I have a Rem 788 in 243 that I don't use much. I was thinking of rebarreling it in 257R. How big a deal is this? I was concerned about the expense of any bolt face/extractor mods that would be required.
Thanks, Peter.

Just a new barrel and someone to do the fitting.

The BIG ISSUE, is the feeding, since you have a determined inside length and positon of the shoulder indents in the Remington 788 magazine.

James Wisner
Custom Metalsmith

i did one of these once for a client from a 308. i believe he went out and got a magazine that was designed for the 6 rem. it had no extraction or ejection issue from the start or feeding issues with the supplied magazine.

Rebarrel and then find a mag from a 6mm 788, it should feed no problem. - dan

Magazines for the 788 in 6mm may be a little on the pricey side if they can be found. I'd check it out before hand. Another option may be chambering it in 25 Souper (25-308), or 250 savage improved, if you wanted to stay with a quarter bore. Good luck. Paul.

These 788's seem to have a cult following. You might come out ahead selling the gun and buying a 257 Roberts or having one made up on a Mauser action.

Clemson

Original 788 magazines in 6 mm Rem used to bring about $75.00 However Brownell advertises some new after market 788 magazines at reasonable prices.

Another consideration is the 243 length action/magazine will not allow you to seat heavier bullets out very far and will limit performance to some degree.

Another thing to consider is that these two cartridges are virtual twins ballistically. Lots more bullet choice in .243, with only .014" difference in diameter and the .243 has a little BC edge, this conversion doesn't make any sense to me. That being said, I fall back to an old saying "real Americans buy what they want". This from a guy who hunts primarily with a .25/284.