Remington 788 Value?

S

Sam Steele

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Hi all,

I recently inherited a Remington 788 in .222 with a Weaver K4. The rifle is in good condition. Original finish on the stock, good bluing with no pits, and it still shoots very accurately. The K4 has some of the bluing rubbed off on one side of objective. I already have a Pre'64 M70 in .220 Swift that I love and never will part with so this .222 is likely going to just sit in my safe and collect dust. I know that the 788's were fairly cheap when they were being made, but that they have a bit of a cult following.

Anyone able to give me an idea on the value of this gun?

Thanks.


SS
 
In my opinion those Rem mod 788 are more accurate than todays Rem mod 700 crap b/c stiffer action, faster lock time and better care, attention of production & assembly back then, 30 years or so. They were stoped produced b/c Rem mod 700 were suffering slow sales in competition with mod 788. Why custommers should pay $400 for mod 700 when mod 788 for $275 was vastly superior value sans aesthetics. I also don't see why they shouldn't be worth $500 or more if in excelent condition especially when today's mass produced crap is sold for $1000 or more. My 2c worth.
 
Like gunrunner said.

It is a rear-locker, so don't go for super high pressure loads. The brass stretches.

It should sell for around $400. You might have to wait a bit for a knowledgeble buyer 9who knows the action) and who wants that caliber.
 
There's an ad in the EE for a "super accurate" LH one, no pics available. Check it out. It's been BTT'd to death and no one will buy it until it drops to a realistic price of $350-400.
 
Ganderite said:
It is a rear-locker, so don't go for super high pressure loads. The brass stretches.
Click to expand...
Sam, my experience is that with 22-250 Rem up to 308 Win the bolt thrust to the rear could be .001" to .002" or so with borderline presures but with full lenght resizing the brass and normal "bumping" it like any other cartridge is not a big of a deal at all. Yours 222 Rem brass "stretch" will be nill, so you can hot rod that caliber with any sane pressure. 788 Rem action having rear bolt lockup and single column magazine less than 1/4" from chamber will give you remarkably reliable and smooth feeding. My advice is, rechamber it to 223 AI and ditch that 220 Swift clunker. My 2c.
 
I myself have absolute confidence in mine. This varmint/small game "death machine" has taken a wolf (Ontario) a beaver, about a dozen coyotes, four foxes, several dozen jackrabbits (Saskatchewan) untold numbers (?hundreds?)of gophers and a handful of snowshoehares.

This is probably my favorite centrefire rifle. I presently handload it with bulk Winchester 46 grain hollow points, (cheep cheep)
made for the 22 Hornet.
 
"...recently inherited a Remington 788..." Hi. Nice. 788's were under-sung when they were still being made. Rumour and specualtion has it that Remington discontinued(in 1983. The .222 was dropped in 1982.) it because they were too good for an entry level rifle. Like gunrunner8 says, why pay more for a 700.
.222 ammo may be a bit harder to find, easily. Less expensive than .220 Swift though.
 
.222

sunray said:
....
.222 ammo may be a bit harder to find, easily...
Click to expand...

Heck, they usually stock it at the Canadian Tires that sell ammo, so it can't be that hard to find..... ;) :p

2007-10-27_091302_1aCoffee.gif

NAA.
 
Rem 788

I bought one, a factory 18 1/2" barrel carbine in 7mm-08, many years ago with a beat-up stock. It was used on consignement in a local shop that no longer is in business. The price was 'right'. I picked up an econo black synthetic Ramline stock for it [mind you this was back in the day when the Ramlines came with a Pachmayr decelerator recoil pad installed]. The action dropped right into the stock so I thought I would try it out just as is. It turned out to be an honest 1" @ 100 yard 3 shot grouper topped with an econo Tasco WC Plus 3-9x42mm scope. I figure when something shoots that well "just as is" don't mess with it.

2004-08-12_202514_2Rem788TWC.jpg


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2007-10-27_091302_1aCoffee.gif

NAA.
 
They are a good rifle but at the time they were not really big sellers. I don't think they were a real competitor for the 700 because they were only available in short action. It should bring $350 sans scope but only because it's a .222, if it were a .22/250 I would say near $450. Not because the 250 is that much better but it's just what people want.
 
I had a 788 in .243 about 5 years and it would shoot ragged holes. I had a real blonde moment and sold it...stupidest thing Ive done here on CGN. I still get a bad feeling in my gut knowing I don't own it anymore.

Cheers!!
 
if it is anything like the one my brother had,you had better be a reloader.factory ammo would stick in the chamber and every time the brass was resized it also had to be trimmed or the bolt would not close but it would shoot likeheck.
 
deadeyes40 said:
if it is anything like the one my brother had,you had better be a reloader.factory ammo would stick in the chamber and every time the brass was resized it also had to be trimmed or the bolt would not close but it would shoot likeheck.
Click to expand...
Any factory ammo will stick in the dirty, rusty and pitted chamber. I owned at least half a doz Rem mod 788 over the years, still have two of them, shot thousands of rounds and never had such problems. Reloaded hot you can have the problems just like in any other rifle. The reason for frequent trimming is improper use of sizing die and expanding button in particular.
 
the reloading and all gun work was performed by a very competent gun smith.a lot of these rifles seemed to have some troubles of sorts.the chamber was not rusted/pitted either it was brand new in box from rem.
 
deadeyes40 said:
if it is anything like the one my brother had,you had better be a reloader.factory ammo would stick in the chamber and every time the brass was resized it also had to be trimmed or the bolt would not close but it would shoot likeheck.
Click to expand...

I own two versions of the 788. The 222 I've personally owned since 1988.
Before I started reloading, I bought the super cheap, for quality & price, Kassnar brand ammunition (about the worst brittle brass since WW1) Never had a problem with the rifle with the Kassnar brand loaded ammo (I tossed that once fired brass from the get-go) and now I reload for it.
The other in 308, I've had since 1991, no problems whatsoever, with reloads or factory ammo.

Judging from the other posts here, I would say your brother bought a lemon. (no offence intended!)
 
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