Rem 788 308 win question.

[Revolting Peasant]

I have 223 and 308. Bought them in a sale blowout after Rem ceased manufacturing them. I think one was $69 and other was $129. Should have bought a complete set but money was tighter then. Free floated the barrels and recrowned one. Great shooters and lots of fun. My first experiences handloading.

 

[25WSM]

Send them to me. I will give you double your money for them.
Shep

 

[elkaholic]

Send them to me. I will give you double your money for them.
Shep

triple here

 

[Crashley83]

Thank you guys, 2 days ago I began working on this 788 rifle, it was a mess. It did 25 shots into 10 inch group.
I took the barreled action out of the stock and found the front sling swivel stud was making contact with the barrel, there was a wear mark on the barrel.
I ground down the stud and nut and free floated the barrel channel. Also I glass bedded the front recoil lug.
I did install a Timney trigger too.
Back to the range yesterday and shot some handloads with Varget and 150gr Sierra SP. The came down to 1.5 inch at 100yds.
Today at the recommendation of friend I tried some 165 gr loads, he gave his specific load info, I measured and copied the ogive of his match loads. The 788 did not like them. As a reference I brought along some of the best 150grs loads. They shot the best in the rifle.
The 165 gr bullets were:
Nosler 165gr AB
Hornady 168gr ELDM (my buddies match load)
Hornady 165 gr SPBT Interlock
For this 308, I only have 3 cans of powder to work with, Varget, H-4895, and IMR-4320. I have only tried Varget at this point.
My primers are limited to Federal 215 Magnum Match and CCI-250. I wish I could find some standard lg rifle primers.
The brass is Hornady, they have trimmed to length, primer flash holes are deburred, and the outside neck diameters have been recut uniformly.

Son had a 788 in 308 and it also would not shoot right. he later found that the old removed front sight screw holes passed into the bore.
It was loading up with copper, burned powder and other stuff.
even cleaning it would not improve.

 

[25WSM]

Holy smokes haven't seen that before.
Shep

 

[GLTaylor]

If i ever see another one I'm buying it.
I bought a 243 back in the early 70s that was a tack driver. Had my first custom rifle built from it. Still my most favorite rifle. It's on it's 5th barrel and still going strong. Killed just over 100 deer with that rifle. Soft spot in my heart for it!!!!!

 

[6.5-300 BEE]

Agree on that 130 TSX. All I use in my 99 Savage 300. Can touch 3000 with 4198 and would not hesitate to hunt anything in lower 48 with it. Rifle shoot sub MOA w/only a 4X scope.

 

[25WSM]

That 130 ttsx in a 300wsm goes 3450 and is like a laser out 500 yards. Lower recoil and just pounds the deer. And yes it will easily do 3000 in the 308.
Great little bullet. It likes to jump too so it's good in the little mags of the 788.
Shep

 

[Ross1147]

If i ever see another one I'm buying it.
I bought a 243 back in the early 70s that was a tack driver. Had my first custom rifle built from it. Still my most favorite rifle. It's on it's 5th barrel and still going strong. Killed just over 100 deer with that rifle. Soft spot in my heart for it!!!!!

I know where there's a 243 for sale as we speak in San Diego! Only $650.lol. If it was listed in the 3s or less it would be in my safe!

 

[Revolting Peasant]

About two years ago it seemed quite a few came on the Texas gun show market all at once. Prices dropped from $600-800 down to the $300-400 range, some with scopes. I started to grab a .22-250 and a 7mm-08 but never did it. Even saw a couple of .30-30 reasonable and one .44 mag that wasn't outrageous. Should grabbed one of those .30-30
And thanks for the offers to "adopt" my guns. Not a bad return on investment for something I have had so much fun with!

 

[Chopaka81]

Son had a 788 in 308 and it also would not shoot right. he later found that the old removed front sight screw holes passed into the bore.
It was loading up with copper, burned powder and other stuff.
even cleaning it would not improve.

Wow! I think I would have spotted a discrepancy like that when I ran the bore scope up my barrel. I will double check. I do live within a 8 minute drive from Benchmark Barrels. I am not that in love with this rifle to drop that kind of $$ into it.

 

[25WSM]

If there is a hole in the front sight tap just cut it off and recrown. Did that to a Tikka that had rifling missing in a half inch long section of barrel. Had to one inch off and recrown and it shot half inch when done. Only Tikka I ever seen that didn't shoot good.
Shep

 

[osok-1k]

I've had three 788 Remington's and regret selling them all. My first was a semi heavy barrel 22-250 I bought in 1977. I bedded the action, floated the barrel, polished the factory trigger and re-crowned the muzzle. It was a true 1/4 minute shooter as was my 6mm I bought from a pawn shop for $135.00 in the mid '80's. 100 gr Sierra's at 3,000 first three were in the same hole having done the same treatment as before. My last one was also a 22-250 which shot well but the twist is 1-14 which would not stabilize the heavier bullets I wanted to shoot so I sold it too. My recommendation to possibly get a little more accuracy is to have the crown re-cut. Lots of Remingtons (and other guns) have poor crown concentricity which definitely affects accuracy, any gunsmith should be able to check / cut a new crown pretty inexpensively, or buy a Dave Manson crowning tool from Brownell's and carefully do it yourself. Check your twist rate with a snug fitting wrapped jag and a floating rod like a Dewey. I insert the rod into the bore about eight inches,, mark the spot at the rear end of my bore guide and witness marks on the rod and handle, push the rod into the bore until your witness marks align, make another mark on the rod at the end of your bore guide, extract the rod and measure the distance between the two marks. Now you know your twist rate.