I recently picked up a very rough (truck gun) Rem 788 chambered in 243 win with a 18" carbine barrel. I took it all apart cleaned 30 years of dirt, grease, and a failed camo paint job off of it, strip, sanded, and finished the stock. It looks pretty good for a birch stock.
I scrubbed out the bore and found that the last 1" of the barrel is pretty much trashed. So no real room to cut it down and re crown it. So that being said I would prefer to keep this a 243 since I am building this gun for my son to start shooting (he is 8).
So basically my question is what should I do for a new barrel and recommended twist. I have pondered putting a proof on it to help keep the weight down or should I just go for a shorter steel barrel. I was leaning toward a 8 twist barrel but this is variable too. Any help with ideas is greatly appreciated.
I too recommend that you try the current barrel, before making any expensive changes. 1" or 2" of throat erosion in a 243 Win usually won't kill hunting/steel accuracy, if the rest of the bore is good. I suspect you will probably see close to MOA accuracy from your 788, even with the erosion. What you will probably see is somewhat lower velocities, due to the throat erosion.
Your not going to be able to shoot the 115gr boat tails in that barrel though. From some date in 1969 on forward Remington used a 1 in 9" twist rate in the 788 243 Win. In 1967, when they first stared making the 788 243 Win, until they switched the twist rate in 1969, I believe Remington used the standard 1 in 10" twist rate, that nearly every manufacturer producing 243 Win at the time used and most still use! With either version factory barrel, your 788 won't stabilize the 115gr bullets. It probably won't stabilize any boat tail over 100gr and won't stabilize the Berger 95gr Hybrid. They'll be too long for your twist. Stick to 100gr Hornady Interlock boat tails, 100gr flat base Spitzers or lighter bullets, with your factory barrel. If you shoot Hammer or Barnes copper solid bullets, you'll need to shoot 80gr or less boat tails, or 85gr to 90gr flat base bullets, unless you rebarrel with a faster twist rate barrel. I will tell you that the Hammer Bullets, Hammer Hunters are awesome! Extremely accurate, easy to develop a great load and fanominal terminal performance! Hammer also list the recommend minimum twist rate in the specifications of each of their many bullets.
Not sure of your altitude or temperature you plan to shoot in but, if your going to rebarrel and you plan to shoot the 115gr Bergers, you'll need at least a 1 in 7" twist, unless you are at a pretty high elevation and only plan on shooting in warmer temperatures. Even the Berger Hybrid 105gr need a twist rate faster than 1 in 8"! Go to Berger's online twist rate calculator and play around with the bullets and environmental variables. That will give you some idea of what twist your 243 Win barrel will need for your intended bullets and use.
As far as a barrel for the 788, and knowing that the kids will be using it, I'd go with a stainless 5R rifled 20" to 22" Bartlein #2b or no more than a #3 contour (or other manufacturer's equivalent) barrel. If it weren't for the youngsters, I'd install a 24" #13 Sendero contour but, that's just my preference. Bartlein makes great barrels as do many other barrel makers. Most can be had for around $350 for just the barrel. I use mostly Bartlein, Rock Creek, Hart and Broghton barrels but, also have a lot of others that shoot extremely well.
Southern Precision Rifles (Bugholes.com) sells a lot of great barrels: Bartlein, Rock Creek, Brux, Proof Research, Hawk Hill, etc. and does a great job of installation at reasonable prices as well. He usually has a pretty long wait though, as most really good, well known gunsmiths have.
Wishing you the best of luck, and great shooting!
Kevin
