Author Topic: 6mm 788 (Read 466 times)

Broken-arrow · « **on:** January 22, 2005, 04:24:04 AM »

:grin: Went to a gun-show last weekend to do some trading,(I told myself no buying,only trading) But the first thing I saw was a slightly rusty and abused Rem.788. Picked it up, 6mm, looked at the bore, looked dirty but OK. Told myself nah, said I wasn't buying anything today.
Got home, cleaned her up a bit, mounted a VX-II, boughta couple boxes of rem. 100gr. corelokts, :eek: WOW, I've owned 3 788s but this little 6mm is awesome. After sighting in shot 5 for 5 prairie dogs from 150 to 275 yds. no problem. Got the dies ordered f/ Midway, cant wait to work up some loads for this little beauty. My favorite bullet for the .243 is the 85gr.SGK BTHP. Gonna try them first with "ricciardelli's favorite". :grin: Any 6mm 788 owners out there wanna give up some pet loads? How bout some varmint loads, or do these guns like lighter bullets? Any pointers appreciated. BTW people say 788s are not pretty,but to me ANY rifle that shoots like this one is a beauty.

Broken-arrow

Trapper-Jack · « **Reply #1 on:** January 22, 2005, 05:02:58 AM »

When Remington first introduced the 788, they offered a left hand version in the 6mm. I bought one for $89.00, brand new in the box. I remember that the box even has a little saw dust in it when it was delivered to the sporting goods shop. Anyway I was single then and all of my extra money went toward powder and bullets. In my memory the 85-87 grain bullets did well on coyotes, closer rockchucks and rabbits. For the longer range I liked the Speer 105 grain bullet, but you couldn't load it really hot and maintain accuracy. I ended up glass bedding the barrel and reciever and the little rifle would out shoot more expensive custom rifles, my dad owned a Parker Hale .243 and the 788 would out perform it on a regular basis. Proved the theory wrong that they wouldn't shoot well due to the lugs being on the back of the bolt. I always shot IMR 4064, seated the bullet just off the lands, and kept the velosity down about to about 28-2900 fps. The little rifle was stolen in a break-in about 30 years ago. I haven't gotten around to getting another one.

Broken-arrow · « **Reply #2 on:** January 22, 2005, 05:23:19 AM »

Thanks for the info Trapper, Theres a left-handed 6mm 788 selling on gun-broker in 3 days. :?

Bart Solo · « **Reply #3 on:** January 22, 2005, 03:39:05 PM »

I have owned a 6mm 788 for 30 years. Mostly I have just fed her whatever Remington was selling in 100 grain bullets or 100 grain hornady spire points infront of 37 grains of IMR 4350. Never let me down yet. I have often been able to put three shots in a ragged hole at 100 yards. Now the 4th shot tends to separate. Barrel heats up a tad too fast. I agree that you shouldn't use hot rounds. The best accuracy comes from lighter loads. It is a great rifle. This year I put a Bushnell Elite 3200 on her and have had a lot of fun. I have also started loading seriously. In the past I used a Lee Loader and it made decidedly low powered rounds. I am waiting for the weather to break to work up something with a lighter bullet. The 6mm has a little better performance that the 243 and about the same performance as one of those new fangled 243 Winchester Super Short Magnums, maybe a little less, but not much.

The secret of the 788 is its lock time. For its day it was super fast. The trigger is pretty good as well. All and all not bad for a sub $100 rifle when new.

Take care of it. Some people still consider it a cult classic. But with parts becoming harder to find, I would suggest you not put much money in it. It has a real problem with bolt breakage if a case gets stuck. That is one reason you should stick with lighter loads.

Steve 48 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 31, 2005, 04:13:18 AM »

My first high powered rifle was a 788 in 6mm. I still own that gun after 38 years and still shoot it quite often from prairie dogs to deer. Very accurate and deadly. My favorite carry rifle. Steve 48