Those with Remington 788 experience and knowledge - please enter

Just brought home a good condition Remington 788 bolt gun in .308. I really like this rifle and want to make it a hunting/defense rifle biased towards defense as I do not hunt often.

I have ordered the Timney trigger for it and it should be here soon I hope. I ordered from SWFA and there was no alert that it was on back order until I get my payment receipt :mad:

Brownell's had them In Stock but they were another $25 more than SWFA.

Some questions I have:

- Scope mounts. Do I keep regular Remington style mount on or go for the EGW picatinney rail for the 788?

- Recoil pad. I want one of the Remington Super Cell but I cannot find the correct part number for the right pad.

- What is the barrel twist rate for the .308 rifle with 18" barrel?

I've got a 788 in .223, and I don't see any reason to mess with the trigger. It already has one of the fastest lock-times in a commercial rifle. My 788 was bought new sometime around 1980. My Speer #9 manual states the Rem 788 in .308 had a 1-10 rate, but it could have changed before/after.

I bought the 788 to use on rockchucks. The 130 grn .30-06 rounds were loosening my teeth (I shot a lot). I found the inexpensive 788 to be exceptionally accurate. 300 yard shots on chucks were a piece of cake as long as the wind wasn't too bad. My buddy bought one in .243 to use on chucks and deer, and his was just as accurate. You've got a nice rifle on your hands. I broke mine out after nearly 20 years in storage and it still shot 1" at 100 yards. I embarrassed my son and his big-dollar M1A with all the fixin's.

They didn't even have rails back then, and I'm not a fan of them now. Use whichever works best for you. Any decent gunsmith should be able to install and trim a recoil pad to fit. A belt sander will do it if you have one and use care not to damage the stock. If it's a thicker pad, you may want to shorten the stock so as to not upset the length of pull.

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Originally Posted by OldVet

My Speer #9 manual states the Rem 788 in .308 had a 1-10 rate, but it could have changed before/after.

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I have also read that 1/10 and some could have been 1/12. Guess I will just have to check.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OldVet

They didn't even have rails back then, and I'm not a fan of them now. Use whichever works best for you. Any decent gunsmith should be able to install and trim a recoil pad to fit. A belt sander will do it if you have one and use care not to damage the stock. If it's a thicker pad, you may want to shorten the stock so as to not upset the length of pull.

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I have decided to keep the current scope mount, no rails.

The recoil pad has not yet arrived so I do not know if it is going to work or not. It is not a sand to fit so if it's wrong I am scrooged.

SWFA did not have the Timney trigger in stock so I cancelled that order and called Brownell's. It is now on it's way to my house along with a new magazine for the 788.

Today I started refinishing the stock. The wood was in great shape with only a few dings that I ironed out.

Had one in 6mm years ago. Super accurate. Sold it in a moment of stupidity back in 1988.

Back in '76 I almost bought (and should have) a Rem 600 in .308. Rem would do well to produce that model again, the original "Scout rifle."

My 1st ever rifle was a 788 in 22-250 sometime in the mid 70's. Think that rifle was $125 new. Put a $75 Weaver scope on it with a one piece Redfield base and scope rings and to this day with the correct handload it will shoot 1/2 moa or better groups at 100 yards all day long. This is one great gun and will outshoot much more expensive rifles that I have. Only weakness is the cheap magazine that came with it. I replaced the original one some time back and now only load one round at a time to keep the new one in one piece. Don't really know anything about the 308 but I'm sure you will not be disappointed in its performance.