788 Rem calibers

N

Nitescout

New member
Last weekend I picked up a decent old 788 in 6mm Rem... ( gun show in Wichita). I would have thought the .243 win would be more popular...yesterday, I ordered a new Thumbhole varmint stock form Boyds...I didn`t want to go to the trouble of refinishing the original...

the gal taking my phone order had me measure the action screw spacing to get the right stock...apparently the 6mm is a long action...I would have guessed it would be considered short...I know they made the rifle in several calibers, like .243, .308, 7mm/08, but I don`t remember any in the 30-06 size . I would think they made them in .257 Roberts. and 7mm Mauser as well.

any one have one in a different caliber???
 
I'm pretty sure they were all short actions. But it is possible that at some point there could have been minor changes resulting in slight differences in hole spacing for the stock. I'm no expert on 788's, but know this is sometimes an issue when buying aftermarket stocks for some other rifles. Even though it is the same model number or name those made in certain years will require a different stock.
 
Stocky's

The folks at Stocky's show a short action and a long action, 6-3/4" and 7 inch respectively. I suppose that could be a web error, but later on down the page it mentions that 788 spacing is non standard.

I wonder if, as noted, that was a dimesion change, but not a caliber availability issue, meaning, I have never heard of a 788 in a "long action" chambering, just short action and the calibers as noted by others previously.
 
thanks for the replies, guys.

I saw a magazine, or clip that was marked 7mm/08. and it was the same length as the 6mm clip...considering the list posted by boogershooter, I`m thinking the .222, and .223, are the only short actions, and everything else is long action...except the .44 mag.

the gal at Boyds, did say they were 6&3/4 inch and 7 inch in length.

I`m surprised the .257 Roberts, and 7x57 didn`t make the list.
 
I'm thinking 243, 7-08, 6mm, 22-250, and 308 were actually true short action even though they may be longer for that rifle. They may have made an even shorter action for 223, 222, and 44 mag, but I just don't know enough about the rifles to say for sure. The 7X57 and 257R require a true long action and I've never seen nor heard of a true long action 788.
 
"short" and "long" are relative terms. The 788 was not chambered in what are commonly known as "long action" calibers.
 
jmr 40, and mobuck, I agree with you 100%...I just figured that since the 6mm rem and .257 Roberts, were just a necked down 7x57, that those calibers would also be chambered in the 788...and I still have never seen a 788 in any of the `06 size chambering.

thanks for the info, guys!!!
 
6mm Remington is the longest OAL round for the 788.
Although the 7mm Mauser is on the same basic brass, its maximum OAL is longer than the 6mm. You could probably load to fit but it would be gun-specific ammo, and Remington was sure not going to do that.

The .257 Roberts is a bit shorter OAL than 6mm and could be used, but by the time the 788 came out in 1967, the "Bob" was a dead duck, appreciated only by traditionalists.
 
Nitescout, you owe it to yourself to determine which rifling rate that 788 has. If you aren't familiar with Remington's .244/6mm fiasco then do some Googling and you'll see why it is important to know which twist rate yours has. I'm thinking that it will have the faster twist but I'd want to verify that before buying or loading ammo.
 
T. O'Heir said:
No .44 Mag's according to Remington. .222, .223, .22-250, 243, 6mm Rem, 7mm-08 and .308 only. Receivers were all the same length too.
Click to expand...

Yes they did make .44 Magnum M788 rifles as well as .30-30's of which I own one. The .44 Mag is the rarest of all and the .30-30 is next in line. Frank de Haas and Wayne Van Zwoll have an excellent write up on the M788 in their book "Bolt Action Rifles."

The .30-30, .44 Mag, .223 and .222 used a shorter action screw spacing than the other chambers. This is why Boyd's asked the OP to measure it.
 
Last edited:
I figured it was something like that, but I've never really fooled with those very much. I had forgotten about the 30-30.
 
thanks for all the input, guys...It appears the 244 came out with 1 in 12 twist which had problems stabilizing the 100 gr or heavier bullets...The cartridge was renamed 6mm rem, and reintroduced with a 1 in 9 twist. I`ll probably use 75 or 85 sierra bthp in a coyote load, so I guess a .244 or 6mm would work equally well.

I got to look at 788 this afternoon at our local gun store...It is in 22-250...the clip / magazine is about a half inch shorter than the one for my 6mm...having said that, The 7mm/08 clip I looked at, at the gun show was the same length as my 6mm...go figure.

Again, Thanks for all the input!!!
 
Trivia: Some of the last .244 Remingtons had a 10" twist, same as the .243 Win that beat the RP caliber out in the market.

Rifling is overstudied. If I had to hunt deer with a .244, I would get something like an 85 gr Nosler and have at them.
There was an old Gun Digest article where the writer found that a 100 gr JSP with the exposed lead cut off back to the jacket, forming a 97 grain "protected point," shot quite well enough for hunting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top