a few 788's in my buddy's shop actually about 2 in 25 years. Not much demand most guys wanted a Ruger, Remington, or Winchester. I have 2 788's one in 6x47 Hart barrel and the other in .223. I only saw light taper 788's so when I got my .223 with medium taper I was happy and suprised at the same time. Triggers don't have the typical Rem 700 adjustments. But on mine the owner worked it down to 37 oz. Not bad considering I use Jewell triggers in my PPC guns.

Here is what I found out with my .223. Lyman 225415 is a gem to load the tapered ogive is easy to seat. Lyman 225462 needs care to load. A 788 is not a smooth bolt to operate and then try and push back seated bullets especially 225462 with it's round ogive well you better have a strong hand to close the bolt if you are into the lands. Empty cases chamber fine the bullets need to be off the lands to operate well. Please no suggetions I have already solved the probem. Just looking for any other 788 shooters to hear from about their Cast loading. Jacketed loading is an easy whole different game than with Cast in a 788.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR :brokenima

[Maven]

Rem. 788's, especially .30-30Wins., were once quite commonly used in the CBA Postal Matches. Maybe even in the nationals too?

[GBertolet]

I have a 788 in 30-30. I shoot cast bullets exclusively in it. It shoots good as or better than with jacketed bullets, with the factory barrel. I just use the Lee collet neck sizer die for it. I haven't had to full length size yet after many loadings. The gun likes IMR 4198 powder with the Lyman 311291 bullet. I got my trigger pull lightened also by swapping the factory sear spring for a weaker replacement one. It made a big difference. Be careful driving out the pin holding the trigger assembly. There is a little ear on the receiver, the pin goes through. They have been known to break off, if the task is not done carefully.

[badgeredd]

2 of my projects after deer season will be loading cast for 788s. One is a modified 223...the barrel has been set back and it is now chambered for 221 Fireball. The other is a 6mm Remington. Both guns are very accurate with j-words so I'm hoping to get excellent accuracy with cast boolits.

Edd

[doubs43]

Over 30 years ago, "Rifle" magazine had an article on the 788 trigger. It told how to drill & tap two holes in the trigger box for (IIRC) 6-40 set screws. One adjusted pull weight and the other over-travel. I owned a 788 at the time in .222 Remington and did the mod. It worked beautifully and I shot many thousands of rounds through the rifle. It was amazingly accurate. I finally sold it about 15 years ago.

The 788 was Remington's "bargain" rifle and it truly was. They frequently out-shot the more expensive Remingtons, Winchesters etc. I don't know why Remington dropped the 788 but I wish they'd offer it again.

[stephen perry]

doubs43
Do you happen to know the Rifle Mag number on that article. I have 1-250+ of Rifle would like to read such. At $89 original retail price in 1967 Remington wasn't making much on the 788. I wouldn't trade mine for a 700.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR :brokenima

[TCFAN]

Stephen
The Rifle mag number is 37 issue Jan./Feb 1975 on page 35.

This modification to the trigger works good. Had mine done as per the article in 1975 and have been using it ever since with out any problems.

Mine is a 222 and I shoot a 225415 HP in it .......Terry

[shotman]

well I didnt see that much of a change between the 2 One thing is that change will let rifle fire if dropped. try it If anyone wants a modified one, I have one will sell . I went back to the factory one after it shot hole in truck. rick

[Four Fingers of Death]

Over 30 years ago, "Rifle" magazine had an article on the 788 trigger. It told how to drill & tap two holes in the trigger box for (IIRC) 6-40 set screws. One adjusted pull weight and the other over-travel. I owned a 788 at the time in .222 Remington and did the mod. It worked beautifully and I shot many thousands of rounds through the rifle. It was amazingly accurate. I finally sold it about 15 years ago.

The 788 was Remington's "bargain" rifle and it truly was. They frequently out-shot the more expensive Remingtons, Winchesters etc. I don't know why Remington dropped the 788 but I wish they'd offer it again.

I was told at the time by the Remington rep (I was saving up for one and was talking to him at my friend's gunshop) that Remington felt it would be cheaper to only run one model and that the 788s were slow sellers compared to the 700s.

They have become a cult rifle now.

I have acquired two in the past year or so, a 222 and a 22/250. I have yet to wring them out.

I have high hopes for the 222 with cast.

[Nobade]

I recently finished building a 788 in 30-30 exclusively for cast boolits. I used a Brux 1:12 barrel, and chambered it with Manson's 30-30 CBM (cast bullet match) reamer. The trigger is a Timney, which works great and I didn't have to modify my original one. So far it's been a wonderful rifle, grouping well under MOA with grease groove boolits up to 2300 fps, and 1.5 MOA with paper patched. The only drawback so far is the ejector was broken when I got it, but I did find an outfit that makes new ones so I guess I'll have to get one eventually. Actually now it's kind of nice to have a drop port like a Stiller bench gun, open the bolt and the case falls out the bottom into my hand. (not using the mag) And I even won a silhouette match with it yesterday, the first for the new rifle. It's off to a good start!

[Four Fingers of Death]

I recently finished building a 788 in 30-30 exclusively for cast boolits. I used a Brux 1:12 barrel, and chambered it with Manson's 30-30 CBM (cast bullet match) reamer.

I have a friend trying to sell me a 788 in 308 which has a 16.5" Bbl. I have a spare target Bbl downstairs off an M17. It is chambered for 7.62/308 and probably has a 1 in 14.5" twist. That might work (cost me nothing apart from a bit of lathe time) if the 308 didn't work out I could the re-chamber. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

[stephen perry]

I think the 788 with the short barrel would be a bit much with factory .308 ammo but would be useful for cast.

You might consider adding your other barrel. I like my 788 with at least a 22" barrel, gun balances well with longer barrel.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR :drinks:

[HORNET]

Mick, 30 BR or .308x1-1/2" would also be good choices.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Mick, 30 BR or .308x1-1/2" would also be good choices.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, got me thinking!!!

[Bullshop Junior]

I had a Remington 788 rechambered from 222 to 223 and it shot cast exelent. I used 18gr of H-4895 with any 55gr cast boolit and it shot good.

[HORNET]

BTW, Rifle magazine had a slightly different 788 trigger modification detailed in the Nov/Dec '78 issue. Don't know the issue number offhand but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. It's buried in an article on the 788 on page 33.

[hammerhead357]

I wish I had my old 22-250 back in the 788 and the 243 in the old 600. I let them go for a song many years ago....Wes

[9.3X62AL]

Rem 788 in 243 here, it does very good work with castings. RCBS 95 SP does just a bit better than Lyman #245496, 12.0 grains of 2400 prompt about 1700 FPS or so and 1.25" 5-shot groups at 100 yards, sometimes better. The rifle is box-stock.