I have an old left handed 788 that I broke the bolt handle off of. (Of course). The normal way of disassembling the bolt is to make sure it is uncocked, put a close fitting pin through the hole in the bolt cover, raise the bolt handle, then unscrew the bolt cover.

I'm sure you can see the first problem, no handle attached to raise and lower the bolt, but we can work around that.

The second problem is that when I insert the pin through the bolt cover hole it prevents the cocking piece from travelling far enough back to cock all the way.

How do I get the bolt cover off of the bolt?

Grab the cocking piece in the vice and pull. That does the same thing as lifting the bolt.

I tried that, and it pulls the cocking piece back all the way until it hits the pin that I inserted in the cover but it doesn't come back far enough to travel all of the way up the "step" to click into the indent.

Fjold,

You "don't" insert the pin and then lift the handle. Place the cocking piece in the vise like Jack said to do and then while pulling on the bolt body, twist it in the direction needed to raise the cocking piece or "firing pin head" from the cocking notch and onto the shelf. Now place the "retaining pin" in the hole to capture and hold the "firing pin head" while you unscrew the assembly.

Malm

Contact Wisner's Inc

LeeRoy puts those handles back on. We are currently making bolts for the 788 short action and will have the long action bolts and spare parts in about a month or so.

www.gunpartsspecialist.com

G. Malmborg thanks, I've tried that but when the bolt is cocked the pin will not insert through the hole. I'm using the directions from my original owner's manual (from 1974) but Remington's never been known for easy bolt disassembly. I'm probably just going to mail it out for repair.

J Wisner, I've been in contact with LeeRoy and he says that new bolts are in the process but no delivery date is set yet. I'm talking with him now about repairing my old one also.
You said something in your post that puzzles me, you mention replacement bolts for a "long action" 788. Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't all of the 788's made in one size to fit short action cartridges?

788 "long" bolts are for the 308/6mm sized cartridges. The "short" 788's were for the 222/223/222 Mag cartridges. - Dan

[ 05-11-2003, 19:58: Message edited by: dan belisle ]

Fjold,

All the pin does is hold the firing pin to the rear and out of the way while you unscrew the two pieces. So in lieu of being able to find the hole, place the cocking piece in the vise and pull on the bolt keeping the firing pin rearward while you unscrew the assembly.

Once you get the two appart, place the tip of the firing pin on a surface which you don't care about and pull down on the shroud until you can insert the pin. Then you will be ready to reassemble it without any trouble when you are ready.

Good luck,

Malm

Thanks guys, I'll try it with the bolt. I'm a gunsmith's best customer, I keep taking stuff apart that I don't know enough about.

Also thanks for the information on the "long" action 788, that's the only one that I'm familiar with, owning the 308 version. I'm going to have to find a 223/222, etc. chambered 788 as I've never seen the shorter (mini?) action.

Would you belive there are many different bolts for the Rem 788. They are as follows in length.

44 MAG
222,223
22-250
30-30
243,6mm,7mm-08,308, RH
6mm, 308, LH

What Remington did was make four different rear sections, This is where the handle and lugs are. Then they simply had a different head depending on the caliber.

The left hand model is odd, as it has a RH ejection port and safety, yet the handle is on the LH side.

I'm familiar with the left handed version as that's what mine is, and strangely enough I like the right hand ejection port, especially when I'm shooting on a bench.
I knew about the variety of calibers chambered in the gun but I didn't know that there were two different size actions made.
Back in the 70's, Remington and Savage were the few makers that made left handed guns. Savage chambered theirs in 300 Savage and 250-3000 and the 700BDL was too pricey for a struggling student, so I bought the 788 in 308 Win.