Remington 788 trigger stud fix?

[Watchman]

A friend of mine brought me a Remington 788 to fix. I've heard of them, but up till then I have never seen or handled one. He loves the gun and wants it fixed, but I am not sure how to go about it.

He has done some of his own gunsmithing and felt pretty comfortable about trying to replace the factory trigger with a Timney trigger group.

When he went to remove the small roll pin that held the trigger group to the receiver, he whacked the whole trigger unit with a hammer and busted it off.

Apparently there is some sort of stud on the bottom of the receiver that took that roll pin, but now it is sheared off. There is now no way to hold the new trigger to the receiver.

Is there an accepted way to fix this? How can one go about it? I have a mill with a digital readout and all the tools for it, but this seems like a pretty weak design to me. I'm thinking that its probably a common thing to shear that little block off.

Maybe drill and tap the receiver for a threaded stud with a hole in it?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[dfariswheel]

Here's an exploded view of the 788.
http://www.stevespages.com/ipb-remington-788.html

There is a lug on the bottom of the receiver to mount the trigger group.
He must have given it more than "just" a whack. These lugs are not weak.

The only way I see of repairing it is to attach a new lug with screws.
The difficulty is going to be locating the lug in the exact right place since if it's off by even a tiny amount things won't work out correctly.
Also the mounting method is going to have to be pretty sturdy to prevent the strength of the bolt spring from displacing the new lug.
You'll need to pay attention to the location of the receiver locking lugs too to insure you don't interfere with them.

 

[Watchman]

Thats about what I figured. I think a small piece, attached with one or two small fine threaded screws and then the unit held in place to be used as a guide and then drilled to accept the roll pin.

I think there is enough meat there to not drill through the reciever.
I hope that is the case.

 

[Markhmod1]

Watchman how did the fix work out for you? I have a customers gun with exactly the same issue. When I went to install the Timmney I relieved the front tension screw of the trigger and tapped the pin out using a correctly sized punch and a support block for the trigger housing. It took little more than a nudge and the stud was snapped right of. No offense dferriswheel, but a 2 oz hammer tap was all that it took. Additionally, the stud does not look like it is a machined part of the rcvr. It looks to have been added by silver solder or some other adhesion method, as the fractured material does not extend to the edges of the stud. More like a central section of material with obvious clean edges. Would Remmy really have used this method to make turning the cylindrical rcvr a simpler process? I'm leerey of trying to silver solder it back, as the bolt lugs are directly on the other side of this area. My idea was to do a drill and tap for a stud, and I was hoping to get any tips you might have learned before I proceede. Thanks in advance, and sorry for ressurecting a 7 month old post.

 

[Three44s]

788 repair

I have a 788 that needs a bolt. If I get one or you folks know a source ..... I'd need to get the above fix also.

Care for another one to fix?

Maybe this receiver should be used as a fishing weight?

Three 44s

 

[Markhmod1]

Well If I get this one done right, I'm up for another. Check back in a couple of weeks and see if it turned out. Im still waiting to hear from the orig poster of this thread.

 

[Markhmod1]

Well, I got no reply from Watchman, and the customer is waiting. So I jumped in with both feet. First a pic of what broke. The bottom of the stud looks to me like it was spot welded or silver soldered on. You decide, but here's a pic either way.


Start out by setting up to drill and blind hole tap the recvr for a 10-32 screw in the mill. I drill SLOOOOOWLY, with my finger under the drill spot. When the heat it felt, its almost through. STOP! You can just see where the brad tip of the drill started to punch the rcvr as the little dot half way between the sear opening and the bolt stop opening. Its just off the shiny corner of the raised pad inside the rcvr. You can tap it back down flush with a punch if asthetics are important to you.


Leave the piece set up in the mill and switch the drill for the 10-32 tap in the chuck. Tap the hole with a bottoming tap and lots of do-drill. Note again the background of the piece showing poor "weld" adhesion of original part. The entire rectangle between the original holes is the footprint area of the part that detached, and clearly it was not attached out to the margins of that area.


Screw in a 10-32 x 1/2" screw and snug down in place. Roll rcvr 90 degrees in the mill. Center drill the 10-32 screw shaft at the proper distance away from the rcvr to match the hole placement of the trigger group. After center drill starts hole, finish up with standard drill that wil allow the cross pin to slip through FREELY (my roll pin measured .10 inch dia). Any drag and you are likely to snap off the new stud when you insert the roll pin through the trigger group during assembly. The trigger group is snugged in place later with a tensioning screw at the front of the group, so snugness is not critical in the cross pin hole. If you "screw" it up, just replace the 10-32 and try again.


Cut off head of screw with Dremel.


Dress off the sides of stud off with a dremel so that it fits snugly into the top slot of the trigger group. I was replacing the original trigger with a timney when the stud snapped on this one. Dress the stud appropriately front and back and top as well if necessary, and install the trigger group over stud. Insert the cross pin, and snug it up with the front tension screw (go easy!). Check all controls for proper functioning (trigger, bolt release, safety, etc).

 

[skua44]

A wee bit off-thread, my apologies. I have had a 788 in 7mm-08 for many years. Maybe I got lucky with a used rifle, but the stock trigger is crisp, no creep or overtravel. I have installed Timneys on Mausers but never even considered replacing the 788 trigger. Is mine not typical?

 

[Markhmod1]

In doing dozens of trigger jobs every year, I would say that the 788's I've worked on fall mostly in the "average" catagory (4-6 lbs with very minor creep and overtravel). This is no doubt in part due to the vintage of the guns, which predate the current eruption of personal injury bottom feeders,... er...um... I mean lawyers.

Ever wonder what the scum suckers would have to say about the 788 vs. the "majorly flawed" m700 remington triggers? LOL

 

[Three44s]

markhmod1,

Thank you for showing us this fix.

And also thank you for the PM ...... I have found a bolt and also have the Rec. with it's barrel on the way for it so the rec. with the broken stud is going on the shelf for the moment.

I will however save a note to myself and will probably get itchy feet about getting it fixed as well someday and will look you up

...... but I would have to find another bolt ...... and finding this first one was like winning the lottery!

I sure like your fix. If something were to happen to the screw you use it would easy to fit another! The hole in the receiver is the tough nut!

Well done!!!

Three 44s