Remington 788 Disaster

[x101airborne]

I recently purchased a used Remington 788 carbine in 7-08. I gave it a good cleaning and noticed some odd hammer marks on the bolt handle. I looked closely and noticed no obvious defects, so I loaded up some jacketed 140 grain pills over .5 grain increments of IMR-3031. The first shot on the starting load locked the bolt up tight. When I tried to force the bolt up to unlock, the bolt handle ripped out of the bolt body and I cut the crud out of my hand on the sharp metal. Any idea why this may have happened? Will I mess anything up if I try to get the action open? Any bets on if Remington will even talk to me much less fix it? The gun shop I bought it from wont be open till Tuesday, and I haven't called Remington yet, so no new information there, but I really want to crack this thing open and find out ***, but don't want to ruin my chances of getting it fixed.

[HATCH]

I doubt the gun shop will do anything about it since you are using reloads.
I would contact Remington and see what they say. Don't say you are using reloads.

[Rick R]

788s were notorious for having one way detachable bolt handles. You might contact Remington but that rifle is 30+ years old so it'll be interesting to hear what they tell you.

[Hardcast416taylor]

The hammer marks on the bolt handle tell me right away that the previous owner used a hammer to try to close the bolt on a round that hadn`t been sized in a FL sizer die set. More than likely it had been loaded on a neck size only LEE loader outfit with brass from someones else rifle. If the hammer marks are on the bottom of the bolt then this tells me the round wouldn`t chamber then the owner tried to beat the bolt open to retrieve the round. Either way the weld on the bolt handle/bolt body was cracked and finally broke off when you did fire a round.Robert

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

The 788 was a rear locking bolt and as such was somewhat lacking in cam power. It also allowed for a "stretchier" receiver. I had one in 44 Magnum that was a "tack driver" but could not be pushed. The longer barrel did allow for more velocity but it did have limitations. When one kept within limits including correct sizing, they were quite good rifles. Almost all of the ones I encountered, when kept within parameters, were very accurate. They were also known for a very quick lock time.

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[x101airborne]

My Dad has about 6 788's including their laughable "left bolt handle, right eject" model and has never had a problem.
I am just confused why a starting load of 3031 would cause this. What would have happened if I had fired a full factory load or not heeded handloading caution and just went for a top listed load?
I hope Remington will help me with this. When they fix the bolt, I will ask them to test fire and proof the weapon. I hope they will oblige.

[Hickory]

I will ask them to test fire and proof the weapon. I hope they will oblige.

I had an issue with a Remington 700 once that had a Shilen barrel on it, and sent it back to the factory.
When it came back the barrel had all the stamping on it from Remington with a letter telling that the checked the head space and proof fired it, and said that it met their criteria, and the barrel didn't need to be replaced with a factory barrel.

[300savage]

Kinda common on those, don't know if rem will help but its an easy fix for a good smith. Doubt if you hurt much besides your hand, just get your bolt welded on this time. Be callin ya soon.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Have a 788 caliber .243 for 35 years and it is as everyone writes a very accurate rifle. Shot my first coyote with it and has never goffed up. That would be a disturbing happening !
I would for sure take it to the shop that sold it especially if they sold it knowing about hammer marks on the bolt handle. I do know I will check my bolt handle connection next time I get my 788 out of storage.
Mike in Peru

[scb]

http://www.remington.com/pages/suppo...s-dealers.aspx

See the first one - Ahlman's. Claim to do just what you're looking for. As does Chuck Lutz on the list.

[country gent]

Hammer marks on the bolt can be from a tight round or from an over pressure round that locked the bolt up. I have seen several Beat a bolt open and the primer ussually fell out seperate from the case. On a used rifle with a beat up bolt hedspace and locking lug engagement need to be checked. On a 30+ year old rifle it could be many things over the years. Ibeliev the bolt handle base on the 788 was a saftey lug. If there are heavy rub marks on the back matingsurface of the bolt and reciever there may be an issue.

