Thread: .30BR Rem 788 Chassis build

So onto the build.

The donor rifle was a 1967 shot out cut down iconic Remington 788. the barrel was rough but the rest of the rifle was quite tidy.







The Remington 788 is a bolt-action, centerfire rifle that was made by Remington Arms from 1967 to 1983. It was marketed as an inexpensive yet accurate hunting rifle to compete with other gun companies' less expensive rifles alongside their more expensive Model 700
They have quite a cult following and are well known as a quality old school build with accuracy that much to Remington's embarrassment rivalled their more expensive model 700 at the time.

While not a perfect action with a few short comings such as the bolt handle is low temperature brazed to the side of the bolt body which had the tendency to break off with rough use, a heavy non adjustable trigger and over all a bulkiness that made it feel like a heavy target action.
However the 788 made up for these weaknesses with its robust design, sturdy lock up and slickness that utilises a single-column detachable steel magazine holding 3 or 4 rounds depending on calibre, that fed any cartridge without complaints.

The Remington 788 has two main distinguishing design features. The first is the bolt. The multi-piece bolt featured nine rear locking lugs in three rows of three, as opposed to the front locking lugs found on the vast majority of bolt actions designed since the late 19th Century. The 788's bolt lugs are located in front of the bolt handle and lock into the rear of the receiver. In addition, the lock time was unusually fast. The lack of lug raceways in the receiver allow for a much smoother action. Due to this design, the bolt handle lifts only 60 degrees on opening giving more clearance for scopes compared to the 90 degrees required for the Model 700 and other two-lug rifles. The bolt travel is also reduced because of the rear lugs.



The second distinguishing feature is the receiver. It has a smaller ejection port than similar bolt-action rifles, and no bolt lug raceways. The single stack magazine design yields a smaller feed opening in the bottom of the receiver compared to rifles using a double stack magazine well. When machining of these smaller ports is complete there is more steel remaining in the receiver between the ejection port and adjacent feed port, and significantly more steel overall where all receivers have the least strength. These characteristics combined to make the Remington 788 receiver more rigid and stronger than most, if not all, competing designs, including the Remington 700 which shares the same outside receiver diameter. A rifle's accuracy tends to increase slightly as the rigidity of the receiver increases, as this slightly reduces barrel deflection during firing. Thus the Remington 788 has the structural foundation to be a very accurate rifle.

The 788 was offered in 3 action lengths, “super short action”; .44 Rem mag “short action”; .222Rem .223rem, .22-250rem, and.30-30win and finally the “medium action”, .243win, 6mm rem 7mm-08 rem and .308win. the long action cartridges such as .30-06 Spr and 270 Win were reserved for their M700 range.
Left hand models were offered in 6mm Rem. and .308 Win.
A .22 rimfire model was also produced known as the 580, 581, or 582 depending on its method of feed. A target version of the .22 caliber 58x series, the 540X, was used by the US military as a training rifle.
The floor plate and trigger guard are steel stampings (not plastic!) and blued to match the barreled action, which received the standard Remington polish and bluing. The finish on the barreled action is clearly superior to the essentially un-polished matte bluing seen on most modern economy rifles.
The majority of Model 788s were outfitted with plain, birch hardwood stocks stained to resemble walnut. The comb is not fluted and there is no checkering. There is also no pistol grip cap and the butt plate is black plastic. This stock is anything but lovely, although it is more appealing than the cheap, noisy, plastic stocks found on most modern economy rifles.

Overall, the Remington Model 788 was a well made, accurate economy rifle. I consider it to be better designed and more attractive than most budget bolt action rifles on the market today.

I have lost count of how many 788’s I have owned over the years but all have been excellent shooters and great wildcat platforms. In fact I took my first deer back in the day with a .338 Whisper I built on a .22-250 Rem 788.
The .222 and .223 short actions made great .300 whispers (aka .300BLK) too as not many other rifles at the time fed these front heavy short cartridges.