remington 788

Sold my dad's 22-250 788 two yeas ago that was barely used, under 200 rds and we were the original owners. Was sold in 30 mins of me listing it... $400 including shipping.
 
Not only did the 788 have a rear lock up, which in theory is less rigid, but it also uses multiple locking lugs which almost never have equal bearing contact. The rifle almost seems to have been produced to debunk the ideas concerning rifle accuracy that we hold dearest, because they do shoot. Case in point is a pal of mine who got a Gaillard barrel mated to his 788 action converted to a single shot, with a Canjar trigger, and was bedded in a fiberglass stock; I don't recall the brand of the stock. This thing shot like no other rifle I had seen up to that time, the funny thing was the gunsmith, who will go nameless because he is now a big deal and produces some excellent work, cut the .22-250 chamber off center from the bore, yet this rifle would dump em in the same hole over and over again.

My ##### with the 788 is the magazine retention system. The only magazine I ever lost in the field was from a .308 788, and it is that experience that to this day has me preferring hinged floor plates. If a hinged floor plate fails and dumps all your ammo on the ground when the rifle is under recoil, that is a maintenance issue rather than a design flaw. The 788's magazine release is a design flaw.
 
Yeah, but you can build your own, most folks can't, lol. As to price, for a stock 788, depending on condition, $350-450 is fair, maybe a little more with a decent scope. Like any gun, add a quality barrel, chamber it in something odd, put it in a quality stock, etc, etc, and the price changes. - dan
 
This thread reminded me I STILL have to get the bolt handle Tig welded or soldered back on my 788 bolt.

Starting to miss shooting my 788 all of a sudden. Mine is 22-250 with a bunt throat. It still shoots pretty good.
 
A lot of "sleeper" guns on the marker have gotten woken up since the advent of the Internet.

There was a time when certain store brands and even an ammo brand had very good firearms manufactured by major makers and if you knew what was what you could get good value for your money if you didn't mind a rifle stamped with a store brand for example.

It's gotten kind of silly now where "not so bad" but actually not that exceptional either guns have taken on near mythic proportions due to rumour and Internet hype.

I see that in the guitar world, with former off-brands approaching collector prices, but that's another story, though the gun world and guitar world have remarkable parallels.

Pre-65 Fender guitars and pre-65 Winchesters come to mind.
 
Being left handed I bought a left handed Rem 788 new for $108.00.
It was very accurate but not being a 308 fan I sold it and bought a Rem.700 Bdl in 270 which was also very accurate but no more so than the 788.It was said that the 788 was so cheap and so accurate that it kind of embarassed Rem.The 788 was also kind of a club.
 
The 788 was Remingtons inexpensive rifle; like a Stevens, remington 710, or a mossberg today. I have no idea why people are willing to pay as much as they do for a rear lock up rifle that doesn't contain an adjustable trigger, but they do.
I'm not tempted to buy one at anywhere near that price though. They where excellent guns for what they where, but they are no more than that.
Mike
 
Mine has an aftermarket trigger,not sure what brand but it's the lightest pull on any rifle I've ever shot.Takes some getting used to,also a different stock my uncle modified it before he gave it to me.
 
Boy this thread really took off. My experience with the 788 is about 800 rounds shooting the tops off of spruce trees in the winter for grafting onto root stock in a seed orchard. The bc forest service bought two of them in 243 and put bushnell 4x scopes on them. I gotta say they were accurate and never gave us a bit of trouble. Our work was done in the winter on snow shoes and those rifles never got babied but they kept on tickin'
 
These rifles may be over priced compared to their original selling price but I believe are better built than most of the brand of rifle the people are raving about on these same pages.(excluding the marlin)
Neil
 
The 788 was Remingtons inexpensive rifle; like a Stevens, remington 710, or a mossberg today. I have no idea why people are willing to pay as much as they do for a rear lock up rifle that doesn't contain an adjustable trigger, but they do.
I'm not tempted to buy one at anywhere near that price though. They where excellent guns for what they where, but they are no more than that.
Mike

Well, mostly because unlike The 710 or the Mossberg, 788's work. The Stevens is a good modern day option though, with a little work. Add to that the fact that I've never owned one (a 788) that didn't shoot well, and that's quite a few reasons right there. FWIW though, your mileage may differ. - dan
 
No one has argued the fact that 788's shoot. people are only arguing the cost. There are lots of cheap rifles that shoot. They are old guns, for the price that people are trying to sell them for you can buy a rem 700 of the same era for the same price. I saw a rem 788 in 6mm rem with a bushnell 3200 sell quite fast on the EE for $650 (actual sale price may have differed). I just bought a Rem 700 in 6mm rem with the same scope for $625. They are old used guns with no collectors value so their price should not be going up
 
They do shoot well.

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And they look good in field shots with game.

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And:

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I really don't like the .243 much but this 788 is a nice little rifle.
 
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