I had an old gnarly 788 Remington in .22-250 setting around collecting dust. Had to do something with it so after some careful consideration with a couple pertinent facts in mind I decided on the 6X47Lapua. The deciding factors were 1). I have beau-coups 70 grain 6MM varmint bullets left behind after converting a 6BR 1 in 14 twist into another caliber and 2). The 6X47 will fit and feed nicely from the .22-250 magazine.
I re-did the stock myself which was a real pleasant surprise when under all that cracked varnish there was a fairly decent piece of walnut (fairly decent for an old Remington 788 that is). I called Remington and found this rifle was made in late 1967 or early 1968. I was assured Remington didn't use walnut for long after the 788's initial release which I was told was 1967.
I had the action single pointed, the bolt bushed and sleeved and had it epoxy pillar bedded. I went with a 1 in 12 twist Kreiger finished at 26 inches with a .270 neck and minimal free-bore.
At this point I know that the more senior members out there familiar with the 788's are thinking "I know the 788's had a great rep for shooting a lot better than they oughta for the money but this idiot just threw the kitchen sink at a rifle that cost about a hundred bucks brand new . Your right, makes no sense at all but I haven't been accused of being real smart very often....."Never in fact! "

I took it to the range last week for the first time since it's return from the smith in Colorado and wise investment or not I'm diggin it! Way back of max pressure the 65 grain V-Max's were doing 3,700FPS and solidly sub half inch 5 shot groups at 100 yards forming cases . Not sure where the best accuracy will be once the cases are formed but I'm sure there's 100FPS left in it safely without pressure.
Should make a great carry varminter with reasonably long range capabilities. My wife ain't interested in looking at it so you guys get to.

Right side.



Left side.



Close up of the butt stock (not bad for an old 788 hey? I know it shocked me when I got the varnish off and a few coats of Tru-Oil on it. Ended up with 7 or 8 coats). I put the thin Decelerator on it cause I been turned into a wimp from all the years shooting .17 and .20 calibers, besides it looks better than that nasty plastic butt pad that came from the factory.
Yep, that's my "Silk purse made out of a sow's ear!"



GHD it ain't the classic old round your 6X47 is but it oughta knock the dog snot out a coyotes and rock chucks. This explains the 65V-Max's we were talking about huh?

Kudos on the build!
That stock has some great character.
Sure is shooting well too.

Good job, and a fine looking gun, are you thinking of checkering the stock just to finish it off? --- John303.

Just as it now is, it is a great ,good looking piece of utilitarian hardeware. Nice job and thanks for sharing. roger

Rem 788's command big bucks these days.When we were at Whittington Center for a YHEC meet in the 1990's I asked a rem rep why they were discontinued he said they were supposed to be throw aways but they were far from that,the company was losing money on them and they were competing with their other models.He told me he was given a 222 that fired single hole groups and he'd never part with it.

quote:

Originally posted by scr83jp:
...he said they were supposed to be throw aways but they were far from that,the company was losing money on them and they were competing with their other models

There is a Remington expert (wrote several books) in our firearms collector group and he said the exact same thing.

Very nice rifle. Well done.

montdoug

Can you give a little more detail on the 6x47Lapua? How is it different from a 6x47?

Thanks

The 6X47 is based on the venerable old Triple Duce Magnum case and according to Hodgdon's on line data shows a max of about 30 grains of powder with a reported max velocity of 3,000ish FPS using a 70 grain bullet. I've never shot this round so I have no idea how hot or conservative that data is. GHD could answer that much better than I if he reads this.
I'd bet if the PPC rounds hadn't stolen the thunder from the .222 on the benchrest circuit the 6X47 might have stuck around a while longer.
The 6X47 Lapua is a wildcat based on the 6.5X47 Lapua case. It is actually closer to the .243 than the .222Mag or .223 based rounds. It is a .308 sized base with the small flash hole and small rifle primer that proved to be such a winning combination in benchrest with the PPC's and to some degree 6BR's.
A buddy of mine that shoots the 6X47 Lapua with my twist clocks in the 3,700FPS "ish" area with 70 grain bullets and 40ish grains of Varget. Here's a picture of it next to the 6TBR (basically a tall 6BR) and the .243 Winchester.



