Would someone please give me the pros,cons and history of the follwing actions:

700

788

722

Thanks

722/721 (short action/long action) were the predescessors to the 700. The 788 was an economy model that Remington released in the 70's, I think (not sure about the date). The 722/721 were available in all of Remingtons standard calibers for the time, same as the 700 (although different calibers, of course). The 788 came in a short and long version, meaning 222 Rem sized and 308 sized. They were also available in 30-30 and 44 Magnum. The 700 made the 721/722's better looking, but didn't really change the basic design, except to make it easier to manufacture (cheaper). They're all good rifles (at least every one that I've owned), with the 788's being exceptionally accurate. FWIW - Dan

The 788 action has on disadvantage, if you do a lot of shooting and reloading by neck sizing only. The cases do stretch, eventually making them tight going in an out. I have several 788s (.223, 7-30waters, .308(2)) and after maybe 5 loadings of same case, have to be full length resized.
The 700, 722, are front locking and have no give to the bolt, receiver.

The 788s are one of the best actions I have ever worked with when building a poor mans 40X. Extremely fast lock time, very ridgid action, nice small mag slot, easy to weld up. Draw back it was a pain making the stock trigger into an adjustable. But then if you would just shim it and be happy with the amt it takes to pull the trigger, it's easier. The finest shooting .222 I ever built, the thing looked really great with a full bbl blank.