Remington 788 243

[Infidel4life11]

I also posted this on snipers hide. Looking for advise and a little education.

I have a 1980 Remington 788 243win. I have read a lot about these rifles and heard good things about them. This is my first .243. I would like to make this rifle a better long distance shooter. Keep in mind I am a Army SSG so I am not made of money. But I'd like to re-barrel it, What barrel should I use, How long, what twist. I want it in a tactical Stock, I was thinking a McMillan A2, your thoughts. It has a 3x9 leupold scope mounted right now. I'm looking to go out beyond 800yrds. I will take all your best advise and do things one at a time, post pics and results. And any info on the Remington 788 would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Missionary]

Good morning troop !
Life can be tough on the stripper budget.
I have owned the same 788 caliber .243 rifle for 30+ years and found the barrel on my rifle very accurate. Longest to date shot I have made sitting on my posterior was 290+ paces on a walking coyotee across a frozen Illinois field. I do not have my reloading book on that rifle here with me in Peru but I do know it shoots all bulets from 60 grain HP to 100 grain SP under 1" at 100 yards. At 300 yards it will stay under 3" from a good solid bench with bags. I have a Tasco 4-12x scope on it. I did modify the stock to have a flat bottom on the fore end area and free floated the barrel. All this is with load developement but every weight bullet I tried found a velocity it was accurate with. I have no intentions of selleing mine or rebarreling it.
Mikie in Peru (Armor 71-74)

 

[Infidel4life11]

Thanks, mine has been shot very little for its age. But I've heard stories of the 243 wearing out barrels left and right. To date mine has no issues and I love it just looking to make it a little better. Everyone I have talked too has regrets on selling their 788 so I believe I will hang on to it. Thank you again

 

[X-Rap]

I have a few 788's and am always looking for more, that said I don't know how much money i would throw into one seeings how parts both factory and aftermarket are getting tougher to find.
Mine shoot very well as do most I have seen so I would try some reloading and see if you can get MOA accuracy. If you are worried about throat erosion maybe think about having a smith cut down the chamber end and rethread and ream to good steel.
love the guns but since they have been out of production for quite some time the potential costs of keeping one up and running could exceed having a current production gun rebuilt from the ground up.
Good luck

 

[Dr T]

Just a note: Your second group of 0.75" is fairly typical of what I get out of my 6mm Rem 788 with decent handloads. I honestly do not know how many rounds I have fire out of it since the early 70's. I have, however, killed more than 30 deer with it (longest shot 325 yds) and the accuracy has not deteriorated.

The gun favors handloads one or two grains below maximum. This greatly reduces the pressure (which is good since the action is nowhere near as strong as the 700 Remington) and also has the pleasant effect of reducing the wear and tear on the barrel.

My 6 mm works so well that one of my brothers asked me if I could find something like it for his son in the late 80's. I found him a 243 in mint condition and have been unable to buy it back from him.

These guns are keepers.

 

[Infidel4life11]

Thank you all for your input. I am now looking at things at a different angle. I will probably still change the stock and put a better scope on it. Anyone have any ideas? My barrel is in really good shape as is I plink with cheap ammo and save the Hornady's for the shots that count.

 

[wingman]

I believe you have a super accurate rifle as is,I would go for a good cleaning to remove copper fouling due to age of rifle,add a 4x16 or 5x20 scope and go to work, reloading is the key the 788 I owned years ago would shoot .600groups at 100 yards consistently using sierra 85gr boat tail bullets. I love the bolt design of the 788.

 

[Dr T]

My 6 mm liked the 85 and 100 gr Nosler ballistic tips.

When you mount the scope, make sure that your rings are high enough. The 788 throws spent cases at a high angle and the cases can hit the scope adjustment cap if the rings are too low.

 

[Infidel4life11]

Tracking gotcha fellas.

 

[sixgunner455]

If it has no issues and you love it, then upgrade the glass and shoot it!

 

[AABEN]

You have a shooter if it is in good shape one hole shoot at 100 yards. That is good for I am 72. I use ACCURATE 4350 41.8 gr with a 80 gr bullet some like IMR 4350 GOOD LUCK

 

[Infidel4life11]

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[trex1310]

I've heard stories of the 243 wearing out barrels left and right

I've never heard that one and I've been shooting a long time.

I have a Weatherby Vanguard in ,243. I changed the stock to a
Bell & Carlson Medalist ($250) with the full length aluminum bedding.
This made a tremendous change to the rifle's accuracy. It will help
your rifle to glass bed the action. Rather than re-barrel, you might
be better off (cost wise) to buy another rifle. Some of the Vanguard
models have accuracy guarantees these days. Good luck.

 

[roc1]

Those old 788 are shooters mine is a 222 and with handloads it will put 5 shots you can cover with a dime at 100 yds
roc1

 

[mbopp]

I've got a 788 in 308.
Ramline used to make a synthetic stock for them and you can still find NOS ones available.
With a 1980's vintage Weaver T-10 scope my best groups run 3/4" or so with the factory stock.
Be careful - 788 bolts had the bolt handle brazed to the body. If you run a hot load and the bolt sticks, tapping on the handle may shear the handle off. New bolts are NLA, you'll have to get the old one re-welded by someone who knows what he's doing.
And 788's are not considered to be a good base for a custom build, almost everyone starts with a 700 action.

 

[Infidel4life11]

Thank you for the info.

 

[AABEN]

The 788 has 9 locking lugs I have never seen one that had bolt trouble

 

[MistWolf]

The 788s are known to be surprisingly accurate rifles. They were introduced as an economy level rifle and the rumor is the real reason they were discontinued is because they were more accurate than the 700!

I can attest to the accuracy and economical price. My father purchased one in 22-250 back in 1968 for $75 new. It was always easy to shoot good groups with. Dad developed a very fast load using the Hornady 50 gr SX (Super Explosive) bullets designed to give explosive expansion on small varmints at 223 velocities (about 3000 fps). His loads were pushing this same bullet over 3800 fps! They would scatter jackrabbits all over the desert when they connected. The bullets left a faint blue streak as they traveled through the air and we could never figure out why. Years later, I found out it was from lead dust leaking out of the jacket as the bullet was on the verge of self destructing from the velocity and RPM. The bullet was so frangible that when Dad first tried to shoot a jackrabbit attempting to hide behind a thin sage bush, the bullet struck a small branch and exploded, peppering the jack with nothing more than fine dust. That jack ran off stumbling, shaking it's head to clear it.

I don't recall if it had the same trigger as the 700. If it does, they are easy to tune once you understand what you're doing.

Instead of spending a ton of money on McMillan stock, try glass and pillar bedding the original.

When growing up, we always heard stories of such calibers as the 220 Swift being a barrel burner which, with modern steels, turned out to be exaggerated. I have never heard such stories about the 243 until a couple of years ago. I've also heard such stories recently about the 260 Remington! As a smaller bore concentrates the gases from the burning powder into a tighter funnel, there is an increase in erosion, but it's small. Only the most dedicated benchrest shooter would notice it.
We sent plenty of 243 and 6mm Remingtons down range with no appreciable loss in accuracy. It's become fashionable on the internet to sagely advise others that calibers such as the 243 have recently begun destroying barrels at an alarming rate