My Remington 788 223 old gun showed a lot of promise today. Over the past few months I have added an Timney trigger and a new laminate stock to breathe a little life into the old girl. As a result. I must say she looks a lot better. I finally had a chance to shoot it today with some hand loads. The Remington 788 is a bolt-action that was made by Remington from 1967 to 1983. When I bought the rifle, circa 1977, I paid less than $100 for it. The Remington 788 223 wasn’t all that common, and was only manufactured for one year? – 1975. The other chamberings were:
222 Rem 1967-1980, 1982
223 Remington 1975
22-250 Rem 1967
.243 Win 1968, 1980
6mm Rem 1969-1980
6mm Rem Left Hand 1969-1980
7mm-08 Rem 1980
.308 Win 1969
.308 Win Left Hand 1969-1980
.30-30 Win 1967-1970
.44 Rem Mag 1967-1970
The original stock on my Remington 788 223 was a hardwood, possibly birch, and it was a usable trigger, but by no means a good trigger. This rifle always shot good, not great, but good. It was always a little drab, not ugly, just plain. With the upgrades, I won’t say it is a pretty gun, but it sure looks better now. I purchased a Boyd’s Laminate Stock in “Pepper”, and with a very small amount of inletting, it dropped right in. The new Timney trigger required a minor amount of inletting. I would highly recommend the Boyd’s stock and the Timney trigger, which is currently sitting at 2.75 lbs of crisp pull.
Performance
I managed to try multiple loadings including 55 gr Sierra BTHP, 55 gr Hornady V-MAX, and Sierra 63 gr Semi point. All groups were shot from bags at 100 yards. There was no wind.
A 3 shot group 55 gr Sierra BTHP with 25 gr of IMR 3031 was my best group. ( I had only loaded 3 of these). I need to try this one again. – 0.120″ and can be covered with a dime!
My 2nd best group was a 3 shot 55 gr Sierra BTHP with 24.5 gr of IMR 3031 – 0.575″ and could be covered with a quarter.
I wasn’t expecting the 63 gr Sierras to shoot very well in my 1:12 barrel, but once I got the velocity up a bit I achieved a sub MOA 5 shot group with H335. More velocity may make them stabilize a bit better.
I also shot 3 sub MOA groups with the 55 gr Hornady VMAXs. However I expected them to be a bit better. I pushed all with H322. I probably can do better?
It was a fun day and I’ll try again as soon as time allows. My Remington 788 223 still has plenty of life left in it.
UPDATE: I’ve added a few more photos from another day. I believe the IMR-3031 is my rifle’s favorite food!
Bought mine in 1985, brand new with 3×9 power scope. Barrel was 24″ free floated varmint contour. federal 55 gr fmj printed 1/2″ group out of the box. Pet load is 27 gr of W748 ball pwdr under the Hornady 55 gr sp, runs about 3100 fps (guessing on this). It groups like the Federal factory ammo…cover it with your thumbnail!
I just bought a 788 .223 with the inletted floor plate and the slightly bent bolt handle which was the last of the production guns. I’ve seen plenty of carbines inletted and bent bolt. I’ve seen the same research but have to question the author.
1975 production year is what I’m questioning.
I grabbed my grandpa’s he carried it for years killed more coyote than covid 19. It was carried all it life in truck rack in Texas. I reload for it having great results with 50 grain w 25.3 gr. And 2.20 LNG. 5 in dime 100 yards and the gun rattles when you shake it . I pull it out when some is bragging on there 1000.00 set up and you know they leave
I have a 788 in 223 also and it too is a tack driver. Mine loves Hornady 53 gn vmax over 25 gn of IMR 8208. Consistently shoots 1/2 moa or better. My only problem with the rifle is that upon ejection, the spent shell hits the scope and falls back into the receiver opening. Anyone know of a fix for that? Ive read that you can turn the scope sideways so the windage turret is on too, but im not willing to bandaid it like that. Im hoping theres another better fix.
Higher scope mount?
Bought my 788 223 in 1980 used. Just Vera noted all the metal and did a camo job on the beech stock. I shoot the nosler 40 grain ballistic tips at 3600 fps. with 27.3 grn. Benchmark and consistently print sub half. Remington stopped production of the 788 because they out shot the much more expensive 700.
I’m still shooting mine. Great gun!
I’m not sure your info on production of 788’s in 223 is correct. I bought one (still have it) in the summer of 1970. It came complete with a 4x scope for right around $100.
Possibly? The best info I could find shows only one production year. – 1975
This may be of help to confirm your production date:
https://www.remingtonsociety.org/manufacture-dates/
Remington 788 in .223 was only produced in 1975 (One year). The .222 is a different story.
Purchased one yesterday for 225.00. In .223…Already had a Timney trigger set to 3 3/4 lbs. Didn’t know about the Timney till I took the stock off….set the trigger to 2 1/2 lb….gonna shoot it today day. Put a Leupold 6X20 target scope, with dot…
The 788’s tend to be good shooters. Good luck on yours!