Most guys shooting this round lean toward the fast twist (1 in 8) barrels and much heavier projectiles for long distance work but as I mentioned I happen to have a "bunch" of 70 grain varmint bullets on the shelf and took a path less traveled as the man said on the slower twist (1 in 12), for lighter stuff faster. Actually with the lighter bullets it becomes a repeater as the ammo fits the .22-250 magazine and feeds great. It now becomes a great light carry, repeater of a coyote rifle with serious thump . With a 70 grain Ballistic Tip at 3,650FPS the 6X47 Lapua is carrying more than a 1,000 FT. LBS. of energy at 400 yards.

Doug, Great looking rifle! And it obviously shoots darn good too!
The 6x47(original) is very simply just a 222Magnum case necked up to 6mm with no other changes. I get in the 3100-3200 fps range using 70 grain bullets in mine and shot some 62 grain Varmint Grenades last week and they were averaging 3330fps. The 6x47 has less of sharp "crack" report than the parent 222Magnum, very little recoil at all and the accuracy of the round has only been superceded by the 6PPC, hence the disappearance from the BR circuit of the 6x47. GHD

quote:

Originally posted by groundhog devastation:
Doug, Great looking rifle! And it obviously shoots darn good too!
The 6x47(original) is very simply just a 222Magnum case necked up to 6mm with no other changes. I get in the 3100-3200 fps range using 70 grain bullets in mine and shot some 62 grain Varmint Grenades last week and they were averaging 3330fps. The 6x47 has less of sharp "crack" report than the parent 222Magnum, very little recoil at all and the accuracy of the round has only been superceded by the 6PPC, hence the disappearance from the BR circuit of the 6x47. GHD

+1
The 6x47 is still a very desirable chambering.
I had one that I shot on the benchrest circuit until the 6PPC hit the scene. The 6PPC may have displaced the 6x47, but it sure didn't diminish its accuracy.
Mine was on a sleeved 700 action, with a Hart barrel and Hart 2 oz trigger.

A little up date on load development with this critter.
Before I post these gratuitous group pictures of load development I'd like to say that this is all my gun smith! The man's a wizard!
Whiny excuses first: 1) We replaced our range backboards with fiberboard instead of heavier plywood and I'd forgotten the Duraplast I usually attach my targets to so the shots backblasted on the fiberboard and tore irregular holes in the target. 2) This is a carry rifle and doesn't lend itself to bench work well at least in my club-fisted paws. 3) The cat ate my home work and...ooop's wrong venue
At any rate to say I'm pleased with how it's coming along would be a vast understatement. Thanks again Fireball!

First picture on the left side was my first 5 shot group of the day, kinda wish I'd a fired that first shot into the berm. That left group is using Hornadys old 70 grain SXSP bullet at 3,450ish FPS. It's I'm gonna blow up in the air velocity is either 3,400 or 3,600FPS depending on which book you read. That sucker really pops a rat!
If the load on the right side repeats itself a few more times I think it's the winner with the 65 V-Max. It was clocking about dead on 3,700FPS and both groups with that load looked near identical. It was about 70 degrees but that's not supposed to matter too much with Varget, guess we'll see. That's unloading almost 1,000 Ft.-Lbs of energy at 400 yards.



This is the same load only a grain less powder. It was clocking 3,640ish.



And just to prove I didn't cherry-pick a hundred groups to get these three good ones , this pic is of the clunker of the day. It was shot after 35 rounds fired, my 3rd cup of coffee for the day and building mirage (I didn't use wind flags). It was shot with the 70 grain SXSP. If you can find that 5th round in those four you got better eyes than I do.



One final thing is that I'm sure impressed with that Kreiger barrel (my first). I fired 40 shots and it cleaned in a heart beat with no trace of blue whatsoever. I am a break in kinda guy however but I'm still impressed.

P.S.
If this rifle had been originally chambered in .222 instead of .22-250 it would have been re-chambered in the original 6X47 happily. I just needed a vehicle to burn up a bunch of 70 grain 6MM varmint bullets.