[Nobade]

Yep, I wouldn't send it to Remington - the new company doesn't have anything to do with older rifles like that. Have a good 'smith get it open, TIG the bolt handle back on, and check the chamber to make sure it's not bulged or ringed. Since it locked up with a normal load, I would suspect a problem in the chamber. At least make a chamber cast and see if you can remove that. If the chamber is damaged you won't be able to get the cast out and you'll know what you are dealing with.

-Nobade

[x101airborne]

I am impressed!
I called Remington this morning, and much to my surprise they said they would prepay shipping to send the rifle in and send another prepaid label to send in the rounds for testing! I was told that it would be inspected free of charge and if it was found to be a factory defect, it would be repaired and proofed at the factory regardless of age of the weapon. Now, this only applies to the 788's because they have certain known defects that got by the factory at the time. If the weapon cannot be repaired, a credit will be issued to me. The gentleman I spoke to, I did not catch his name, but he is the historian, gunsmith helper and phone call answerer for the repair and claims center. He was very polite and helpful.

[country gent]

None of the firearms companies want "bad Press" of any sort. Word of mouth affects sales way more in the firearms industry than most others. I have delt with several over the years and almost always was satisfied. You may be surprised as to the amount of work they do to fix the 788 even. I recently sent a 32 pocket pistol back with a broken trigger return spring ( less than 500 rds) and the manufacturer fixed it and had it back to me in a couple weeks. The second time the spring broke ( around 750 rds) it came back with a added trigger job that was superb at no charge. WHile I no longer carry this gun ( no confidence in it) I am impresed with the level of service and professionalism of the company.

[nekshot]

I am impressed with remington taking responsible action on a known weak spot on the 788. I am well aware of their weak bolt connection but the ability those guns have for accuracy rises way above a crummy bolt handle that can easily be fixed in my way of thinking.
nekshot (I have wanted one of these in 6mm now for close to 35 years)

[jhalcott]

I bought a rifle that was RE barreled by an unknown "smith". It would chamber factory 25-06 rounds but was erratic in firing them. The pressures would sky rocket often. The gun was REBORED to .280. The gun smith who did the work said the barrel had a badly UNDER size bore. Some where between a 6mm and a.25 bore and also under sized groove dimensions.

[Nobade]

I am impressed!
I called Remington this morning, and much to my surprise they said they would prepay shipping to send the rifle in and send another prepaid label to send in the rounds for testing! I was told that it would be inspected free of charge and if it was found to be a factory defect, it would be repaired and proofed at the factory regardless of age of the weapon. Now, this only applies to the 788's because they have certain known defects that got by the factory at the time. If the weapon cannot be repaired, a credit will be issued to me. The gentleman I spoke to, I did not catch his name, but he is the historian, gunsmith helper and phone call answerer for the repair and claims center. He was very polite and helpful.

That is good to hear. I hope you get your rifle back!

-Nobade

[376Steyr]

Back to the gun locking up on the first shot of your starting load. Were you using 7-08 brass or reformed .308 brass? Due to the recent component shortage I had to use commercial .308 brass to make some 7-08 cases and had to turn the necks down to safely fire in my rifle. If I had used military brass the neck thickness problem would probably have been worse. Too thick a neck can cause pressure problems. That might have been the original owner's problem: Beat a thick neck cartridge into place, fire it and bulge the chamber, beat the bolt open.

[x101airborne]

Well, yes as a matter of fact, they were 308 brass, but I used a Forster Neck Turner to uniform them to 13 - 14 thousandths thickness. A very valid fact and thank you for asking. I was worried that I had a headspace issue, but they have the same headspace just different over all lengths.

[country gent]

A case jammed into the throat will have the same effect as to thick a neck does. Will a bullet enter the fired case mouths? A quick test of neck clearence and such. If not the bullet isnt being released properly and could be raisng pressures.