Remington 788 bolt disassembly question

I have a Remington 788 and I'm looking at the bolt. It looks like the part the holds and ejects casings is pressed into the part with the bolt handle and lugs.

Is this correct? and has anyone ever taken one apart? If so, how did you get it apart?

The rifle is chambered in 6mm Rem (LH) if that makes any difference.

Looking at the parts diagram at Numrich
One style is basically the same as a 700 ejector set up
Those you depress the ejector and drive the roll pin out.
And there is a YouTube of disassembly of the bolt.
Past that can’t really help you.

Search Remington 788 bolt disassembly, you will find a forum where they talk about the 788

72bwhite said:

Looking at the parts diagram at Numrich
One style is basically the same as a 700 ejector set up
Those you depress the ejector and drive the roll pin out.
And there is a YouTube of disassembly of the bolt.
Past that canÂ’t really help you.

Search Remington 788 bolt disassembly, you will find a forum where they talk about the 788

Click to expand...

correct, the 44mag and 30-30 are different.

What I'm trying to accomplish is possibly making a whole new front end for my bolt, I would like to make it .005-.01 longer.

Reason being is the bolt will now close on the no go gage. It does not close on the field gage.

I'm trying to come up with an alternative to tighten up the headspace a little without re barreling the rifle.

I don't want to push the barrel shoulder back because that will mess up the orientation of the barrel.

I have not been down the barrel with a scope yet, but looking through the receiver all seems to be looking good.

You really want to look down the bore before you start devoting this level of effort to modifying the bolt.

so why not bump the shoulder out the .005 on the cartridge and neck size after that when reloading . could also do the same be seating the bullet out so that it would support the case so when it was fired the shoulder would move forward then neck size only . or reform some longer cases to fit . if you did a 100 you would have a life time supply

OP says the bolt "will not close" on the field gauge....yet it closes on the no go......If the rest of the story is correct ,then this cant be correct......unless you have the minimum no go gauge ,not the max no go........a field gauge is in between the two..........In any case the accepted method would be to set the barrel back one thread,which is a fine thread IIRC,so may be close to a full turn.

john.k said:

OP says the bolt "will not close" on the field gauge....yet it closes on the no go......If the rest of the story is correct ,then this cant be correct......unless you have the minimum no go gauge ,not the max no go........a field gauge is in between the two..........In any case the accepted method would be to set the barrel back one thread,which is a fine thread IIRC,so may be close to a full turn.

Click to expand...

no for the most part go gauge is zero head space if it will just close no go gauge is plus .004 would be nice if it will not close field is another plus .004 and it better not close . a lot of mil surplus rifles will swallow the no go but won't swallow the field gauge i have an adjustable 8x57 Mauser gauge and a 1908 german gew 98 and it has 1/2 thou pass go and then i have some 98's that go plus .005 pass go but that's still .003 before max field

As said above, closing on the field gauge is reason for taking out of service. Closing on the nogo is only a problem with a new chamber.

As also said above, the easiest solution, assuming you are reloading your ammunition, is to reset your sizing die so you get a little more length between the datum line (where the case shoulder contacts the chamber shoulder) and the bolt face which will take up the extra space. And, if you ARE reloading, stay under official maximum loads so you don't stretch things.

The three gage sets should be used as follows:

1. A stripped bolt should be able to close on a "Go Gage." This means that the chamber will accept SAAMI maximum-sized cartridges. A chamber that won't close on a "go" gage risks being so tight that you're cramming a max-sized cartridge into the chamber, and this can result in problems.

2. A "no-go gage" is used mostly by gunsmiths when cutting a new chamber. A gun with a brand-new chamber/barrel/etc should not close on a "no go gage." No-go gages tend to be 0.004 to 0.006" over the dimension of the "go" gage - it depends on which chamber/cartridge we're talking about.

I'll get to the issue of 0.004 to 0.006" in a sec.

3. As the gentlemen above stated, closing on a "Field" gage means that the gun should be removed from service. That an action can close on a "field" gage usually means "headspace + 0.008 to 0.012" depending on which chamber/action we're talking about.


Now, the difference in dimensions: You should be aware that different gage makers have differences in how much "over" a No-Go gage is over a Go gage. Forster tends to be tighter (more like 0.004 over) than Mansion Precision (which tends towards 0.006"), last I looked at my gage sets. This means that I never, ever mix-n-match gage sets - ie, I will not use a Forster "go" gage and a Manson (or other) "no go" gage to chamber a rifle. I make sure that I have all three gages from the same manufacture to gage a chamber.

Lastly, strip the bolt before gaging a chamber. I never use force to "go gage" a chamber. If the ejector is still in the bolt, it will mess up your "feel" of how snug a bolt is on the "go" gage and you might end up pushing harder than you should to gage the chamber.

What caliber is the rifle chambered for? If it is a rimmed case, there might be an issue with moving the neck forward if its a straight walled case. The 788 was a rear locking lug action, so if there is a problem, I would look at the small rear lugs first for wear, bending, or damage. You can get headspace gages made with ejector cuts in them so you don't have to strip the bolt.

chip_maker said:

...Reason being is the bolt will now close on the no go gage. It does not close on the field gage.

Click to expand...

If it does not close on the field gauge, there is nothing wrong with your rifle. The no go is only for fitting new barrels, it provides extra headspace for wear. The field gauge is the safe limit.

When using your gauges are you removing the ejector and fire control parts? It's a feel thing. You don't close the bolt like on a cartridge, you close it using only the weight of the bolt handle itself. If there is any resistance on the no go gauge it passes, springs can mask this if it's close.

--
Pat Jones
Firestone CO

As stated in my original post, the rifle is chambered in 6mm Rem.

Both my headspace gages are Forsters and marked as follows:

NoGo 1.7807 (from what I can find on the web 1.7807 is the gage dimension give on the cartridge diagram)

Field 1.7847

wyop said:

Lastly, strip the bolt before gaging a chamber. I never use force to "go gage" a chamber. If the ejector is still in the bolt, it will mess up your "feel" of how snug a bolt is on the "go" gage and you might end up pushing harder than you should to gage the chamber.

Click to expand...

I removed the firing pin assembly from the bolt and then I milled a relief in my gages and stoned the bottoms to clear the ejector pin. I would rather do that then risk messing up a bolt that I probably couldn't replace.

So on the no go the bolt handle will fall halfway to seated and you can feel light resistance to get it all the way, so I think I'm fine.

The SAAMI chamber dimensions, not ammo dimensions are 1.7767" min (Go), 1.7867" max (No-Go). Cartridge & Chamber Drawings – SAAMI

Thanks for the link!

chip_maker said:

I removed the firing pin assembly from the bolt and then I milled a relief in my gages and stoned the bottoms to clear the ejector pin. I would rather do that then risk messing up a bolt that I probably couldn't replace.

So on the no go the bolt handle will fall halfway to seated and you can feel light resistance to get it all the way, so I think I'm fine.

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yup !i think Shakespeare did a play about this !

Ok from all that has come out in this thread

Eh if it shoots straight leave it be
The 788 receiver is a strong one.

I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s exactly how it came out of the factory.

It’s a bolt gun if shooting factory loads and not reloading who cares about brass life
If reloading just neck size like you would any way, full sizing is a pain if not absolutely needed.