Remington Model 788 slam fire

[RangerRick]

My hunting buddy has a Model 788 in .308 that has just recently started to experience slam fires when loading despite having the safety on and NO finger in the trigger guard. He chambers a round from the mag, close the bolt and as soon as the bolt handle bottoms out, bang.

He bought it new in the 70's and simply loves it. I figure a worn sear notch perhaps. He lives in Greely just south of Ottawa, so your input on this and who he should see to get it fixed is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Ricky

 

[tiriaq]

Have him take it to Jason at Gunco in Nepean.

 

[NAA]

Could very well be dirt inside causing this.

But best to get a qualified 'smith to give it a good going over, however.

 

[303carbine]

I have seen this happen when there is lots of hardened oil in and around the trigger mechanism. It happened to my brother in laws Rem 600,the trigger assembly was removed and washed out with gas,end of problem.

 

[bufalobill]

you can dismantle the bolt at home to make sure it is clean. Use a slave pin to unscrew the back of the bolt out to remove the firing pin and clean the spring and pin. Drop the trigger group and spray with pressurized solvent like G96 Gun Scrubber. Blow clean with light compressed air.


Might fix your slam fires.

 

[Rugerman]

I have seen this happen when there is lots of hardened oil in and around the trigger mechanism. It happened to my brother in laws Rem 600,the trigger assembly was removed and washed out with gas,end of problem.

x2 on that! Same thing happened to me. Well almost. If you loaded the gun and put the safety on it would fire when you pushed the safety off Scary.
It had been in vertical storage for a long time and the oil had congealed/hardened in the trigger group area. A thorough cleaning stopped the problem. What got me thinking that that was the cause was the stiffness of the trigger when I dry fired it. I would clean it thoroughly first before taking it to a gunsmith. Could save you some money.

 

[Silverback]

IIRC there are also some pins in the trigger mechanisim that can work their way out a bit and cause problems.