Bit of time on my hands, sorting old photo's.

I'd started a family and hadn't been out for a good while. I think this was 1994? First trip for this Remington 788 in .308 and the first time I'd fired it. RESULT!

I was working shifts at the time, left on the 500 klm drive straight after work. By the time this photo was taken I'd been awake 36 hours at least. Less than an hour later I was asleep back at camp and it poured rain.

The rain was coming in under the tarp and hitting me in the face and didn't wake me up. Mate dragged me and my swag under the tarp, reckoned he was concerned I'd drown..

I'm trying to find the photo of what was possibly the first pig I shot but was definitely my best running shot in 1982. Pig flat out across a dry mud flat and I drilled it at about 130 - 150 yards with a Colombian Mauser 30-06. Sheer arse.

One rifle I had that I sold that I still regret was a 788 Remington in .44 Rem Mag.

It was a damn neat little gun.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
One rifle I had that I sold that I still regret was a 788 Remington in .44 Rem Mag.

It was a damn neat little gun.

The 788 always intrigued me. The calibre they were produced in, 44 mag, 222 and 223 and 22- 250, some I think only for one year. Even 30 -30, was there another 30 - 30 bolt gun? The 2 left handed versions 6mm rem and 308 still ejected to the right. But didn't they make a 6mm rem and a 243? I should check that.

I still remember the ads in the gun magazines full page with 2 788s in rear window rifle rack calling them " the truck gun ".

Remington brought out the 788 in 30-30 and Stevens/Savage/Springfield produced their 340/840 I believe depending on how the gun was branded in 30-30.

You could hustle people by boasting about a seemingly unbelievable feat of accurate shooting with a 44 magnum and after shaking hands on the bet produce a scoped 788 in that caliber and not a Model 29.

Like I say, I wish that I had never got rid of it, but the 1894 Marlin Lever Action in .44 Rem. Mag. I have ain't no slouch!

I wish I still had that 788 .308. Even with it's ancient variable Weaver.

Oh and the detachable mag that didn't really suit me but didn't really affect it's performance or the tin trigger that looked like it belonged on a toy that never broke despite the rifle flying out of a rifle carrier on a vehicle into a bore drain traveling under water like a torpedo.

That, was a heart stopping moment. It didn't even lose zero.

I did a lot with that rifle over quite a few years but I was it's care taker. When the ( unlicenced ) guy who owned it ( it was part payment in a debt he was owed about the time the gun laws changed here ) wanted to sell it, I passed on buying it for some unknown reason and brokered the deal to the new owner who as far as I know still owns it today.

Yep, they made the 788 in .243.. My wife hunted with one for several years before moving up to a .308. That .243 was accurate..

quote:

Originally posted by zeeriverrat1:
Yep, they made the 788 in .243.. My wife hunted with one for several years before moving up to a .308. That .243 was accurate..

Indeed. I used to be a walking encyclopedia for these things but that was a while ago. I always found them interesting, the left bolt right eject couple they made, how some cals were one year only. I know too many people who've owned one and look back on it fondly.

Rifle Year
.222 Rem 1967–1980, 1982
.223 Rem 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 1980
.30-30 Win 1967–1970
.44 Rem Mag 1967–1970

The 30-30 always interested me. For sure there'd be calibers better suited either side of it but I bet my bottom dollar there's guy's out there who own a 30-30 788 he'd say it'd be crazy to own anything else.

Personally I'd have that 308 I had back in a heartbeat.

The concept I looked at concerning the .30-30 was that being a bolt action your choice of bullets was larger than with a lever action.

Think of some of the loads Bobby Tomeck has worked up for his rifles that could have been used in the 788!