Doug, I believe you have another bonafide varmint killing machine on your hands! If I had to guess about that 5th shot, I'd guess lower right hand bullet hole elongated a bit upward and to the left............but it could also have been one of those mysterious "blow up before it got to the target" SX's!! hahahaha GHD

That was my guess too GHD especially in the picture it does look just a tiny titch bigger. As to a varmint "sploder" it oughta be just this side of a .243 in rat smackage factor. Might find out tomorrow if it all works out.

Very nice rifle. I have a 788 that is ready for it's fourth barrel. Yeah, I have soft spot for 788's. I have three of them. I got my first on in 1968 used (308 Win.)for 75 dollars and picked up my second one up two months later in a trade for a Sears and Roebuck Mod. 20 12ga. pump gun that I had 20 dollars in. That one was chambered in 222 Rem. We traded even for that one, and it had an M8 6X Leupold on it. Yes I still have the scope, it is on a 541S Rem. that has killed a truck load of squirrels. The other 788 is chambered in 30-30 and has a walnut stock. I bought it 10 years ago from my gun smith and now resides in my gun safe.

Who did the work on your 788. My gun smith has retired and I am looking for a smith that knows his way around a 788, it sure looks like your smith does.

How does your 788 feed the 6 X 47 Lapua feed from the magazine? I have a 6.5mm 1 in 8 twist Broughton I am wanting to get chambered on the 788. The 6.5 Laupa was one of the chamberings I am considering. The other one I am considering is the 260 A.I. I have match rifles chambered in both of them and really like them both. This is going be a hard decision.

Again, nice looking rifle!

PaPa 260

quote:

Originally posted by Papa 260:
Very nice rifle. I have a 788 that is ready for it's fourth barrel. Yeah, I have soft spot for 788's. I have three of them. I got my first on in 1968 used (308 Win.)for 75 dollars and picked up my second one up two months later in a trade for a Sears and Roebuck Mod. 20 12ga. pump gun that I had 20 dollars in. That one was chambered in 222 Rem. We traded even for that one, and it had an M8 6X Leupold on it. Yes I still have the scope, it is on a 541S Rem. that has killed a truck load of squirrels. The other 788 is chambered in 30-30 and has a walnut stock. I bought it 10 years ago from my gun smith and now resides in my gun safe.

Who did the work on your 788. My gun smith has retired and I am looking for a smith that knows his way around a 788, it sure looks like your smith does.

How does your 788 feed the 6 X 47 Lapua feed from the magazine? I have a 6.5mm 1 in 8 twist Broughton I am wanting to get chambered on the 788. The 6.5 Laupa was one of the chamberings I am considering. The other one I am considering is the 260 A.I. I have match rifles chambered in both of them and really like them both. This is going be a hard decision.

Again, nice looking rifle!

PaPa 260

Papa my smith is s fella named Greg Tannel of Gre'Tan Rifles in Rifle Colorado. He's done a lotta work for me and I've never once been less than absolutely thrilled!!
He's built a number of fixtures that other smiths use to facilitate truing actions. The guys a Master. He truly is an outstanding gun smith! And no I'm not related .
As to feeding, mine feeds like it was factory designed for the 6X47Lapua. I'm using the original .22-250 magazine and I haven't had a single failure to feed. Mine is throated to fit, feed and still touch the lands. Mine has a .730 neck for a slight neck wall cleanup to .012 neck wall thickness. .012 X2+ .243 = .267 on a loaded neck and .003 for room to release. Perfect for not overworking the brass on a field rifle IMO.
I thumped my first rockchuck with it the other day and I do mean "THUMPED"!

P.S.
The stock work I did myself.

I appreciate the reply. I will contact him. I am sure that the rockchuck was THUMPED. I know a 260 Rem. with a 90 gr. TNT at 3475 fps THUMPS a coyote. Glad to hear the feeding from the mag. works good as well. I was wondering if it to short for positive feeding. Post some pics of the THUMPED rockchuck.

PaPa 260