Remington 788 build

[cdhknives]

I traded for a fairly nice Remington in 22-250. My plan was to rebarrel it in 243Win as another learning project, why ruin a new receiver if it fails, but now I find out they have 3 action lengths on the 788, short short (44 Mag length), medium short (223 and 22-250) and long short (243/308).

Is it merely a issue of new bottom metal and milling the ejection port to convert the 22-250 action to handle 243Win? The receiver length appears to be the same for both 'lengths'.

 

[682bear]

The magazine box is different, and the lower plate also... the stock may have to be modified.

The .243 is the most common 788... the 22-250 is not common... you might find someone with a .243 that would be willing to trade.

-Bear

 

[pontiac428]

Same bolt face, same action for both calibers, just re-barrel and use the right length mag box (purchased or fabricated).

I built/own/shoot seven different Remington 700 bolt guns, all in .308 bolt face because I like .308, .243, and .22-250, and similar medium cartridges based on US parent brass. Even if the bolt face needs to be bushed, silver soldered, and re-cut, the medium action will accommodate the whole range of medium cartridges. Even longer stuff can feed with a small feed ramp profile change, you can gain a solid 1/4" on COL if needed without going up to the large receiver.

It looks to me like the medium-short 788 should work, even though I'm not familiar with the differences in that variant to the 700.

What do you mean about ruining a receiver if something fails? Is the ejection port even a problem between 22-250 and 243? It shouldn't be.

 

[cdhknives]

I need to measure tonight, but the 22-250 is around 0.4" shorter than a 308Win and from my 'lunch hour research' today both the mag box and the ejection port are shortened accordingly. Numrich even lists a different part number for the 22-250 bolt vs the 243/308 bolt, so hopefully there is not a bolt length problem. I suspect the bottom cut for the mag box is also correspondingly shortened. When I agreed to trade for it, all I read was 'compatible with Rem700 stocks' and didn't dig further. I now see it is a very different receiver than the Rem700.

Oh well, worst case I get to try a 22-250 Improved. That has been on the bucket list for a while, just waaaaaay down the list!

 

[epanzella]

Oh well, worst case I get to try a 22-250 Improved. That has been on the bucket list for a while, just waaaaaay down the list!

Hey if you don't mind a wildcat, blow out the 22-250 case to .243? You could have a nice .243-250.

 

[pontiac428]

Ohh man, my apologies. Please pardon my ignorance, I didn't realize how different the 788 was constructed compared to other 700 series rifles. Completely different beast. I do not know the answer to your original question.

@epanzella, you ever created a wildcat? I've been thinking on it for years. It would have to start with getting a proper T&C ginder to do reamers on, which is on my radar. It's not an if, it's a when. I have a real fetish for 6mm calibers and the idea of reforming common brass. I also have desires for making a 20 caliber that's short-fat like the 6br out of shortened and necked .308 brass, but much much shorter than the .204 cartridge to make a powder mizer varminter.

 

[cdhknives]

I saw some 6-250 load data somewhere (found it, Hodgdon online) lately...I do have a PILE of 243 bullets that didn't work well in either of my 243's. I was planning a 6TCU for a Contender I just picked up. Sooooo many possibilities!

Yeah, the ejection port is just over 2.25" long and the mag well cut is not wnywhere near 2.8"+. Too much work to open up.

 

[cdhknives]

No worries Pontiac, part of the fun of being a hobbiest...we all get to learn new things! I just appreciate the help!

 

[epanzella]

@epanzella, you ever created a wildcat? I've been thinking on it for years. It would have to start with getting a proper T&C ginder to do reamers on, which is on my radar. It's not an if, it's a when. I have a real fetish for 6mm calibers and the idea of reforming common brass. I also have desires for making a 20 caliber that's short-fat like the 6br out of shortened and necked .308 brass, but much much shorter than the .204 cartridge to make a powder mizer varminter.

No John, I've never created a wildcat with my own hands. I've only built SMLs so far. I did have a 30-06 improved (Ackley) done years ago by having a smith ream the chamber and sizing die for a sharper shoulder and minimum body taper. It was fun and it got me 100fps. I only suggested necking the 22-250 to 243 because the OP was suggesting a 22-250 improved. I think that would be a poor candidate for improving because it's already way over bore capacity. Milder cartridges like the 7x57 or 257 Roberts seem to really light up when improved. A 243-250 (made name up) would get him a good performing 243 with no bolthead, extractor or mag length problems. Being rimless, cases need to headspace hard on the shoulder so they can be fire formed. Just my $ .02

 

[pdentrem]

I have a late 1920s Savage 99 Takedown in 250-3000 and a Winchester 70 Featherweight barrel in 222 Remington that I kept after putting a heavy barrel on the the Winney. After a while I decided to fit up the Win barrel to the 99 and between the gunsmith and myself, we chambered it to the 22 REM BR. Naturally I had to change and modify the cartridge spool to fit and feed the BR case.
Maybe look at the 6 BR? Would make an interesting and likely fairly accurate rifle. Brass is available and just about any .308 bolt face brass can be used to make cases cheaply.